Rome - 2nd full day

---

November 23 – Rome – 2^ndfull day – The ensuite room that I had been in had been reserved for today ( Friday) because of some soccer game in Rome this weekend so I had to move to another room which had a bathroom in the hall. No big deal really….but still I prefer a bathroom in the room. So I had to get my stuff out of my room before 11 AM and take it downstairs to put in the luggage storage space till 3 PM.

So I took it down there and left it and then walked over to the Termini Station and caught the #64 bus to the Vatican. The stop for the Vatican is the first after you emerge form a long tunnel and get off at a wall of the Vatican. Then you just walk down the hill a bit and around the corner and you are in Plaza St Pietro.

I didn’t tour the museum etc since I had been before but just enjoyed the beauty of the Plaza for quite a bit and then walked over to the bus stop for the #40 bus near the Castel St. Angelo and caught it back to Termini Station.

I wanted to get back to the hostel to be ready to check in at 3PM so as to stake out a bottom bunk.

I kind of felt I had seen enough of Rome for this trip and got on the Internet and found a flight to Athens Greece on Aegean Airlines for $163 for the next morning (Saturday). It departs Rome at 11 AM and arrives in Athens at 2PM Athens time. It is a 2 hour flight but going from Rome to Athens you move your watch ahead an hour.

After booking a flight I got on Hostelbookers.com and booked a bed in a 4 bed mixed dorm for 3 nights at the Athens Style Hostel off of Monastiraki Square in Athens at Agias Theklas 10.

I liked the reviews mainly because they said it was a quiet hostel, had good internet access, and had a kitchen I could use. I also liked that it was near a metro line.

There was a bit of an issue I had to deal with on this trip. I checked the luggage allowances and they only permitted 20kg of checked in luggage and 8 kg of carry on luggage. So I invested some of the rest of the day in going through my stuff again and discarding what I considered could be discarded. The excess baggage fee was a hefty €30 each. So I wanted to make sure I was below the limits.

With all the details attended to I set my alarm for 6 AM the next morning and turned in early.

---

Photos

Ticket machines offer a choice of languages !
Unlike in France this machine in Italy offers a choice of languages.

Cool drinking water
But of course no restrooms anywhere. Don't drink unless you can hold your water : )

I experimented with the food
I decided to try some food at a "buffet" type restaurant. It was cold and tastless.

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

We love the Placka in Athens
Hopefully you'll take the ferry to some of the islands. The ferry's are wonderful.