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Published: October 15th 2013
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Hotel Visconti Palace
Well Located Hotel in Central Rome My flight from Seattle on Delta nonstop to Paris was delayed by two hours. Cargo was not balanced, according to the Captain. We had to sit on the plane while it was rearranged. Then we had to wait another hour for extra fuel because they were given permission to fly at warp speed to catch up on some of the missed time. I had booked Economy Plus so I could hopefully get some decent sleep on the flight. A couple of hours into the flight the woman next to me had an "incident" and they called for a doctor. The flight attendant put me in the only other seat available on the flight, Row 36, in the middle! I could not sleep a wink! I had to lean forward with my blanket and pillows on the tray table and try to sleep that way, there was no recline at all. It was the most uncomfortable flight I had ever been on. I will NEVER do that again. Later in the flight the woman was sleeping womfortable using both her seat and mine.
When we finally got there, I barely made my connection to Rome, and my baggage did not make
it. I was met by a lovely woman from Holland America, her name was Meemo, or something in Italian, and she got me to the front of the very long Alitalia missing luggage line and translated for me (I was pretty tired by now after 15+ hours of travel), and my bags would follow to my hotel. I boarded the bus and we navigated Rome's familiar streets and within an hour we were there, The Visconti Palace Hotel, ideally situated for walking the sights of Rome, near St. Peter's, Spanish Steps and Via Corso. I walked over to hear Vespers at St. Peters at 5:00pm as I had planned, and saw my first Lamborghini fly by me, then another, then they stopped, backed up and parked in a row next to twenty or so other Lamborghinis. Oh my! A convention of Lamborghini owners here in Rome, right in front of me. The Vatican or Fast & Furious? I was torn between two worlds. So I went to vespers as planned and when I returned the the piazza there were hundreds!!! About that time they began a road rally that would take them out of Rome to who knows where, but
there were all colors, license plates from Italy, Germany, France, Great Britain, even the USA, Missouri and Colorado. Zooming past the onlookers as we watched in awe how much excess and wealth was here right before our eyes. Then as soon as it had begin, the police let rush hour traffic again proceed, and the normal lively pace of Italian life on a sunny spring evening went on. I grabbed a buffalo mozzarella & tomato sandwich and cold beer from a street side wagon and took it back to my hotel room, drew a hot bath, ate my dinner and fell dead asleep at 7:30pm.
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