Vancouver to Munich, Munich to Rome. We left our Yaletown Condo at 3:30 pm, might as well been 6 pm because the clouds were thick and we just had some rain and now wanted to dodge the raindrops to walk the 10 minutes to the Canada Line Metro Station. We arrived at the platform, looked up and saw that our train was to arrive in one minute, well this is a great start. By the time we arrived at the airport there were only a few people on board the train and perhaps only a half dozen with suitcases, hmm, this still feels pretty strange. It’s been some 20 months since we were at our airport here in Vancouver, March 2020, when we were evacuated off the World Cruise in Perth, Australia. The airport really hasn’t changed much, I am not referring to the physical airport but the dark, empty and pretty much lonely airport. There was no hustle and bustle today. There were a few lines here and there but most shops still dark, waiting for better days. We arrived at the Lufthansa desk with no line, passports, check, Federal health documents, check, Covid test results, check, European Passenger Locator Forms, check - yes, you do need a few more items on your check list these days. Security check, no line up, all in we were in the Maple Leaf Lounge in an hour after we left the Condo, call this 4:30 pm, time for a glass of wine and a late lunch.
Again, no hustle, no bustle we arrived at our gate as we walked past many a closed shop, yes, a few open but most were closed, this includes the A&W. Lufthansa required you to wear the N95 mask so at the gate we prepared ourselves by putting on the appropriate masks. We had great seats and the champagne began to pour, well isn’t this nice. The Captain came on and welcomed everyone on board and made the announcement, yes, we all know you have been vaccinated and tested as well as some recovered from Covid but this Pandemic is still with us and we kindly ask for you to wear your masks during the flight when you are not eating. It was very reassuring to know that, yes, we are all in this together and if we want to travel this is what needs to be done. There was no, you can’t make me, BS, it was nice to be amongst same minded people eager to travel. We had a great flight with great food and drink. At one point the steward ask me about a wine beverage, I saw on the menu a wine from South Africa, he said he would check. Well he came back and apologized that they were not able to stock that one but he had two bottles in hand of other types and then a second steward showed up with two more types, yes we were well taken care of. I don’t sleep well on planes so it will be a rough couple days, all of which I’m looking forward to. Currently writing this from the Munich Airport as we await our final flight to Rome…
It is just over an hour flying from Munich to Rome. The flight was a bare bones no frills flight where they put the business class passengers in a window and aisle configuration with the middle seat empty. As we strapped in a late arrival family of six finally boarded and where located just beside and behind us. I mentioned them as they did not stop talking amongst themselves the entire journey as well as barely wore their masks, one, a little ways away had a nagging cough. Lufthansa does a great job managing people but here they really should have reminded all on board that we are still in a pandemic situation and that mask wearing is mandatory if you are not eating or drinking. Oh, and they kept ordering beverages to perhaps skirt this requirement. My takeaway on this is that some in Europe here have a little more relaxed view of the pandemic situation and are simply getting on with their lives - damn everyone else. I digress once again. We landing in the darkness with the pattering of rain and about 15 degrees (c). Our driver was waiting for us just outside the terminal as in these times they are not allowed inside (where they usually would be). A driver, yes, a last minute decision for us. Usually we would take the train into the city and then walk to the hotel but when we saw the weather report and the time we were coming in it was maybe about 25 more dollars to take a private transfer directly to the hotel - we were very happy with this decision, thank you Carla.
We are centrally located in Rome at the Baglioni Hotel Regina, beautiful hotel originally built in the late 1800’s, restored only a few ago, great staff and very professional. We checked in at about 7:30 pm, settled in and had a very nice dinner at the hotel restaurant, Brunelli. Although we only ordered a couple of main dinner courses the experience was amazing. The waiter brought us many, compliments from the chef creations, from a nice appetizer to an amazing array of breads, breadstick etc, to a fantastic dessert arrangement of creme brûlée and a tiramisu type tarts. All complimentary and all fantastic. Although completely exhausted at this point we signed off on our bill after 10 pm a little later than we had planned but well worth it. Sleep was on and off again until about 10:15 when we woke for the last time thinking, hey they only serve breakfast until 11:00 am. Up and out for a wonderful full hot breakfast. I think we are going to like it here. Only one pic this post the Italian Alps… more to come as we rediscover the Eternal City.
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