Friday, May 9 - Rome

Frankfurt may have some serious competition for worst airport in the world. Aside, that is, from JFK, which has no rivals in that area, so the competition is for 2^nd worst. We poured off the plane at about the same time as a few other flights. When we were approaching Immigration, we were suddenly being screamed at by Security to move faster and keep the lines tight – unless, of course, that  meant cutting across an open area to catch up with the back of the line ahead. You MUST follow the prescribed paths, whether it makes sense or not. It was a long walk to our baggage carousel and by that time we’d missed the shuttle to our hotel. Rather than wait nearly 3 hours for the next one, we set out in search of alternates. Turns out that the info people are not trained at the same school as security and a very helpful young man helped us decide to take the express train into Rome. With some difficulty, we acquired tickets and crammed onto an SRO train.

In about 25 minutes we were in central Rome. At last! Of course, next we had to figure out where the heck our hotel was. Helpful salesmen and bus drivers soon got us onto the right track and we checked in. After dozing and unpacking, we met with the other 19 people in our tour group and went out for dinner nearby. Things are looking up! Great group, terrific guide (Annaliese) and we even met our driver, Enzo, who’s reputed to be amazing. Let the adventure begin!        [19 instead of 40 - great advantage for sure!]