Thursday, May 5, 2011

Rome welcomes the pilgrims

Travel days qualify for their own descriptions but once the body stops thinking that it's on the move, the adventure begins.

Visitors arrive at the Leonardo DaVinci International Airport and are quickly wisked away by the waiting taxi operators, each of which is looking to score a fare or two.  The unwary traveller can easily be stung by money hungry transportation perveyers, but we were lucky I suppose because we ended up with a driver who had already assembled an almost-full load of passengers, except for the two spots in the front seat which seemed almost custom made for my companion and me.

Fifteen minutes later, we had arrived at our accommodations, and shortly afterward, we were unpacking our luggage, none too soon before we hit the proverbial wall that always tells travellers to stop, take a breath and get caught up.  The common term for this is jetlag, and the best way to overcome it is to try as best possible to adapt as quickly as one can to the time zone in which we find ourselves.

In this case, adaptation meant a short rest, followed by a visit to the restaurant for supper, as quickly as possible lest we fall asleep in our mashed potatoes.  Oh, this was Italy, the place for pasta, gnocchi, buffalo muzzarella and lots of tomatoes.  Good food for the stomach is only the beginning of the renewal for the spirit.

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