Well, That Was a Surprise! - Melbourne to Rome

Our 2023 Italian adventure sure started with a bang, but not the sort we expected. After all, Italy has earthquakes, not Melbourne! As we had a very early check-in on Monday we went to Melbourne on Sunday and stayed at a hotel at the airport. At 11.41 pm when we were asleep there was a huge bang and shaking of the building. Having experienced several earthquakes,  by now I knew what was happening. It registered at 4 and was only 3 kms deep and the epicentre not very far from where we were. That guaranteed that I didn't go back to sleep.

With four plane changes between Melbourne and Rome, I was sure our cases would get lost and all my necessary walking gear would fail to arrive in time for our Via Francigena pilgrimage. All the other obstacles I had placed in my way failed to eventuate, some with excellent alternatives and we  were feeling cautiously confident. 

The luggage was booked through to London but we had to collect it and check in for the Rome leg. 

We stood at the carousel for an hour and a quarter and there was no sign of our cases, or a number of others. Eventually I went to Customer Service and asked if they could follow the trace for the cases. The thread ran out in Sydney!!  As I began filling in the lost property form, the woman rang and made enquiries and also watched the names of luggage still arriving. Just as we both thought they were lost, one case appeared ... and some seconds after the next one.

Lovely customer service and a happy outcome. I had asked if I could get boarding passes from that desk as time was running out to get to our next plane, with or without luggage. As it turned out we did have a fairly stress free  transfer to Departures, were assisted as the Luggage Self Check-in with the new fangled labels for the cases and passed easily through the many barriers along the way.

How Heathrow has changed and how the travel process has changed. I cannot count how many times we scanned our passports and looked into the camera with a straight face in the last 40 hours. The funniest part was at Fiumicino Airport Rome where they have all the many checks and balances, and at the end they stamp your passport. Sadly nobody stamps passports any more so another plus for the day.

A fortuitous luggage trolley outside the hotel when we left at 5.30 am

A fortuitous quiet and comfortable lounge area at Hong Kong airport when we had five hours to fill in.

And to complete the happy experiences of the last two days, when we checked into our favourite little family run hotel in Rome the man on the desk handed us the keycard, and with a big smile on his face, said 'Room 503.'  Smiles all around then as that is our favourite room!

Now the church bells are ringing and we are enjoying real Italian pizza on our terrazzo. Heaven!