Rome – Day 1: arrival, immediate vicinity

Do we think or is it pouring rain in Rome!
That is, how and what the Eternal City greeted us with….

We started our journey at Warsaw’s J.K. airport. Chopin. In the early afternoon on Saturday the 27th. April, a tiny plane of the domestic PLL LOT was waiting for us. After minor adventures en route, we managed to reach the Warsaw airport, where we went through check-in without any problems and took our pre-booked seats aboard the Embraer 195.

Table of contents

Flight to Rome

The flight itself lasted about 2.5 hours and went without any problems. Our national pride ;-) served drink and humble buns…. I wonder why there are still Hindu, Vege, etc. meals to choose from in the systems when they completely fail to serve them on these routes.

Anyway, it was recently reported that LOT will only introduce free meals on European routes, so the problem will probably solve itself. After a smooth flight, it was our plane that touched the tarmac at Rome’s Fiumicino airport at the appointed time :)

Travel from the airport to the center of Rome

After collecting our luggage, we immediately went to the train station that would take us almost to the door of our apartment. In general, Fiumicino Airport offers several options for getting to the center of the eternal city, from the cheapest and longest-running bus to the fastest and most expensive train going directly to the center of Rome (Leonardo train). We chose the intermediate option, which is a longer train, stopping at several stations along the way (Line FR1). The cost of the ride is €8 per one-way trip.

Unfortunately, the ticketing equipment that stands at the station refused to work, so we made the purchase the traditional way – at the ticket office. Please note, before boarding the train, the ticket must be validated (in our language, “punched”) in the devices that are located at the beginning of the train. During our visit, FR1 trains always departed on the right, Leonardo trains on the right (walking from the airport terminal). If anything, the smug conductors (although speaking poor English) are there to help.

The train itself does not knock, dilapidated, dirty, no room for luggage, that is almost like in Poland ;) Paweł did not care too much about it and, staring at the map the whole trip, was probably already planning our next day :)

After approx. A 40-minute drive got us off at Trestevere station and in another 10 minutes we reached the apartment block where we were to live. At the very bottom we were greeted by the owner of the apartment, who spoke only Italian (scarce Polish and English vocabulary), but we managed to get along :) The apartment consisted of 3 bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom and a large terrace. They were not luxuries, but also the price was not like for a five-star hotel so what to want more.

Bad good beginnings…

In order not to waste the day, we decided to take a walk in the immediate area. Unfortunately, we took the wrong direction and ended up in a not very attractive neighborhood, but with very interesting public toilets…. The falling rain compounded a less than ideal first impression…. After a short walk, we went to the local market and did some shopping. As they say: bad good beginnings :)