Rome

OK so I’m ‘blogging’ about my experiences in Ghana-is it against the rules to talk about my vacation to Rome with Eric and Pam? (Pam had some classes cancelled at UVA so we surprised Eric and she joined us) Well I make the rules, so I say no-anyway, this starts with a story about Ghana. In short, the trip was wonderful ….getting there was interesting though…

I originally chose Rome as a vacation destination(I have a month off between terms) because I looked up places that I could fly directly/inexpensively to from Ghana (5 hours…not bad). You normally can’t buy on-line airline tickets from Africa so you must go to a travel agency, which I did in the middle of February, and purchase tickets. My flight left at midnight from Ghana last Monday. Imagine my surprise (frustration, anger?) when I showed up on Monday night to hear from a nice baggage handler that AlItalia doesn’t fly on Mondays anymore, now they fly on Tuesdays. Of course at 10PM no one from Alitalia was in the airport (because they don’t fly on Mondays). I actually stood there for a few minutes trying to figure out what to do- I had no way back to Tema (a rule of thumb is not to take airport taxis at night), Eric was already on his way, did I even have a valid ticket to Rome?-I had confirmed my ticket just that Saturday and the travel agent said it was fine. Luckily I met ‘Justice’, a helpful and sympathetic airport employee, and he found me a registered cab and back home I went :(

The next morning I was waiting at the doorstep of the travel agency. Of course no one admitted guilt or apologized and they seemed genuinely surprised that I would be annoyed over them selling me and confirming a ticket on a flight that didn’t exist. I explained that it cost me hotel fees and 6 taxi fares and that my son was now all alone in Rome (I didn’t mention that he was 24 ;) The man that I called on Saturday even admitted that I talked with him but (because the whole office was now listening) he invented an entire conversation between us during which he told me that yes, indeed, the days of the flight were changed. Next, I was told to sit and 'relax' while someone disappeared with my ticket for an hour and a half to do who-knows-what with it…I think one of the employees said he was driving to the Alitalia office. I thought he might be driving to Italy.

I guess in the US there would be someone to complain to…or get sympathy or an apology from, an upgrade?…but not so here. So, I took a deep breath (I AM learning incredible patience and flexibility) chalked it up to ‘an experience’, and left it at that. They gave me a new handwritten ticket and assured me I could fly out that night.

“Oh and Madame, you can’t come back on Monday either like your ticket says-we don’t fly on Mondays-so we changed it to Tuesday, OK?”…ah well there are worse places to be stuck in for an extra day.

Thanks for letting me vent-I’m over it now and the trip was great.
Can I tell you a little about the week?

The day before we arrived was the horrible earthquake in L’Aquila Italy about an hour east of Rome. As was reported in the news, just under 300 people were killed. While we were there we felt two significant after-shocks. Being an east coast girl I’ve rarely felt an earthquake and thought Eric was fooling around shaking my bed in the middle of the night. I really didn’t realize how often Italy has these earthquakes and some of them have been just terrible. With all of the history and ruins and buildings you’d think that ‘antiseismatic’ precautions would be a priority…


So we saw many great sights……

The Vatican

Spanish Steps

Eric listening to 'tour' at Colloseum
Castel Sant' Angelo

I think the Pantheon is amazing and one of my favorite buildings. I am fascinated with the architectural Geometry of it! Those Romans were smart guys…I love how the sun shines in the dome and creates a virtual calendar on the walls…math and astronomy! Yes!




A true highlight of the trip was a day trip to Pompeii which we took on the advice of our guide books and my teaching buddy Walt Ostrowski. We stopped in Naples for lunch and then spent most of the afternoon(which wasn’t enough) there. Pompeii is something we’d all read/studied about in school but we had no idea just how huge this town was and what amazing shape it is still in. Many paintings on the walls, mosaics and sculptures are in fantastic condition! Vesuvius erupted in 80 AD and covered Pompeii in 16 feet of ash. Some guy digging a hole for a pipe in 1748 found the remains!

Naples

Pompeii

Vesuvius in Background

Food. Well, put it this way … it wasn’t plantains and fufu and groundnut soup and what a nice break! We ate as much as we could –at many different places. By far the gelato was our favorite treat. I think the record was three in one day.



There's a fried egg in the center of that pizza

And of course Pam and I shopped...


Finally, one of the things that was great about this trip, and a little unexpected, was that I got a taste of spring. The weather was cool and sunny and things were in bloom. Here in Ghana, there really aren’t any seasons…85-95 degrees and humid with a few fluctuations. ….although I hear we’re coming into the ‘rainy’ season…


Borghese Gardens

That's enough for today. My friend Nancy Penrose comes tomorrow and we'll tour around Ghana for 10 days. I'll celebrate my :)th Bday Saturday chillin under a palm tree in Cape Coast. Adam leaves for a 6 week work/study experience to stay with my nephew Matt and his family in Ecuador on Monday...until next time!