Palestrina

Another long day of travel this time from Catania to the hills of Rome – about 760km. We started with yet another wonderful breakfast at the B&B – delicious! And then final packing and a chat about Sicilian food with Federico (whom I had been emailing but never spoken too) he explained our mistake at Il Sale – only eat the Pizza – the rest is crap (well we had learned that the hard and expensive way!).
Leaving the B&B (which is apparently evolving into a boutique hotel – I can understand that as they did a very good job with the B&B) we walked around the corner to catch the Alibus to the airport (4 euro’s, free Wi-Fi and takes about 20 minutes – very convenient). The boarding pass had stipulated that we needed to arrive from check in and luggage drop at 11am (this was for a 1.30 flight and despite the fact we had completed online check in anyway (but hey it was a weird Spanish airline and I wasn’t going to argue with whatever they required). We arrived in a timely manner and duly lined up and waited… and waited… and waited… at 11.40 someone turned up… at 1150 they started processing people.. we were sorted by 12.05 (so glad we arrived at 11am). Another massive line and then we were through security at about 12.30 and had an hour to kill before the flight was due to leave. This was spent wandering the shops, marveling at the numerous dogs wandering about the terminal waiting to board (including the one packed in the carry-on bag and barking in a shrill and REALLY annoying manner!) and generally being astounded by the masses and masses of people thronging about. At last it was time to board – again this took ages and by the time I got onto the plane they had run out of space for hand luggage and were trying to tell me my backpack had to go in the hold (I argued I have my Venetian glass in there and they took pity on me and found space). There was a scarey amount of crashing and banging, the cabin crew seemed to have trouble with the PA and then finally – about 45 minutes late we took off in a very erratic manner for our hour and a bit flight to Rome.
Throughout the flight there were various weird and troubling noises, there was NO air-conditioning, no cabin service and the toilets were rank (and I am not that fussy really – hey I’m a scout, I pee in the bush if need be!) Finally we were relieved to survive a very bouncy landing at Rome’s Fuimicino Airport. Into the terminal by bus and then a not toooo long wait for our bags to come off before we headed off, following the signs, to the station for the Leonardo Express (14 euro) into the main Rome train station – this was a non-stop service and took 32 minutes – very handy. There we, relying on my feeble Italian, were directed to the train to Zagarolo via a ticket machine where we purchased the required tickets for 2.90euro (I was hoping I had said – I’m sorry I only understand a little Italian- where is the train to Zagarolo” and that the answer of “20” was pertinent). Anyway we got on the train with about 20 seconds to spare and it pulled off. We then spent the next 35 minutes worrying that we were travelling where we were hoping to go… Phew! The 5th station, at exactly the expected time, turned out to be … Zagarollo!!! Yea!!
Kirstin had spotted a supermarket as we arrived so I nipped down the road and made a few purchases while she minded the cases and then called the hostel for pick up (how convenient). We were soon in a nice van and a mere 5 minutes later we were entering Rome Wiki Hostel – a terribly weird, kind of hippy, trippy place in the hills of Rome. We have a “Private Room” which includes an ensuite at the princely sum of 30 euro pp per night (inc breakfast, free shuttle to and from station, a kitchen, wi-fi and cheap food and beverages if required - inc a 7euro pp pizza party on Friday nights).
We settled in and then off to the kitchen (where Kirstin resisted the urge to sterilise the dishes and contented herself with giving everything a good wash) to make dinner. We had been carrying clam sauce and squid ink pasta since Venice and added some salad and cheese to make a delicious and filling meal (the wine I had been lugging around since Germany also helped – well we did have to drink it as we couldn’t risk taking to Dubai after all!). Sated… or perhaps to be honest… stuffed… the next step was to plan the next 2 days in Rome… and actually Zagarolo which looks like a really nice little town!Read more