2011 Rome and Paris

After the cyclin component of the trip was completed, I was in no particular hurry to return to Australia, therefore I decided to take the long and slow route home, with stops in Rome, Paris and Singapore.

The flight from Dresden to Rome went smoothly and I time. I had previously booked a nice looking 2 star hotel on the Internet and was looking to settling in and exploring the surroundings.

I gave my taxi driver the address of the hotel and watched some of the famous sights of the city pass by from the back seat of the car. After 45 mins or so, we reached the hotel. I unloaded my luggage and dragged into the foyer of the hotel, then introduced myself to the young man behind the counter.

He tapped away for a few moments and then put on a sad face. "There is a problem with your room", he said. "It has a water leak". This was not the sort of welcome I had been expecting.

"But we have some good news", he added. "We have found another hotel, just as good as this one, and very close".

I have since learnt that this is a common scam in Rome, where hotels overbook their rooms and then fob you off to some inferior alternative (at the same price). At the time I was too tired to argue, and I was directed to take my luggage to the substitute hotel.

To my relief, the substitute place was not as bad as it could have been. Although the room was tiny, at least it had a bed - and I could see no signs of a water leak. It became my home for the next four nights.Läs mer