And what of cruising? I don’t think any of us had our minds changed much one way or another by the experience. Visiting Messina, Kusadasi, Athens and Heraklion were all, in their different ways, great fun. And sailing through the Messina straits and past the rumbling Stromboli, were also both treats. The sun shone every day in a cloudless sky but was never so hot as to be a problem. And yet, and yet. I could not come to terms with either the bingo-talent show-belly-flop competition end of the entertainment, or the pretend snobbery of ‘formal’ nights and fawning waiters. The hidden costs made an expensive holiday even more expensive. Everywhere you looked Royal Caribbean were adding bits onto the package. From the moment we arrived and were offered an on-board drink they then charged us for, every little move off-piste. They reminded me a bit of Ryan Air, where all above the basic costs, yet to be fair to Ryan Air, they never pretend to be anything other than a low-budget airline.
Lizzie, on the other hand, reckoned it was her best holiday ever. Now her best holiday ever is usually her last one but there is no doubt she thoroughly enjoyed it. Michele was between the two of us and has not been completely deterred from the cruising experience but not, as some said would happen, been convinced this is the only way to travel. So cruising is an option, neither banned nor preferred.
Back to our last day, this, for the most part, was terrific. By 9am yesterday (Sunday morning), we were sitting in a cafe opposite the Collosseum. As we had all day, we decided to go inside, which, inevitably involved a long queue, even at that time of the morning. By and large Americans and Italians are bad at queuing. Americans do not fully understand why it is not their God-given right to go first and Italians are always in too much of a hurry, as though always late for their next appointment. This causes a bit of pushing shoving, at which Michele, having been brought up doing the January sales in Leicester, is most adept.
Inside the Colosseum is as amazing as the exterior and a lot more informative. After that we head off to the Spanish Steps and I point out the house in which poet John Keats once lived. ‘I don’t blame him’, says Lizzie, ‘with all these great shops about.’
We then climb to the top of the steps and discover a hidden- at least from tourists – treasure of Rome, the park of Villa Borghese. It is beautiful, has the best views of the city, and a lovely cafe to boot.
We spend several hours there as our flight is not until 9.20pm. We then walk from there to the station, via the Trevi fountain, and join the biggest queue of the holiday – the one to pick up our baggage that we had left at the station.
We miss the train we had planned but it did not matter as our flight was delayed. When it did arrive it was delayed yet further, as two passengers had loaded their luggage and then been too sick to travel.
I don’t mind such delays – better safe than sorry. The latest delay meant another delay as we had missed our slot with air traffic control.
We finally left just after 1am, Italian time. All through this easyJet kept us informed of what was going on and the cabin crew handled a potentially difficult situation very well.
It did not end there, as we were not allowed to land at the south terminal for some reason, and had to be bussed from north to south.
What with roadworks on the M25 and M1, we finally crawled into bed at 5.15am, almost 24 hours after we had crawled out.
Such is life and travel.
I have a few more days off before work starts again and Michele has booked me in to a ‘How to Haggle for the retail challenged’ course.
