No cycling this segment. It was nice to enjoy again some of Rome’s eternal light atmosphere. In the meanwhile, we missed many other aspects of our Japan experience (food, bidet toilet, cleanest, etc). We were glad we arrived a few days ahead of the pre-wedding activities in order to recover from our jet lag. We were mesmerized by how well the activities and the entire wedding day unfolded in some beautiful Italian countryside. It was our pleasure to meet the groom’s parents and siblings for the first time and many of the newlyweds’ friends from both Canada and the UK. As quickly as folks showed up to the hotel ahead of the wedding, they were also quick to return to their own home destination the next day. As for us, Victoria returned to London for some sightseeing for few more weeks, the newlyweds went for a well-deserved rest at an Italian costal resort and we embarked on our flight back to Japan.

2024.05.27 – [IT] Etihad Flight ==> Rome (0 kms | Total: 1573 kms)

Although our Etihad Airway flight check-in was chaotic, the 11 hour flight to Abu Dhabi was surprisingly smooth. The seats offered several more inches of leg room than what we experienced on Air Canada flying to South Korea. The flight attendant crew worked very efficiently and served us two tasty hot meals along the way. It seemed we managed to nap more than expected while occupying the window and middle seats. After reaching the Abu Dhabi airport, we had a 2.5 hours connection lay over for our flight to Rome. Although this second flight segment was only 6 hours, we both felt like it was longer than our earlier flight. Upon arriving at 7am at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, we passed through the efficient immigration controls and later retrieved our duffel bag from one of the luggage carousels. We learned, thanks to our Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Credit Card, that we could benefit of a 3 hour stay at an airport lounge outside of the arrival area. Hence we enjoyed a relaxing time with free wifi and access to a plentiful breakfast buffet (including a great espresso coffee selection) until 11am. After leaving the lounge, we opted to take an airport bus to Rome’s Termini train station. In Italy, I did not bother purchasing a local SIM instead I relied on Jenny’s eSIM hot spot whenever I needed access to the internet on the road. After disembarking from the airport bus, we took the subway at the Termini station to the nearest station to our initial accommodation in Rome. We were pleased when our B&B owner allowed us to check-in to our room at 1pm, i.e. 2 hours ahead of schedule. After a well-deserved shower, we went out to find a Tangerine-friendly bank ATM in order to pay our B&B owner our 24€ tourist accommodation tax. Our first attempt to locate the closest ATM proved to be fruitless and a waste of time. After walking much further, we finally found a BNP Paribas ATM. We stopped at a grocery store for some snacks and long craved wine bottle on our return walk. In the evening, we had dinner at a hole-in-the-wall pizzeria shop. On the way back to our B&B, we walked through the Trevi fountain area. We were blown away by the size of the tourist crowd at this site. We did not recall seeing so many tourists during our 2011 summer visit. By the mid evening, we were looking forward to some sleep to recover from our long flight from Osaka. We walked over 11kms.

2024.05.28 – [IT] Rome ==> Rome (0 kms | Total: 1573 kms)

Although we both fell asleep early, Jenny struggled with her jet lag in the middle of the night. In the morning, we were provided, by our B&B owner, with a modest breakfast (we were told it was a typical Italian breakfast) consisting of a croissant, a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee. We left our accommodation by 9:30am for some sightseeing. We decided to follow one of Rick Steve’s self-guided walk: the Rome City Center walk. After purchasing some bus tickets at a newspaper stand, we waited for the city bus for quite a long time. And when it finally arrived, it was completely full. Thankfully the bus driver yelled at everyone on the bus to make some room for new passengers. After disembarking from the bus, we started our 3kms self-guided walks. As we made our way through the streets, we were again surprised, in a disappointing way, at the number of tourists flocking to the various sites. Along the way, we stopped at McDonald’s for an early lunch. We had the displeasure of visiting the washroom there after our meal. We instantly missed Japan where the washrooms were impeccable everywhere – even at some roadside gas stations (Toto appliances – bidet, urinal, hand-dryer, etc) were the standard everywhere. Needless to say, we would be avoiding public washroom in Italy as much as possible. We finished our walk at the large park around Villa Borghese. We opted to rent a side-by-side two seat bicycle to visit the far corners of the park. We had fond memories of doing this same activity during our 2011 family trip. Just like in 2011, we struggled with our vehicle in a number of places along the way. Clearly the pedal assist bici had limitation on the steepness of the hills it could handle. We were more than happy to return our bici after the 1 hour rental. We decided to walk back to our B&B as it was less than 1 km away. Jenny had a good afternoon nap to recover a bit from her jet lag. In the early evening, we took a bus to the Trastevere neighborhood for an enjoyable pizza dinner at the popular Dar Poeta pizzeria. We covered 8kms today.

2024.05.29 – [IT] Rome ==> Rome (0 kms | Total: 1573 kms)

The B&B owner served us our simple breakfast on her small terrace. We relaxed in our room until the 11am check-out. We then took a bus for a short ride to another hotel where we expected to reunite with Victoria and the newlyweds-to-be who were flying from London. We were pleased that we could check-in early into our spacious room. We waited impatiently for our family members (Victoria, Jessica and Rob) to arrive from the airport. Murphy’s law struck as the group were confronted to a car reservation misfortune. The Rome’s airport car rental desk canceled their reservation given the specified arrival time had passed beyond the 1 hour hold period without refund of 200 £. The group had to revert to take a taxi from the airport. We were very pleased to see everyone and further comforted knowing that Victoria had successfully transported from Canada our formal wedding attire. After a long welcome chat, we opted to walk to the Trastevere neighborhood for some pizza again. On our walk back to the hotel, we stopped at a busy gelateria for some awesome gelato. Jessica and Rob later met their Canadian friends until the early morning hours.

2024.05.30 – [IT] Rome ==> Bagni di Stigliano (0 kms | Total: 1573 kms)

After drinking a few cappuccinos from our hotel’s machine, I stepped out onto the streets at 7:30am to visit a pharmacy for some grooming supplies. The walk along the quiet and almost deserted streets was the most enjoyable and refreshing experience in Rome. It was a clear contrast to the chaotic tourist filled streets we had experienced up-to-now. Jessica had arranged for a mini-van taxi pick up from our hotel. We left Rome behind shortly after 9:30 am for a 1.5 hour ride further north to the remote hot spring accommodation hosting guests for the wedding (Hotel Terme di Stigliano) – some 15 kms west of lake di Bracciano. After settling in, I took the opportunity to visit a few of the thermal pools. Throughout the afternoon, friends from Canada and some from the UK arrived at the hotel. We got introduced to a lot of folks – many we knew but also many we did not. At 4pm, a mini-bus picked up the group of 20 or so for a wine tasting activity at a small organic vineyard/winery (Cantina Morichelli) in the hills near lake di Bracciano. It was a really fun activity as we walked briefly in the vineyard and then we sampled different wines accompanied by bread, cheese and salami while being seated outdoors in a rustic setting facing the vineyard. Later, the bus took us to a lake front bistro restaurant where we had a great evening meal of food and wine. The mini-bus ride back to the hotel was extremely festive as folks had consumed plenty of wine and drinks. We returned to our room by 10pm but we understood that some folks continued to party until 3am.

2024.05.31 – [IT] Bagni di Stigliano ==> Bagni di Stigliano (0 kms | Total: 1573 kms)

After our hotel’s breakfast, Victoria, Jenny and I opted for a 6kms hike/walk along a gravel road. Our goal was to reach some historic ruins – which we did after making our way through a field in the last 200 meters. On our way back, we visited an abandon set of thermal pools from our hotel – we assumed previously used by day trippers. We reluctantly had to jump a fence to finally returning to our hotel. Later, we soaked ourselves in the various thermal pools. More wedding guests showed up to the hotel. Just before dinner, the wedding party met with the wedding planners to review the order of events for the wedding day. It was a great relaxing day which concluded with a delicious evening meal at the hotel’s restaurant. Sadly for the remaining hotel guests – many of them were upset due to a very very noisy/loud wedding crowd over the entire dinner meal as the hotel only had one restaurant venue. At dinner, we were seated with the groom’s family and got to chat with them for the first time.

2024.06.01 – [IT] Bagni di Stigliano ==> Bagni di Stigliano (0 kms | Total: 1573 kms)

The big day had finally arrived. The bride, brides maid and mothers retreated to a room to have their makeup done and hair styled. The groom, two best men and fathers retreated to their own room to dress up in their traditional Scottish kilt attire. Both groups had their own photographers to capture the key wedding preparation moments. By 2:30pm, the entire wedding guests and party – minus the bride and bridesmaid – boarded a large bus for the 25 minutes ride to the actual wedding venue. The bride and her escort were driven in their own separate vehicle. The wedding venue was held at Castello del Sasso – a fortified village from 12th century. Upon their arrival, the wedding guests were hosted in the gardens before the bride’s arrival. The ceremony was expertly conducted by a friendly civil celebrant while we faced an amazing view of the blue background of the Tyrrhenian Sea and Italian countryside. Later, the guests were offered canapes and drinks while the newlyweds had their wedding pictures taken. The wedding dinner was served on long beautifully decorated table. After a series of speeches, the guests were offered a four course meal. Catering service was top notch. In the evening, a DJ played songs from a playlist previously selected by the bride and groom. A free cocktail bar was very popular throughout the evening. The atmosphere was full of high-energy as folks danced and drank in the courtyard. The newlyweds invited all of their guests to scan a QR code at the venue allowing them to upload and share their own photos of the wedding day with other guests. As I was encouraged to try each of the 8 cocktails available, I did my best. Sadly I only got to consume 5 cocktails before the midnight curfew at which time the bus returned all the guests to our hotel. To Jenny’s utmost disappointment, I got sick on the return ride and ended up throwing up – of all places – in our backpack. Jenny spent 1.5 hours to clean up the mess in the backpack, including manually washing the items inside. She went to bed after 2am.

2024.06.02 – [IT] Bagni di Stigliano ==> Rome (0 kms | Total: 1573 kms)

The atmosphere at breakfast was more subdued. Some folks had already left the hotel for their flights back home. We bid farewell to a number of friends and family members of Jessica and Rob. We learned that some hotel guests had complained about noisy wedding guests who kept on celebrating until 4am. We boarded at 11am a mini-van that Jessica had booked upon our arrival at this hotel. As Jessica and Rob needed to rent a small car to reach their “mini-moon” (small honeymoon) resort we were all dropped off at the airport. They managed to secure a car rental while we took Terravision Airport shuttle bus to the Termini train station. We had reserved a hotel nearby for our last two nights in Rome. We were quite pleased with the hotel neighborhood and room. In the evening, we had dinner at a nearby pizzeria restaurant. We even managed to have some gelato while we strolled the neighborhood streets. Jessica and Rob reminded us that they greatly appreciated the rest offered at their small coastal town resort with a private beach. They had planned to have a more exotic honeymoon (Sri Lanka / Maldives) next January.

2024.06.03 – [IT] Rome ==> Rome (0 kms | Total: 1573 kms)

We had a lovely breakfast at our hotel rooftop restaurant. Jenny and I escorted Victoria to the airport for her flight back to London. We again used the convenient Terravision Airport shuttle bus from the Termini station. Victoria’s check-in at the airport was quick and efficient. After bidding her farewell, we returned to the Termini station with the same bus shuttle. At the train station, we took the subway for a quick visit of Rome’s ancient Colosseum. We later returned to our hotel room where we spent a fair amount of time reviewing and selecting our photos from this segment. In the evening, we went to another Italian restaurant nearby for a pasta dinner. And we finally finished our last evening in Rome with some more gelato before returning to our hotel.

2024.06.04 – [IT] Rome ==> Etihad Flight (0 kms | Total: 1573 kms)

We woke up at 6am and checked-out of our hotel after picking up our bagged breakfast. We walked 15mins to the Termini train station to catch our 7:15am Terravision Airport shuttle bus. We promptly checked our duffel bag at the Etihad baggage drop off counter. We briefly got concerned when the counter agent asked if we had forward ticket out of Japan. I replied No, we had not purchased our tickets yet as we planned to visit China after our stay in Japan. I guessed that was enough to avoid further challenges. The security clearance and other immigration/passport controls were quite efficient. It was the first time we saw bottle water was allowed through the security check with an extra machine inspection. We are now sitting near our gate to start the reversed journey we took to come to Rome: 6 hr flight to Abu Dhabi and 11 hr flight to Osaka.