Farvel Copenhagen, Ciao Italy!

Obviously the pandemic has made traveling even more of a challenge than usual. Adding to that, Italy now requires a “negative” PCR test prior to entry into the country. Fortunately, Copenhagen had numerous testing centers around the city and we found a convenient one within walking distance to our Airbnb and with our results in hand we headed to the airport for the flight to Rome.

Remember the old tag line from Hertz, “Not exactly?” – that’s Ryan Air.

The only direct flight that I could find was on Ryan Air of which I had heard more than a few bad things about….but hey, how bad could they be? You want a ticket agent to check you in? That will be an extra 80$ per person. Seats recline, not exactly. TV monitor to watch movies, not exactly. Also, they don’t assign a gate until 1 hour before departure which is only 30 min before boarding. Is the gate they assigned close by…not exactly. Actually, it is at the very end of the terminal.

Arriving in Rome, we were immediately greeted with the warm & balmy air you associate with Italy. It felt great! As we disembarked there was one person looking at everyone’s COVID test results and being obviously overwhelmed by the task, was quickly ushering everyone through with barely a glance at whatever we were offering as proof. However, masking is a requirement in all public areas in Italy.

I had done some homework and determined the best way to get to our next Airbnb, located in Civitavecchia, would require some luck and patience. After one bus ride and two trains we made it to the seaport city. Do the Rice’s travel in luxury? Not exactly…..

Our Airbnb was not the easiest to find but was not far from the train station. It was a beautiful two story, modern apartment located in the center of town. Our host supplied an espresso machine and Twinkie’s!

Terri had approved of the restaurants I had chosen in Copenhagen and agreed to go to a local pizzeria I found that had good reviews, Pizzaria del Ghetto. No menus and no silverware but they had fantastic pizza and some much needed vino & beer after a long day of traveling.