A dramatic start

My first drama happened within half an hour of arriving in Rome, and unfortunately it was almost entirely due to my travel naivety. (Except for a fortnight in Malaysia/Vietnam, I have never been outside Australasia). I had made my way from the airport to Roma Termini (Rome’s central station) and was waiting for the bus that would take me to near my hotel just off the Piazza Navona.

Imagine a bus terminal where there are about 15 platforms, each filled with people bustling and jostling, speaking a foreign language (very loud). Now imagine you've been traveling for about 28 hours by now. You're not at your freshest or sharpest and you are trying to manoeuvre through this throng with a handbag, a cabin bag, and a large suitcase.

A kind girl of approximately 13 or 14 offered to assist me to get my suitcase up into the bus and I thanked her. Before I knew it there were 2 or 3 other girls pushing and jostling and I could feel them yanking on my handbag, but was being pushed around so much that I couldn't do anything about it. Eventually the driver and one or two others dragged the girls off the bus and told them where to go.

Before leaving Australia I had debated buying one of those handbags that are designed for travellers with all sorts of security features, but I thought $140 for the one I wanted was too much and they were probably just a gimmick anyway so I walked out of the shop without buying it. But just before I left I changed my mind and went back and grabbed it. It turned out to be half-price anyway! And within half an hour of being overseas it had more than paid for itself. I had the security clasps shut and they hadn't been able to get into it. Sucked in you little shits!!!

So I was a little shaken, but the people around me on the bus were nice, checking if I was okay. More people crammed in and the doors closed and the bus left the terminal. There was no room to move an inch. We were packed in tighter than sardines and I was also much more aware of protecting my belongings now. There was a disgusting man pushing up against me who smelt like his annual bath was due last month. Beer and cigarettes with subtle undertones of urine and highlights of six-month-old sweat. He positioned himself in such a way that his hand was between my butt and the rail I was pressed against which was bad enough, but the he started rubbing my butt!!! I was horrified! I gave him ‘the look’ and tried to elbow him away but there was absolutely no room to move… so I grabbed his arm and removed it from behind me. But then the filthy, lecherous pig started rubbing my breast and had his other hand is his pocket, touching himself. Thankfully the bus reached a stop at that point and I just grabbed my suitcase and pushed my way off the bus (with people saying bad words in Italian at me as I ran them down). I was terrified that he would follow me, but he didn't.

So I was somewhere in Rome, only a couple of stops away from where I had started and very little idea of where I was and more than a little freaked out. So I just started walking (or whatever you call the act of dragging a suitcase over uneven cobblestones along streets that appear to have no road rules and certainly have no sense of geometry).

Yes, this is a road. People drive down here...

Before I left Australia I downloaded a fantastic little app called Maps.me with which you can download detailed maps of your destinations and then access them offline. What a lifesaver! It was a loooong walk (or at least it felt like it), with occasional surprises like military personnel standing on street corners and in front of important buildings brandishing automatic weapons. Apparently the ‘High Alert’ status is still active following the 2015 terrorism attacks in Paris (or so I was told).

Eventually I found a taxi stand (you can't flag down taxis in Rome), but the driver wouldn't take me because apparently the route was too short and they don't take short fares... I was really, really getting over Rome by this point! But at least he pointed me in the direction of my hotel and said it was only a 10 minute walk. With all my luggage and the cobblestones and my tired legs it was more like 15 or 20 minutes, but I found it without further incident!!! I was sooooo happy to get into my tiny room at the top of all those stairs and collapse onto the (tiny) bed!

My cute room at Hotel Teatro Pace, Rome

At that point in my trip, I was quite determined to stay in my hotel room and not leave until it was time to head south to Sorrento 3 days later... I was tired, shaken, stirred, and had been wearing the same clothes for about thirty hours by then... and I could still smell that filthy man on me.

But things got better 😄...