Friday 11 December

The flight from Hong Kong to Rome unfortunately gave me the opportunity to revisit an aspect of our US flights. Zac developed a temperature and spent some of the trip throwing up 😕 Unlike my olden days, the airline doesn’t put sick bags in the seat pockets anymore, so Zac and I had to trek the aisle four times to replace his sick bag.

I was SO organised before we left, collecting medicines for a variety of ailments, accompanied by a doctor’s letter. I have Panadol, Nurofen, Zofran, stemetil, medicine for migraines, croup, an antibiotic etc….I’m ready for illness! Except for the fact it was all stored in the suitcases in the baggage compartment downstairs and Zac was sick upstairs!! Anyway, what’s a Jones holiday without someone being sick…

I had booked a shuttle from the airport to our accommodation in Roma, which was much appreciated when we emerged from baggage collection to see a man holding our name up and driving a Mercedes van! Alessandro took us to the centre of Rome where we met the man who was checking us in. I used booking.com (for the first time ever!) to find this accommodation. Unfortunately we were too early in the morning to be able to use the apartment as the previous tenant was still there, but Federico stored our luggage and said to meet back here at 10am. It was 7 degrees when we arrived, so everyone had the opportunity to try their big jackets and gloves and beanies! 

We decided to explore our immediate surrounds, walked 50m down the road, and discovered the Trevi fountain right in front of us!! We then found a little store that sold coffee and pastries and croissants, so enjoyed our second breakfast for the day. We walked a couple more blocks, bought some supplies at a local supermarket and returned to the room. 

  
The cleaners were still there, so we set out again and walked up to the Spanish steps (fenced off for renovation) and Piazza Di Spagna. We found another shop in our strolls that served spinach and cheese and other pastry varieties, so stopped in for lunch. 

We then returned to our apartment for a mandatory siesta, as Zac still had a high temperature and no one achieved a decent night’s sleep on the plane. Everyone was very sluggish waking up from that! The older three and Ross sourced some pizza for dinner (when in Rome…), and at 7pm we are now all ready to return to bed! 😴 

  
(Garden view from my bedroom)