Today was simply a travel day. But, travel days make for good stories too.
We woke up early, around 6:30am and started packing up our stuff to leave Rome. We headed for the number 64 bus to take from Stazzione di S. Pietro, near where we were staying, to the Stazione Termini in the center of Rome. We bought our tickets from the “Tabacchi” shop for one Euro each, and boarded the bus. The ride into the city center was much smoother than our ride into the city. We even passed a hotel that reminded us a little bit of home.
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| If you look at the sign closely, you can see that it says "Michigan Hotel." |
Once we arrived at the station, we stopped at a ticket kiosk to purchase our train tickets to Leonardo Da Vinci airport. We had heard there were two trains to the airport, and express and a local train (meaning it makes stops along the way and takes a bit longer). We were trying to purchase the local train tickets because we had heard they were cheaper. However, when we looked at the kiosk there was only one option, the express train. So, we paid the 14 Euros a piece and purchased the tickets. (Only later, did we realize that the local train tickets were sold at a different kiosk).
From here, we stopped at the Post Office to mail our postcards, and we headed for the train. The airport trains were down a separate corridor than the rest of the trains at the station – which was quite a walk. However, considering we'd be spending a lot of the day sitting while in transport.
We boarded the express train, and about 45 minutes later, we arrived at the airport – with plenty of time before our flight (about 3 hours actually). We quickly found the check-in desk for Egypt Air, and got in the long, slow-moving, line. We were able to check our luggage without a fee, which was a relief for both of us because we weren't familiar with the guidelines for Egypt Air. We learned that our flight was delayed by 45 minutes, but that wasn't much of a concern to us because we would rather be early than late. We headed for security, where Erin got through without a problem, but James was stopped and searched. Once he was cleared, we headed to our gate. We got there and only to other people were there (an indication that we were VERY early). We enjoyed a nice lunch in the airport fast food court, before heading back to the gate where James read his Kindle, and Erin decided to wander through the airport shops.
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| Erin sitting on the express train from Stazzione Termini to Leonardo Da Vinci airport. |
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| While Erin was wandering through the airport, she perused the pages of a very expensive ($13) US gossip magazine. |
A few minutes before our boarding time, Erin decided she should probably purchase a snack because it was a 3-hour flight and she knew she'd be hungry. Despite stressing James out a bit with her last minute decision (she could have grabbed a snack anytime within the three-hour timespan in the airport), she quickly ran off, purchased her snack, and returned before boarding actually began. We boarded without a problem, and settled down for the three-hour flight to Cairo. The plane was extremely hot when we boarded, and typically before the plane begins its flight, there isn't much air-flow inside the cabin. Erin tried to close the airline window pane to decrease some of the sun coming in, but the flight attendant quickly informed her that it needed to be up for take-off. (Does anyone know why this is? Just curious).
We were pleasantly surprised about mid-way through the flight when we received a meal. In the US, it isn't typical to be fed on a flight that is only about 3 hours in duration. However, we hypothesized that they provided the meal because it was an international flight. We arrived in Cairo at about 7pm, losing another hour of time. (Now we are 7 hours ahead of our usual time in Michigan).
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| The view from our airplane as we left Italy and headed for Egypt. |
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| A nice dinner from Egypt Air. |
Once we got our luggage (and were thankful that everything was perfectly intact), we ventured outside to find a taxi. Our tour package provided some type transportation to the hotel, but we decided we would take the cheaper route, and find a taxi ourselves. Our tour information suggested that a decent price for a taxi would be between 100-120 Egyptian Pounds – so,we had that number in mind. As with many airport arrivals, as soon as you head outside, people begin to ask you if you need a taxi. We wandered around a bit, trying to find the area of taxis that were “licensed” or a bit safer. When we couldn't find the area we imagined existed, James asked one of the taxi drivers how much it would cost to take us to our hotel. The man said 100 Eyptian Pounds. James confirmed the price, and we decided to take the taxi. James took a picture of the license plate (because you never know), and we hopped inside the car, keeping all of our baggage in the back seat with us (again, because you never know).
The driver and the taxi agent (who conjured us into the ride), were both in the car as we left the airport. We stopped at a security booth just outside the airport and had to write down our names before leaving, which made us feel a little bit safer. As we listened to the conversation between the two men in the car, we began to get the feeling that the taxi agent knew where our hotel was, but that the driver himself did not. This was troubling, but we figured they would figure it out. Soon after, we dropped off the agent, and we were only in the car with the driver. He was very pleasant, and introduced himself to us. He said he liked Obama and that he was Christian – which is surprising, because 90% of Egyptians are Muslim. We were polite, but decided not to discuss religion or politics (advice we were given by James's stepfather, Al).
The taxi ride was interesting to say the least. First of all, the traffic in Cairo is awful. The cars pay little attention to the lines on the road, and commonly drive between lanes. This means cars are all over the congested roads, and people are frequently honking at one another. In many instances, a three-lane road is a five-lane road with no room for error.
Second, within minutes, it became clear to us that our taxi driver had no idea where he was taking us. On multiple occasions, he stopped to talk to other drivers and passengers asking for directions. He had us try to call the hotel on his cell phone (unsuccessfully). He asked us if we had a map, which we did, but it still was not helpful for him. He even pulled the car over, parked, got out, and went into a separate hotel asking for directions – during which time a security guard approached the car and told us that we couldn't park there. Finally, after all of this and an hour and a half, our driver got us to our destination. Once there, he made sure we took his name and phone number in case we wanted to hire him again tomorrow.
We were able to check into the Cosmopolitan Hotel without a problem. We headed up to our room to drop off our luggage and went right back down to the lobby. Our tour group was supposed to have a meeting at 10pm, and it was nearly that time. We stopped at the front desk only to learn that the group had already met at 6:30pm. Luckily, someone else from our tour group overheard us, and provided us with some of the details discussed at the meeting. We thanked him, and decided to get some sleep. Tomorrow we meet the rest of the people on our tour and we will be exploring the Giza Pyramids!