Dunedin to Rome

We left Dunedin on 15 November 2006 and after a gruelling 37 hours and 40 minutes of travelling we reached the Hotel Cortina, Via Nazionale, Rome.

At the first stop in Dubai there was some delay to replace a wheel assembly since the aeroplane's brakes were faulty. And then at the Milan stop they got their cargo all mixed up and we sat in the plane for an hour while they unpacked and repacked everything. Being herded on and off and on and off planes ain't no fun! On one leg of the journey we had a South African pilot and another South African chap in the cabin crew. Weird, since this was Emirates Airline.

The Hotel Cortina was situated on the second floor through this doorway and, would you believe it, there is another hotel on the fourth floor of the same building. The lift up to the second floor was really ancient - a small box with wrought-iron doors that you have to open and close manually. We only used it when we had our suitcases in tow.

It was HOT in Rome - we were sweating at 21 deg C and more. The Romans are crazy - you take your life in your own hands every time you cross the road - they drive like maniacs and don't stop at the red lights.

Highways have about 4 lanes, but not marked, so cars swerve in and out and never use indicators - all this at 150 km per hour. Most intersections are not controlled. At one point we watched a driver trying to cross a busy 3-lane highway. He finally managed by simply pushing the nose of the car into the traffic bit by bit. The cars on the highway merged, eventually into one lane, but would not stop until he left them no room to pass - and away he went!

So with all this heat about you can imagine our surprise when we came to realise how many of the pedestrians out and about on the streets were clothed in elegant tweeds, warm coats and wooly scarves. But tweeds in Rome? We would rather have expected to see that in the Scotland!