Tuesday, November 4, 2025 thru Wednesday, November 5, - SeaTac airport to Rome
If you are new to this blog, a warning. I write this for my future 80 yr old self to help me remember what our trips of past days were like. Lots of detail. Not much of a story line. Experiences common to all travelers across time zones. A strong stimulant is recommended to maintain attention. Good luck;
Sally’s alarm went off at 6:30 this morning, waking her and letting me know it was time to get up. It didn’t wake me. As is my body’s habit, I had been awake since 3:30am alternately resting in a sleeping position and getting up to use the bathroom or attend to some detail my overactive brain conjured up instead of sleeping.
We had all preparations completed early enough last night to watch a couple episodes of “The Diplomat”. This morning it was showers, omelet for breakfast, preparing sandwiches for lunches and tidying up the house.
Bill and Pat arrived at 8:27. We loaded into their new Prius and were up the driveway by 8:34. Sally and Pat chatted in the backseat while Bill and I did the same in the front seats. There was no slowing of traffic for the whole route and we arrived at the airport about 10:20.
Last night I received an email for Lufthansa telling us to be extra early because of the government shutdown and delays at the TSA stations. Arriving at 10:20am for a 2:00pm flight seemed excessive, but we were being responsible. There was no line at TSA Pre-check and we were on the subway to the south gates by 10:30.
Interestingly, there were no bins at the TSA Pre-check station, yet they wanted us to empty our pockets . . . into what? Luckily, I was carrying an open bag I could dump my pocket’s contents into before going through the scanner. In my rush I missed my passport in a zippered front pocket and a hanky in my rear pocket. The guard stopped me when he saw the deformity in my front pocket and had me take it out. I complained about no trays to put my stuff in. He said, this is precheck. Don’t need trays in precheck. Well, where am I supposed to put the billion things I carry in my pockets? He told me in my bags. It’s safer in there. Hey! I’m a Caley, my father’s son. Do you know how much stuff we Caley men carry in our pockets? My father’s shirt pockets strained under the weight of pads of paper, pencils and pens, a calculator, a small metal ruler, his cell phone and a couple pieces of candy. He always had a pocket knife in his pants pocket along with other important stuff. Bring back the trays to Pre-check!
Sally and I sat for three hours by gate S15 before sitting for 9 hours in the plane. We used the time to do that which we should have done in the previous weeks, carefully study where the Way of St. Francis took us and what accommodations were available en route this late in the year. We had a rough plan, but we refined the first five days, even calling the Hotel Trevi in the hilltop town of Trevi to ask about rates and availability. From searching booking.com and our calls we are beginning to get the impression that reservations may not be necessary in this off season. We will know more once we get to Assisi and explore that area for a few days while we recover from jet lag. Tuesday night is spent in the plane getting to Frankfurt, Wednesday night we will spend a grew blocks from the train station in Rome. Thursday, Friday and Saturday night will be in Assisi and then we start walking. Night one in Spello, about 8 miles along the Way. Night two in Trevi, a 12 mile day. Night three in Poreta, an eight mile jaunt. Night four in Spoleto, another 8 mile day. Each town has some piece of St Francis’s history in it. I listened to a 12 part, six hour lecture series on the history of Francis on the 9 hour flight to Frankfurt, so I have a little background to go on. The more we read and plan, the more excited I am to get walking. We will walk from one hill top, walled town to the next. Our guide book has good info about what towns have food and which we will have to carry food into. Choices to stay are very limited and range from hotels to monasteries. As Indian Jones says, “I’m making this up as I go”.
We always buy the cheapest flight tickets we can find regardless of airline. This trip we were aboard Lufthansa, an Airbus 340. We have been blown away by the flight crew. One of the men moved us out of the center block of four across seating into business class, an aisle and window seat. We didn't ask for it, he just saw us sitting in a full row and asked if we would like a little more “air”. He had Sally go “try on” the seats. She approved so he beckoned me forward, then quickly dropped back to help me move our bags to a closer overhead bin. He gave us half a dozen pillows so we could get comfortable to sleep. Once seated, he brought us two mixed drinks, again not asked for. All this while we were still sitting at the gate in Seattle. Once in the air the kindness continued.
We are traveling fairly light. Besides the clothes I have on, I have a fleece pullover, a puffy coat, rain pants and jacket, one pair of extra socks, one extra underwear, mittens and a hat. Sally packed a dress, 2 tops, a pair of sweats, an extravagant 3 underwear and an extra pair of socks along with her jackets and rain gear. We brought sleeping bags in case we stay in monasteries.
Never tried a walk in November before. A little trepidation about rain and cooler temperatures, but looking forward to not baking under the hot spring, summer or fall sun.
We landed in Frankfurt about half an hour late, 9:35am, pinching the time for our connection to our next flight scheduled to start boarding at 10:20am. The plane parked on the tarmac and we had to ride a bus to Terminal A. The ride seemed to take forever but we were finally disgorged at 10:05. A quick second to check the flight schedule, “on time” at gate A21, then a sprint up the stairs to customs. The line snaked back and forth with 50 people in front of us and 4 agents checking passports. We are not going to make it. The woman in front of us was in the same predicament and started asking the people in the switchback ahead of us if we could cut in front of them. They said yes, and we got to the customs agents by 10:13. Once through we hoofed it down the concourse to A21 by 10:17, allowing us time to visit the toilet before we marched onto the plane in the third boarding group and plopped into seats 12A & B. Whew, that was close.
Did I mention the weather was perfect? Not a cloud in the sky. We flew south, passing over the Alps. The top 3000’ had a layer of new snow sparkling in the sun, contrasting beautifully with the verdant green valleys that run deep into the range. It was magnificent. As soon as we crossed the alps we could look down to the Po River Valley and see it flowing eastward to the sea. There we saw Venice and its causeway off to the east. Over the Apennine mountains and we landed in Fiumicino.
We chose to ride a bus to the Termini train station in Rome rather than the Leonardo Express train, mostly due to price. Train-€18.00 each, bus €9.00 each. We sat in the front most seat to have the best view and enjoyed watching the driver weave this monster tour bus through the narrow highway lanes and crowded downtown streets.
Once at Termini we walked to the Hotel Sonya, about 1.3 miles away and registered for the night. The last half mile was wearing on us due to lack of sleep. Other than a few short cat naps, we had been up for over 24 hours straight and were fading. Once in our third floor room we flopped into the bed and took an hour or two nap.
Awake at 4:30, we searched with mapping programs for a hiking shop where we could buy trekking poles. We found one about 1.4 miles away, not too far from Piazza Navona, a place we hoped to visit.
It is amazing how vibrant this city is after dark. The two of us could not walk side by side due to the crush of people on the sidewalks and streets. Using Apple Maps tied to my watch we navigated across town to the mountain shop and found trekking poles for €50.
By now we were getting hungry. I had mentioned finding a Dońar Kebab for dinner and Sally was all in. Searching the map we found one a 6 minute walk from the mountain shop. They had Kebab sandwiches so we ordered one chicken and one lamb. They were not what we had hoped for, but they filled our empty bellies. These were made shish kebab style, roasting the meat on a charcoal burner under the vent hood in the kitchen and then putting the pieces into a hoagy style roll and draping it with sauces. Sally’s lamb meat looked super pink when she bit in. She chose to pull the meat out and just eat the roll, veggies and sauces. Mine had some strong and unfamiliar flavors. I could get used to it if I ate it more often, but at least the chicken pieces were cooked through.
Dinner done, poles in hand, we navigated to Piazza Navone, then the Pantheon and finally Trevi Fountain on our way back to our hotel room. It was now prime Roma dinner time and the streets were packed as were the tables at every restaurant. We were beginning to drag again. We made it back up the hill and into our room, plunked down on the bed and prepared to sleep. 8:30pm here translates to 11:30am back home, but we were able to fall asleep.
Great first 30 or so hours. After hiking both the PCT and the CDT where 600 miles for a month of walking is the standard, it is mind blowing to fly those same monthly distances each hour and be on the other side of the planet in less than 24 hours. Mind blowing.
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