One night - three hotels

After a smooth flight to Rome, the fun started with a hair raising taxi ride to the centre. The Fiat taxi resembled a bread van but the driver who probably had a few years on me(!) plainly thought it was a Ferrari and proceeded to demonstrate that his best friends were all policemen. How else can you get away with doing 160 kph in a zone marked at 80kph?

He dropped me at the hotel where doormen took my bags to reception and then, upon presenting my pre-paid hotel voucher, I was informed that it was for a different hotel. Fortunately it was only a couple of hundred yards up the street, my bags were very heavy and even though they have wheels, I don't relish moving them very far. The correct hotel had no doormen but lots of stairs up from the street, so puffing and panting after hauling my bags up the stairs, I again presented my hotel voucher.

"Ah" says the receptionist, "we are putting you in another hotel".  At this, I felt slighly faint but it was explained that some people had fallen ill and weren't able to leave their hotel room, so the hotel ws having to relocate people checking in. Another taxi ride and I finially checked into the hotel "Principessa Isabella" which had nothing going for it apart, fortunately, from my room which was very nice.

I found dinner at an excellent restaurant called "Cesarina" , just around the corner and then slept like a log until daylight woke me this morning.  I took a walk from thge hotel to the Via Veneto where I planned to get a coffee but was thwarted by a thunderstorm that soaked me to the skin in about 30 seconds. I stopped to buy an umbrella from one of the itinerant africans selling them at the rain-inflated price of €5. PLainly he had been standing with them too long in the rain because in a very short time, the rusty stem broke and I was left with a heap of spokes.

Back at the  hotel, I managed to dry out somewhat before grabbing a taxi and moving hotels to the one where the tour is due to start - the ESH hotel which the sign on the door translates as "Executive Style Hotel" - who knew?