Arrival in Rome

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Originally uploaded by pdbreen.

Its about a 3 hour bus ride to Rome. Actually, it's about 2 hours to Rome, with another hour spent in the traffic that seems to grow exponentially as we approach the city. There were also a large number of motorcycles and motorbikes zipping in and out of traffic using pretty much any open pavement they could find - even it meant riding into oncoming traffic for brief stretches. Navigating a full size bus through the busy, narrow streets of Rome was a bit of an adventure. At one point, we took the side mirror off of a car that tried to squeeze past on the left. At another point, we tried to back up on a narrow one way street with cars queued behind us and motorbikes trying to squeeze past. Lots of honking and people on the streets looking on in amusement (good thing the windows were slightly tinted!). After a few loops and detours, we finally stop in front of the hotel and are able to unload.
This part of the trip was not well organized. A hotel concierge and another gentleman were there, but it was only after a while that we realized the gentleman was the VBT rep and it was only after a bit more questioning that we found out that our luggage would be taken care of and that we should check in and then assemble for a brief orientation. As Ted was not staying for the Rome extension, they juggled rooms a bit which meant that I had a room to myself for the stay in Rome.
The first part of the orientation consisted of a map and some pre-printed information on the hotel and a few nearby restaurants. The accent and speed at which the rep talked made it a challenge to keep up, but he was pretty much just reading through what was on the handouts. About halfway through the orientation, Frank, the rep that was supposed to meet us arrived.
It turns out that this is the same rep that greated Jennifer on an earlier VBT trip in Italy that she took. She had nothing but terrible things to say about him.
Rather than orienting us, he spent time selling an optional walking tour that he hosted that cost 30 euro and telling us that the best way to get through the vatican is to pretend to limp with strained breathing. Although joining the tour was tempting (with many others deciding to take it), I opted to head out and explore on my own.