We had heard about the fire at Rome airport, so were a little apprehensive about our flight. Luckily for us the airport had reopened and we were flying into a different terminal.
We were staying in an airport hotel, and had just missed the shuttle. Apparently there is a set tariff for cabs from the airport, 35 euro even if like us you're only going a few miles. Luckily as we were looking for the shuttle, an "unofficial. " cab approached us and offered us the ride for 15 euro.
We had a relaxing night at the Golden Tulip hotel, enjoying their restaurant over-looking the pool and garden.
The next day was anything but relaxing. About half of British Airways flights from Rome to London were cancelled, but ours was still flying. The hotel shuttle took us to Terminal 5, as Terminal 3 was not usable. The terminal was chaos, as it wasn't set up to accommodate the hoards of people. Everyone had to wait outside the terminal until they were ready to deal with their flight. Of course every-one was still trying to push their way in! Once inside there was a line-up to get into the next room, where there was another lineup to check-in. The baggage had to be loaded on carts and taken out of the terminal. The airport employees were doing their best under very trying conditions, they had people coming around offering water and snacks. Once we finally got checked it it didn't take long to get through security, and get a bus to another terminal where we boarded our flight. There was more delay to wait for baggage, as much of the usual equipment couldn't be used.. Our flight departed 2 hours late, and as we had a 2 hour 15 min connection at Heathrow we were a little nervous! We arrived at Heathrow with about 20 min to make our connection. Luckily as there were quite a few people connecting from Rome, they held the plane for us. Most amazingly, when we arrived in Vancouver our luggage had made it as well!
The hectic return couldn't take away from a wonderful trip.
Now, back to work!
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