Trouble in Rome

[Enug]

We have made it as far as Singapore on our way home but not without huge problems. It started with Frank leaving the bag containing his passport, airline tickets and Samsung tablet in the cab which took us to the airport. He quickly rang the cab company and was told the driver was heading back with our belongings - we were told to wait where we had been dropped off. An 1-1/2hr later and several phone calls convinced us that we had seen the last of the driver and our bag.

To top it off, there had been a fire in Terminal3 (our terminal) the previous day and it was out of commission. We were faced with thousands of passengers milling around trying to find their respective terminals and check in desks. After queuing for ages we at last got on a shuttle to terminal 5. The crush of passengers outside the terminal pushing and shoving trying to get in was unbelievable. Doing a lot of pushing outselves we finally gained entrance to the terminal but there were so many people we couldn't find where to go. We could find no one to help us or who was even in the slightest bit interested - even the police ignored us when we tried to tell them about the theft of our passport.

Time was ticking by and Frank left me with the bags while he tried to find an solution to our situation. I was devastated and must has look dejected sitting there as several passengers came to me offering water and sympathising with our situation. We had approached several people in uniform but none were helpful and I had given up as out plane was due to leave in 15mins.

An angel appeared in the guise of a young woman in uniform who made some phone calls and once I was reunited with Frank things started moving. She assured me we would not miss the plane as it was delayed. However by the time Frank's photocopy of his passport was approved by the checkin desk and then immigration, we were whisked by car out to the tarmac and boarded the plane.

12or so hours later we were in Singapore awaiting our escort to the Transfer Desk to sort out the passport problem. The Aust. Embassy has issued a temporary passport number (we think- some language problems) so here we are sitting in the lounge whiling away the hours (15) until our next flight home. We booked a room at the airport so have had a sleep and a shower and feeling a little better.

I've had to change some passwords as I hadn't locked the tablet but on the whole everything is safe but I loved that tab and I don't know if travel insurance will cover it as we couldn't get evidence of a police report-they just brushed us aside. Thankfully, our photos, nearly 300 of them are safely tucked away in the clouds.

Needless to say we never want to see Rome airport again.

[D Akey]

Welcome to the Hotel California. . . You may check out any time you like, but you can never leave. . .

They say that all roads lead TO Rome. They don't say anything about there being any roads leading out. . . I remember in the movie "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" that Buster Keaton had been scammed into thinking he had to run around the seven hills of Rome for some reason or other -- to find his daughter or something, which he bought, and spent the rest of the movie running round and round. . . and round. . . so there's a precedent. You got sucked into the silent movie comic vortex. Hey, could happen to anyone.

So sorry. What a nightmare. A dishonest cab driver, who would have thought.

Well, I hope you make it back alright if you haven't already arrived home and hugged a sheep amidst the venomous snakes welcoming you back. Admit it. . . travel can be challenging. Just be grateful you weren't in Nepal.

Look. You guys are healthy, if not a little (or a lot) inconvenienced. That trumps theft any day.

So why aren't you painting? Get on it, lass. The forums have been very slow without you and several of the others. You've been missed.

[Enug]

A couple more hiccups but we have arrived home, sans luggage. Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow and I'll be able to start on the washing - fun!

Sadly I can't find my photos downloaded, or so I thought, to Google Drive. They are still on the missing Samsung - and I thought they were safe up in them thar clouds. I have the ones downloaded to AR and a couple of videos on Youtube I had uploaded for the family.

No sheep hugging but the cats were pleased to see us.

I'll need a little time to get my bearings and get over the jetlag and then I'll get out the paints again.

[D Akey]

Jeez! Will the waters not settle!

I don't even know what to say. You lost a passport, lost your tablet but through the irony of life, you salvaged your dirty laundry? I suppose when it's clean only then you'll be sending it to the thieves? By all reports my grandmother was like that. It would never do to be caught with anything less than all tidy.

At least your cats knew better than to make a mess. . .

[Caesar]

I'm really sorry for Your misadventure coinciding, I may presume, with a serious fire damaging 1.000 square meter of one terminal in Fiumicino which blocked the airport and the flight for over than 6 hours and is still giving some problem this week for a full functionality recovery (for flights and so on).
Last Thursday morning (if I'm not wrong) also one of my colleagues had a very early leaving, but one of the terminal, in a central position, as I anticipated, caught on a big fire. So his cab was detoured to the lower lane (the arrivals) to then leave again just in time, since heavy smoke was all over and the terminal was impossible to enter even far enough from the fire. He was lucky to come back to Rome soon since all the motorway was then blocked from the Rome ring to Fiumicino and cars satyed there for hours. It's incredible what happened, since one would expect a prompt detection and solution in an airport even overnight or early in the morning. The plain truth is that for a considerable there was no clear idea and information on how the various carriers and planes would come and leave from where by re-setting place and gates. I guess that was what all the mess came from,
In such a case therefore, I cannot say if the taxy driver intention actually was to take your luggage back to the airport or not, for either being a dishonest guy or finding it not worthwhile to him, or, instead, just because he could not get to the airport anymore for most of the day for the traffic blockage. I don't know if You succeeded to get in touch again with someone of the radio taxy organisation later on to check how they could have You get you luggage alternatively or if You left them where they could eventually find You (or get in touch) even days later to help You recovery what You lost somehow.
It's really ashaming and embarassing for me to hear of such a very disappointing and wearying misadventure although it happened for a quite unique cause, since it was not a strike or an ordinary kind of mishap and not even a possible "local" or "typical" bad practice.
I just hope You are at least fine now at home and that all the rest of the vacation was good and enjoyable.

[Enug]

No reason to be embarrassed Caesar - these things can happen in any country. We left the day after the fire - we did not know about it before our arrival at the terminal. There wasn't any indication that we could see, of a fire except some parts were roped off, like the elevators. There were no signs telling passengers of the disruption and there were passengers in the terminal, especially queuing at the information desk. Frank did find out by checking the board in Terminal 3 that our flight had been moved to Terminal 5 some distance away. We only learnt of the fire while being driven to the boarding gate.

It took us just over 30mins to get from our hotel in Via Principie Amadeo to the airport so I don't think there was more traffic than usual. We waited as I said for 1-1/2 hours and the arrangement was to wait at the point where we alighted from the taxi. Cars were pulling in and exiting the drop off continually while we waited - there would have been no problem for him to pull in. He could have taken our bag back to the hotel - they have our address. It was an executive taxi transfer which was booked for us by the receptionist at the hotel so it was easy for contact to be made with the driver. I'm sorry but I think he has stolen the bag and contents. Frank has emailed the Hotel so we will see what they have to say.

We managed to get home without the tickets and passport tho it was very distressing and I felt the effect of the situation during the long flight/s back to Australia but I'm most disappointed with the loss of the tablet with all our photos. I still don't know why they didn't sync with OneDrive on my pc. We contacted the travel insurance company and wouldn't you know - there is a clause exempting claims for lost or stolen belongings.

Frank is in the process of notifying the authorities of his lost passport which is mandatory but he doubts he will apply for another - he's still adamant he will not travel overseas again. I think if we do travel again we will need carers to look after us.!!!!

The rest of our luggage was delivered to us today having come on another flight, so Mr.Akey will be pleased to know I've done the laundry.

Edit: Yes, the rest of the vacation was wonderful and they will be the memories we keep - the bad ones will fade away.

[D Akey]

Well, I can kind of see your bloke's point. Travel is work and you always have to keep one eye open. But it's also wonderful.

In certain places they have good rocks by the river to do your laundry with the singing womenfolk from the village. . . a sort of babbling brook rock beating karaoke. . . while the men sit at outdoor cafes drinking and watching the young ladies sashay by. What's not to like.

I should think that Australia has a lot to look at as well. And laundry to do, while the game's on.

Go Enug go!