Grace's Lucky Layover
Being a Flight Attendant for the last 20 years, I have traveled to so many places and had the opportunity to layover in lots of cities as well. Of course, I have my usual places I really enjoy staying at — Manchester, UK and Glasgow, Scotland — I consider those cities to be a second home to me. If anyone asked me what my ‘route’ was, I’d quickly reply those cities. Manchester and Glasgow are my quick flights, quick layovers for shopping and relaxing on my own.
However, if you were to ask me what my most memorable layover has been so far to date…hmmmm… the one that sticks out in my head is Rome circa Summer 2014.
I had been to FCO (Rome) many, many times. Probably too many times to count. This time, the schedule gods were kind enough to put a little 24hr FCO on all of our schedules. As I had mentioned before, I had been to FCO many times, but I was usually too tired after working the flight to go out, or we stayed by the hotel pool and baked in the Italian sun all afternoon and ate a crew dinner somewhere by the hotel.
This time I was with my 2 best friends! When we landed into FCO, I had nonchalantly mentioned to them that I had never seen Rome. They looked at me and said “WHAT?”. I laughed it off because I knew how strange it sounded coming from someone that had flown to FCO dozens of times. They both said, “LET’S WALK AROUND AND SHOW YOU EVERYTHING!” I agreed!!!!!
After a quick 2 hr nap in the hotel, we headed out. The hotel was situated by Vatican City. We were able to do a quick 20 min walk to Vatican City and look around. We stopped and had Espresso (to give us a little pep in our day) by the Vatican, we soaked in the history and listened to the bells chiming. There is something very calming about sitting by that area, many priests and nuns walking around, tour guides with their groups, and little Italian elderly ladies with their rosaries wrapped around their hands. Vatican City was beautiful.
Off to the next spot.
We continued our walk past the Vatican City and headed into the Italian Jewish Ghettos. (Yes, we walked… in order to really see all the beautiful hidden gems, you must walk). In the heart of Rome, you will find this place. Wow, the stunning architecture of the synagogue — beautiful dome and the old buildings makes you feel like you are walking back in time. We marveled and looked around the 4 blocks, this was a part of Rome not many people visit. I highly recommend it!
Off to the next spot.
In between attractions we would stop for photos and selfies. We enjoyed stopping into all the quaint shops and peering into all the restaurants, which smelled so delicious. We laughed too much — perhaps we were a bit too giddy from the lack of sleep, but being with good company keeps the morale and energy up. We stopped by an outdoor market/festival in the middle of the city, one of my friends bought some old antique books to decorate her coffee table and bookshelves at home.
Along the way, we stopped at the Trevi fountain. Probably the most popular tourist attraction in all of Rome. And believe me, it was. Tons of people around, mainly tourists. It was smaller than I had imagined it in my head, but still very beautiful. I was amazed at all the fine detailed stonework they were able to carve out in the 18th century. The sound of the water in the fountain was soothing after hearing the hustle and bustle of the honking horns, noisy buzzing of Vespa bikes and constant chatter of people. It is customary for people to throw in some coins into the fountain and make a wish. Of course, we did it together.
Off to the next spot.
We were starving at this point, we found a little restaurant nearby in a little alley way, we stopped for some pizza, pasta and tiramisu. You know what they say…”When in Rome…” LOL. We ate and laughed and bonded over the delicious food. No time to stay too long, off to the next spot.
We walked a bit more and found ourselves standing at the Spanish steps. It’s a very lively and busy square. Many people are sitting on the steps, hanging out, chatting, resting, eating. We walked to the top of the steps which overlooks a beautiful church. We walked around the top of the steps for a bit and chatted. There are lots of couples walking around arm in arm. Who can resist romance of Rome?
Off to the next spot.
It’s now becoming dark; we start thinking to head back to the hotel. But first we must walk past the Colosseum. This is a large amphitheater and most recognizable landmarks for Italy. It was massive. I had only seen it in photos and videos until this point and sometimes we drove past it in the crew bus. Huge, and in remarkably good condition considering how old it was. We did not go in, as it was late and closing. But we did stop and take some fun selfies. And we took photos for other tourists.
The walk back, we stopped for some drinks and gelato (Italian ice cream). Let me just say, the heat in Rome during the summer is HOT — 40 degrees-ish. Even in the night the weather was muggy and hot. The gelato had to be eaten quickly or else you have a sticky mess on your clothes and face. We sat along the side of the streets to finish it off and then kept walking. We were tempted to hop on a bus, but we didn’t know the bus routes and we figured we could make it back by foot, or worst-case scenario we could cab it back.
We ended up stopping at a local grocery store to buy our Italian groceries for home. Fun fact, many Flight Attendants do their grocery shopping on layovers. We had purchased boxes of pastas, bricks of Parmesan cheeses, fresh burrata cheeses, Italian cookies, tomato pastes, ground espresso beans, Italian wines, and other treats. We lugged it all back to the hotel.
I was wishing we had a cab, but none to be seen in this quiet part of town.
We did Rome in a day. A short 24 hr layover. We were exhausted and sticky. We all had our own rooms, but we wanted to keep the fun going and we slept over in one room. We chatted all night long, we laughed and laughed until we were too tired to smile or talk.
I have had many many layovers with them, but this Rome layover turned out to be such a beautiful memory for me. They showed me the beauty of Rome. And being on a layover with your best friends is priceless. I hope everyone gets to experience this.
Follow your dreams.
- Grace
