All roads lead to Rome

There always seems to be some sort of stress before I travel to the Northern Hemisphere and this time was no different. Fortunately it was not so bad this time like getting my credit card skimmed and cancelled or only getting the visa on the day before flying out. I received a phone call about two hours before I was due to leave for the airport from the accommodation booking agency (Booking.com) to tell me that the little bed and breakfast I had made a reservation at, had a serious problem with their electricity supply and they had to relocate all their guests. They had, however, made found me another place to stay. My stress was that I had worked out exactly how to get to the first place from the airport and how to get from there to my meeting venue. I had a quick look at the new bed and breakfast's online page and it seemed okay and then had a look at how to get to where I needed to be. Well it was further than the first place from my work venue but seemed to be a within walking distance so I agreed to the change. With that all settled I left for Durban's King Shaka International airport to start the journey north.

I was flying out on Emirates Airways and was immediately impressed with their service. There were lots of friendly staff members around and the process of handing in my luggage was quick and smooth. I said goodbye to my suitcase (and the bottle of wine in it) and wished it a safe voyage hoping that we would meet up again in Rome. Boarding was also very efficient and soon enough I was in my seat and ready to go. We left Durban early and the flight was almost an hour shorter than had been estimated on the air ticket. This meant that we arrived in Dubai just after 4 am instead of after 5 am. I'm not sure where the plane parked in relation to the airport but it seemed to be somewhere in Outer Mongolia. We were put onto a bus to be ferried to the airport terminal and the drive went on and on and on! I was so glad that I was not rushing for a connection and could just relax and enjoy the ride. Dubai Airport has certainly changed since I was last there (2001 I think) in that it is substantially bigger. There were no trains to take me to the transfer gates I am sure yet this time I had to train it to go to the right gate.

I found my gate as printed on my boarding pass and as displayed on the gate information boards and settled down for an hour and a half of sleep. When I woke up there was an airline ground staff member walking through all the people saying that the gate for the Rome flight had changed and was now at one at the other end of the terminal. I walked over to the gate and found that it was already open and I could pass through the stage of having my pass checked and be seated in the holding area. And there we sat! Eventually after the proposed boarding time had lapsed an announcement was made that we would be boarding late due to the late arrival of the plane and that the security checks and cleaning services were still being conducted. I have no issue with waiting for a security check to be done - rather safe than sorry. Finally though we could board and I found my seat on this great big Airbus A380 - my first time on this type of aircraft. The flight was very empty and I was really hoping there would be no one else in my row so that I could lie down and sleep all the way to Rome. I really lucked out though because my row of three seats was the only one that had two people sitting there! The young woman sitting next to me was equally disappointed because she was travelling from New Zealand and desperately wanted to lie down too. She even asked one of the hostesses if there was another row that was open and was promptly taken to a row further back but bizarrely this row also had another person in it (not sure what the hostess was up to in taking her there) and she returned back to her original seat - unfortunately for me. Anyway once we were in the air I watched a couple of movies and had little naps in between.

The Airbus A380 waiting for us

This flight was supposed to have been shorter than the first flight by two hours but ended up being about the same duration. When we flew into the Rome airspace, already a little late, we were put into a holding pattern because of traffic congestion at the airport. We hung about for approximately 45 minutes before being allowed to approach. As we were coming in to land the pilot deployed the landing gear and we heard an almighty bang and felt something hit hard against the aircraft. My row companion looked at me and said "That was a concerning!" My thought was that a tyre had exploded but nothing was said to us about it and the approach continued. Well that was probably one of the worst landings I have experienced! We hit the tarmac hard and slewed around quite a lot before finally slowing down and making our way to the gate. Thankfully we arrived at the gate and still nothing was said about what had happened.

Immigration was a breeze. My guy was really surly but he just grunted for my passport, stamped it and let me go. Quite different from the "hundred" questions I always seemed to get at Amsterdam! At the carousel I waited and waited for my suitcase but was eventually rewarded by its arrival and thankfully it wasn't dripping out any wine. The Customs people never even glanced my way and soon I was out and trying to find the best way to the city.

I went to the tourist information centre and was told that I should get the SIT bus and was given a little map of where I should get off the bus and directions to walk from there to my hotel. I asked where I had to go to get the bus and the guy said the bus terminal was out to the right. For a while there were signs to the bus terminal and I followed these but eventually there were no more and I had to ask again. The second lot of instructions were equally vague but I found the terminal and the correct bus but that bus was full and I had to wait for the next one an hour later. Standing in the chilly air I began to think that I should have forked out the extra cash for the taxi shuttle service but then next bus arrived I was glad that I paid 6 Euros instead of 25 Euros.

While I was sitting on the bus, still at the terminal, my phone started to ring and it showed that the number was Italian. I answered it and discovered that it was my accommodation people phoning to find out what time I would arrive so that they could expect me. I said I was on the bus and didn't know how long it would be but probably about an hour and she said that was fine they would be there to welcome me. The walk from the bus stop was good and fairly straight forward. The little B&B, Inn Rome, is located on the first floor of an old building and has no regular (well for other hotels) entrance. There is just a huge wooden gate on the roadside and a buzzer to contact the people at reception. I was let in and was met in the inner courtyard of the building by a lovely friendly person from the B&B who spoke no English. We managed to make ourselves understood though and I followed her with my 21 kg suitcase up a very narrow (and seemingly) endless set of stairs.

Thankfully is was not long before I was shown to my room. I had a shower, unpacked my things and crashed into bed. I had to crawl out of bed though to make a plan with the curtains. There are thin white curtains that can be closed and then a heavy set of drapes that are just for show with no rails so they can't close. The street lights are right outside my window and it looked almost like daylight in the room! I managed to pin the drapes together near the top so that most of the street light was excluded and I fell back into bed. Eleven hours later I finally surfaced feeling decidedly more human. It was only then that I could appreciate my room. It is huge and very neat with a window facing onto the main street and a very nice bathroom too. I am very happy that I ended up here and at 50 Euros a night I think it is an absolute bargain.

The view from my window

My breakfast tray

After a very nice breakfast of cereal, yoghurt, fruit and coffee, I headed off to find the place for the meeting. It is at the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and approximately 2.7 km from my accommodation. It seemed pretty straight forward when I looked at the map and I did find it reasonably easily despite taking a wrong turn thank goodness for the river. I had to go through a small security check and then was met by the meeting facilitators who escorted myself and another participant to our meeting room.

The meeting I am attending is the steering committee meeting for a project within FAO called FIRMS. This project provides online information on the management of fisheries around the world and they want to work with me and my project, WIOFish, to include information on the South West Indian Ocean fisheries because my project has the information that they want. The meeting got underway and it was quite interesting. It is nice to be an observer for a change and not have to be in the thick of the action. They did ask me for my opinion on a variety of things but the real discussions about the links between my project and theirs are only scheduled for day two.

At tea time I was escorted down to the bank to be paid my daily subsistence allowance. It is an interesting place for sure. Within the FAO building is a bank, a post office, and travel agent and a whole host of other convenient facilities. With that task completed I returned upstairs where the meeting had just recommenced and we continued discussions for the day. The meeting concluded at 6 pm and we were released to go home. I should have known how things would go when I could not figure out how to get out of the building, and then out of the gate. A security guard pointed me in the right direction and off I went.

I had planned on returning the way I had walked in the morning but at one particular traffic intersection I was too nervous to cross. The light was green for me to walk across but it was also green for the cars turning and they had no intention of stopping to let me go. So I decided to take another route. An hour and a half later I finally found my way (having asked three people for directions) back to my B&B! You would think that with so many distinct landmarks it would easy, maybe in daylight it is easy but I was just so confused by all the little streets. Anyway I did get back safely although with very sore feet (heeled boots are not the ideal shoes to be tramping around in!) and I saw more of the city than I had intended. Maybe I should stop gawking at everything and then I will find my way.

I have one more day of the meeting and then I can turn into a tourist for a few days. Now that is a wonderful prospect! So don't worry there will be plenty of photos in the days to come.