Roads that lead to Rome

After having travelled a few times in the past to various parts of the world, this was the first such occasion for me to be leaving Australia alone. It seemed a waste to have this kind of experience and not share it. Thankfully Blogs can assist with that.

Packing for me can take an enormus act of will, especially when you work up to the day of departure and buy last minute presents. However starting the process of putting things into your luggage 2 hours before you need to be at the airport is somewhat lacking in prudence. On the plus side, I did get to Mass & buy a new pair of shoes. I also managed to catch the flight too!

The 'road' to Rome for me was in three parts; a Qantas flight from Brisbane to Singapore, A long KLM flight from Singapore to Amsterdam, and a comparatively short connection from Amsterdam to Rome.

I normally prefer on an airline flight to sit behind the main wing, with a window seat. On the Qantas Airbus A330 flight from Brisbane to Singapore the best I could manage was a middle seat in the middle column of seats. This would normally be most unpleasant for me, but thanks to a delightful young lady from the Sunshine Coast by the name of Eliza Palmer, it was better than bearable. We conversed about Italy, as she was bound for Milan, about the transfer at Singapore (Her first ever) and her work in the fashion industry. She was very young, probably not much more than 18, and yet was ready to travel and learn.

Here's a tip however: If you have the opportunity to watch various movies made available via the aircraft entertainment system, don't watch "the Downfall". Undoubtedly it's a brilliant movie excellently told with exceptional acting, but all together too disturbing - especially in a confined space. I did much pondering after watching that!

After arriving at Singapore, sorting out the transfer and waiting for the next flight I was gob-smacked and delighted to discover that one of the airport electronic stores was selling a key-ring WiFi detector! Just the device I attempted to buy in 2004 in London in vain. Having put off the purchase of such a device since then I immediately jumped at the opportunity to have one for this trip! All WiFi networks are now belong to ME!

Amsterdam to Rome was uneventful enough, and we by no deliberate act of Eliza or myself ended up sitting together again. This aircraft was an ageing KLM 747-400 with no interactive entertainment system to speak of, though it wasn't missed. To my surprise and benefit, and thanks to industrial grade earplugs, I managed to lightly sleep a generous portion of this 12 hour leg.