November 1, 2018 – Rome, Italy, Travel Day - Drizzly and 60s

A soggy day in Rome - taking the good weather with us.

Our flight this morning is at 11:15 AM – Lufthansa 1843 to Munich – so had a car scheduled for 8:00 AM (FCO could be as long as an hour away).  I went down to breakfast right at 7:00 AM and had my cereal and milk plus scrambled eggs, baguette, and coffee.  Ellen got a bag from the hotel and packed her breakfast to go (for the airport).  

Our driver was there right on time.  Our driver spoke very little English and did his best to try and point out some sights along the way.  He drove like a typical Italian but, even though it was raining, we got to FCO about 8:45 PM.  We found out which check in desk we had to use and got into that line.  The line moved a lot faster than expected and our bags were checked through to Chicago.

We went through security relatively quickly – no shoe removal at FCO.  Even though this is a busy airport, the security process is thorough but quick.  We put all our stuff back into our carry on (which, by the way, had to be approved and tagged during check in to be allowed as carry on) and headed for our gate.  They have charging stations throughout the waiting areas so you can always have your devices working.  Our plane, LH1843 - an A319 - was waiting for us at the gate.

When I looked at the boarding passes carefully, I noticed that the seats were incorrect – the process was so hurried through check in that I didn’t see the problem at the time – I did look at the long flight to make sure they were OK.  We were both in aisle seats on the A319 just not across from each other. 

While waiting to board, I got two emails indicating gate changes – Lufthansa is good at that since the departure board didn’t have them up there as yet.  

We boarded pretty much on time - we did not opt for premium seats on the short flight to Munich and while the seats were a little tight, they were tolerable.  The flight was relatively smooth.

Our layover in Munich was three hours but the airport in comfortable and we had chargers and adapters.  Once we got the gate assignments, we noted that our plane - LH434 - was there.

We boarded our A350-900 on time - we have excellent premium seats on this flight - for future reference, seats 16J and 16K are excellent because they do not have a third seat.  So plenty of room and no neighbor.  The plane is similar to the 787 Dreamliner in that it is constructed of carbon-reinforced plastics - the plane is able to pressurize at lower equivalent altitudes resulting in higher humidity and a more comfortable environment.

The flight was indeed comfortable - the in-flight entertainment system was excellent - and our kosher meals very good.  Our flight plan today will take us over Iceland - a route we have not seen much, if at all.

The flight was mostly smooth and the plane arrived around 8:00 PM. Passport control went relatively quickly (Global Entry helps).

A long day but a very nice trip.