Golden Argosy Part 3

By Tony Vallillo (15 July 2004)

An airline layover can, depending upon the location and accommodations, be either a mini-vacation or a mini incarceration! The basic purpose of the layover, of course, has nothing to do with entertainment or sightseeing, but rather with the rest and rejuvenation of the crew. Nevertheless, some crewmembers also look at layovers as potential sources of entertainment and fun, and some even bid their flights according to their tastes in destinations. I am one of these folks, and I bid the Rome trips solely because of the lure of the destination!

Rome from the Capitoline Hill

As we clamber off the bus at the hotel, our home away from home for some 24 hours, we are once again faced with a familiar dilemma: sleep, or hit the ground running! Remember that it is now around 3 in the morning tummy time, even if it is 9 am here. At this point, what the body wants most of all is to sleep for at least 8 hours, probably longer. If one gives in to this natural urge, though, one finds oneself waking up around 6 o'clock in the evening local time. Well rested, you could have dinner and perhaps seek a bit of nighttime entertainment, but by the time the body was ready for sleep again, it would be but a few hours until your wake-up call, and a good deal of the flight back would be spent in a semi-comatose condition. So you must deny the body what it wants in the short run, and try to set your schedule from sign-in time tomorrow backwards to today. Nobody said this career was going to be easy!

Once inside the hotel, we wait for our room keys. Arrivals this early in the morning are a problem for hotels, since check out time is hours later, and most of the rooms are still filled with snoring guests. Some people, to be sure, are checking out early. But the rooms will need to be cleaned, and this will take some time. Here in Rome, the wait is seldom longer than 20 minutes or so. But in other cities, waits of 2-3 hours are common, and the longest wait I have had in my career was in a 5 star hotel in Paris where we got to sample the delights of the opulent lobby for over 5 hours! Of course, that hotel was a one-night exception to the unwritten rule against layovers in 5 star hotels!

The quality of our layover hotels is, with few exceptions, quite good. Hotels are selected by a joint committee of the company and the two unions (pilot and flight attendant) involved. In the early days of aviation, as Ernie Gann said in "Fate is the Hunter", they ranged from the Salvation Army to the Garden of Eden. Today, they are much more uniform, in terms of quality and desirability. But the selection is not easy. Beyond the basics of decent rooms, two things drive hotel selection - location and location! The difficulty lies in the fact that no two people will have the same idea of what location is best. Pilots and flight attendants often differ in this respect, and finding a location that will please both, with a decent hotel that will take airline business, and offer rates that are attractive to the company from an expense standpoint can often be a real challenge.

With keys finally in hand, I bid the crew goodnight and head to my room. Since my flying career began in the Air Force in 1971, it seems that I have spent at least a cumulative decade in hotel rooms, or the military equivalents! After so long, they all seem about the same: a bed, a bathroom, a closet, a small desk, and perhaps an armchair of some sort. The one real exception was that 5 star place in Paris, where the room was so large and ornate that it seemed to take an hour just to explore it! All that acreage was wasted on little old me, though. Although She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed has occasionally accompanied me on trips, I was solo on that occasion. Today, though, the room is standard issue, and can be explored in around half a minute. No problem - I need no more. The legends about romantic interludes between crewmembers on layovers are, for the most part, relics of the 1960's. The work is too hard these days, especially aft of the cockpit door, for any energy to be left for hijinks!

My plan is to sleep until around noon, and then head out for some sightseeing. And what sights there are to see! Occasionally, if I have a "nugget" on the crew (old Navy term for new crewmember) I will offer the "grand tour" of the main attractions. Today, we'll run through it just for you! So grab a few winks and I'll see you in the lobby around noon.

The Victor Emanuele Monument

Grabbing a few winks is not always as easy as it should be, even at this "late" hour. You were probably into the coffee at least a bit during the last hour or two of the flight, just to be alert for the descent and landing. This often backfires now, an hour or so later, when you actually have the opportunity to sleep in a real bed. Fortunately, today, the wake up call is the next thing I hear. Getting up after only 3 hours of sleep in these circumstances is extremely difficult. The bed has the lure of the mythical sirens, and on at least a few occasions my intentions of getting up and hitting the bricks have evaporated as I yielded to the irresistible temptation of more hours of sleep. Knowing what a mistake that can be, though, I force myself out of bed and into the shower, where either hot or cold water will jolt me awake in an instant.

Partially rejuvenated, I head for the lobby where I find you eagerly waiting. This is your first trip to Rome, and you want to see all of the sights. We'll start close by the Forum at the Victor Emanuel monument, that enormous white marble edifice that the locals have dubbed "the typewriter" and/or "the wedding cake". Not always a favorite among natives, it is nevertheless usually thronged with tourists, at least some of whom probably think that it dates back to the Roman Empire like the rest of the architecture here! It does not - it is a late 19th century artifact. So we will not tarry there, but instead will sprint up the several hundred feet of stairs to the Capitoline hill. The buildings here now were all built during the Renaissance; the plaza itself was designed by Michelangelo. But originally this area housed the capital buildings and a temple to Jupiter, the Roman edition of the Greeks' Zeus, the Chief Pilot of the Gods, as it were.

The Piazza del Campidoglio, Capitoline Hill

There are a great many excellent guidebooks that tell the tales of all of the great monuments and archaeological sites in Rome, so I won't spend too much time giving you the history and background of everything we will see today. Instead, I'll share it in pictures, some of the over 500 that I have taken since I started flying here last year. Digital cameras are great gadgets, and the "film" is cheap, as is the processing!

The Forum from the Capitoline Hill

The Via Sacra

From the Capitoline, you overlook the Forum, the large area that was the center of Roman life and culture in the days of the Republic and Empire. Our first major sight is the Arch of Septimus Severus. It is interesting to discover that, as recently as the 19th century, the entire area of the Forum was buried up to nearly the inside of the arch itself, which once, according to a guide, housed a barbershop! Serious excavations started in the 1800's, and are still ongoing today.

We'll walk through the Forum along the ancient Via Sacra, passing such sights as the Temple of Vesta, the dormitory of the Vestal Virgins, The Basilica of Constantine, and other less famous ruins. At the other end of the Forum is one of the most recognizable buildings in Rome - the Coliseum. This was perhaps the world's first covered stadium, equipped with a sailcloth "roof" which could be retracted or extended by a squad of sailors permanently assigned to the amphitheatre, all of whom were experienced in "hauling on the bowline"!

The Arch of Constantine

The Flavian Amphitheater, otherwise known as the Coliseum

The interior of the Coliseum

After we tour the Coliseum, we turn up the Via dei Fori Imperiali and pass the ruins of Trajan's markets, arguably the first shopping mall! Was this, in fact, the hangout of imperial Roman teenagers? No one can say, although rumors continue to circulate about mysterious "Nikeum" inscriptions found inside!

The ruins of Trajan's Market

We will now head up the Via Del Corso, a famous street with all kinds of exclusive shops. Our goal lies off to the east of the Via, the famous Trevi Fountain. It was here that Anita Ekberg romped in "La Dolce Vita". The place is always thronged with tourists, but romping in the water is now forbidden!

The Trevi Fountain

After all this tramping about, the temptations of the Gelato shops become too irresistible, and we stop for some refreshment. Italian ice and ice cream are among the world's great treats, and in Rome the selection is overwhelming. The average gelato shop is a rainbow riot of color, and the stuff tastes even better than it looks!

Refueled now, we cross the Via del Corso, bound now for the largest and most intact Roman Temple still standing, the Pantheon. Pantheon means "all of the gods"; and, to cover all the bases, the Romans had an altar in there dedicated to the "unknown god", lest some hitherto unrevealed deity take umbrage! The coffered ceiling is cement, poured in place into wooden molds, which were later removed. The formula for cement was subsequently lost for many centuries, being rediscovered, fortunately, in time to build runways! Originally a pagan temple, the Pantheon was consecrated as a Christian church in the early 600's, and it remains so to this day.

The Pantheon

We take leave of the Pantheon and the Piazza della Rotunda, which it faces, and head toward another famous Piazza, the Piazza Navona. Here we find two of Bernini's most famous fountains, including the Fountain of the Four Rivers, allegorically depicting the four greatest rivers known at that time (the Renaissance), the Danube, Nile, Ganges and Plate.

The Piazza Navona


Fountain of Neptune, Piazza Navona


Typical side street near the Pantheon

Now our steps are drawn to the Tiber, for we are headed to Castel Sant' Angelo, which, though a papal fortress in the Renaissance, was originally the mausoleum of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. This fortress served as a refuge for more than one Pope during times of siege and is still connected to the Vatican itself by a fortified causeway.

St. Peter's Square

Interior of St. Peter's Basilica

After taking in the Castel Sant' Angelo, we head up the Via del Conciliazione, which leads directly to St. Peter's square. This is not square at all, but rather an oval, enclosed by another of Bernini's triumphs, the famous colonnade. We stroll across the plaza and climb a flight of stairs to the right, which leads to the entry to St. Peter's and also to the stairway to the top of the dome. We'll leave the dome for another layover, when we have more energy! Now, we enter the nave of St. Peter's, reputed to be the world's largest church. I can certainly believe that claim -- the church is vast! Pictures simply cannot convey the size of this liturgical space!
 

Fine dining, Roman style

Having roamed respectfully through the great basilica we now take our leave, for we are following our appetites. All this walking is hungry work, and since we are in one of the world's great culinary centers, we anticipate a great dining experience! Many crewmembers actually eschew the sightseeing altogether, and concentrate entirely on the cuisine. None of us are disappointed -- I've never had a bad meal here!

After several blocks of reconnaissance, we settle on a promising looking eatery. The weather is fine, so we will dine outdoors. A menu in English is proffered -- I wonder how they knew (!) -- and we peruse the delights on offer. A meal in Italy consists of many courses, and the pasta is only an appetizer. Having ordered, we settle down for a several-hour experience. Meals are never rushed, unless you insist on it, and we take advantage of the opportunity for conversation and good eating! Crew conversations tend to be wide-ranging, from family and children to stories of the "old" days, rumors about the company, plans for upcoming holidays or vacations, even plans for upcoming retirements!

As day yields to evening, and evening to night, we reflect upon how lucky we are to be doing this. As I hope you can see from these narratives, the job is not all glamour, but the greater part of it can be enjoyable, and moments like this are priceless. Times like this, along with the actual flying, are what I will miss on that inevitable day when the grim reaper of retirement comes calling! For now, we simply savor the moment, reminding ourselves that these really are the good old days!
 

The Forum by night

Sated in appetite and spirit, we set course back to the hotel. We've covered a lot of ground today, and we've seen a great deal of history. Tomorrow, we fly back home. For now, let's get some sleep. See you at pickup time!

Authors note: Continued in Golden Argosy part IV, Homeward Bound!

Anthony Vallillo
avallillo@charter.net