Fiumicino Airport, Clueless and Jetlagged

This is the second post in our “Greek Isles Cruise and Rome Adventure” series — a two-week journey filled with new places, new flavors, and plenty of surprises. In this entry, we share our jet-lagged arrival in Rome, our first moments navigating Fiumicino Airport, and the small wins (and confusions) that marked our first hours in Italy. If you missed the beginning of our journey, you can start with our flight to Rome here.

Landing at Fiumicino Airport (FCO)

We landed at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport around 10:10 a.m. local time, and jet lag was already hitting pretty hard. What hit us even harder? Trying to figure out where to go next. Suddenly, I had a whole new appreciation for non-English speakers arriving in the U.S., most of the airport signs were in Italian. If there were English translations, we completely missed them in our foggy, sleep-deprived state.

We ended up doing what any confused traveler does (and mainly at Demi’s suggestion): we followed the crowd. Luckily, that worked.

Border Control and the “Gaggle” Line

Getting through border control at Fiumicino Airport was its own little adventure. There wasn’t so much a “line” as there was a mass of people loosely moving in the same direction. At one point, there was some semblance of order, but as more flights arrived, it became a free-for-all. People started merging from all sides, and no one from the airport seemed to be directing traffic until much later in the process when a few staff members finally started helping the herd move along.

Finding Our Driver Among a Sea of Signs

Eventually, we made it through passport control, got all the right stamps, and stumbled into the arrival hall, where dozens of drivers were standing around holding up signs. It looked like a red carpet for confused tourists. After a bit of back-and-forth scanning the sea of names, we finally spotted our guy. He didn’t speak much English, maybe seven words total, but I tried a little Italian once we got in the car. Let’s just say it wasn’t exactly a deep conversation, but it did break the ice a bit. And Demi just giggled at me.

Checking In at the Hilton Garden Inn Rome Airport

The ride to our hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn near the airport, took about 15 minutes. We found out later there’s a shuttle that runs directly there (and costs a lot less), but honestly, we were happy to have pre-arranged for a private ride. No dragging luggage around or waiting in a crowded shuttle area. Just a direct drop-off and a chance to breathe.

The hotel itself? Pretty basic. It’s out in the middle of nowhere, but it did the job. The big surprise was the restaurant. We weren’t expecting much, but it was full-service and had legit Italian food, —pasta, wine, beer, desserts— and a genuine wait staff. We even had dinner outside with a view of the quiet Italian countryside.

A Simple Night to Recover from Jet Lag

We were wiped, but as we sat there sipping wine, we kept looking at each other and saying, “We’re in Italy!” It was a surreal and happy moment. One that wouldn’t fade for the whole trip. The Hilton wasn’t glamorous, but it gave us what we needed: food, a decent bed, and a quiet place to crash before catching our ride to Civitavecchia the next day to start our cruise.

Thanks for following along! In the next post, we share our transfer to Civitavecchia and what it was like boarding Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas for the start of our Greek Isles cruise. Read about it here.

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