Italy Travel: From Incheon Airport to Arriving in Rome (1/17)
ITALY
9-Day Trip Through Italy
Dates: September 3, 2024 (Tuesday) – September 11, 2024 (Wednesday)
Flight Details
- Departure from Seoul: September 3, 2024, 12:35 PM → Arrival in Rome at 7:15 PM (Leonardo da Vinci Airport)
- Return from Rome: September 10, 2024, 9:15 PM → Arrival in Seoul at 4:10 PM on September 11.
Itinerary
Cities Visited:
Rome – Civita di Bagnoregio – Orvieto – Siena – San Marino – Venice – Cinque Terre – Montecatini Terme – Florence – Pisa – Naples – Sorrento – Pompeii – Rome – Vatican City
Incheon International Airport
Arrival at the Airport
We arrived at Incheon International Airport, Terminal 1, by taking the airport limousine bus. The air was filled with excitement and anticipation for the journey ahead.
This trip was a shared adventure with my wife, myself, and a friend who is the CEO of Rio, along with his spouse. We booked a package tour through Hana Tour.
Matina Lounge
With plenty of time before our flight, we decided to have a meal at the Matina Lounge.
The lounge offers a buffet, which can be pricey unless you use a partner card for complimentary access or purchase discounted passes through an app called The Lounge. Individual passes cost about 34,000 KRW.
Although not extensive, the semi-buffet features a decent variety of dishes, including beverages like wine, beer, and soft drinks.
Operating Hours: 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
The lounge can get quite crowded during meal times, but the food is enjoyable, offering a mix of options such as fried snacks, bread, donuts, bibimbap ingredients, citrus yogurt dressing, greens like lettuce and perilla leaves, cranberries, olives,
pasta, seasoned fried chicken, yogurt, mussels,
and desserts like fruits and cakes.
The coffee from the lounge’s coffee machine was particularly good and aromatic, adding to the pleasant experience. If you have extra time before your flight, the lounge is a great place to relax.
Duty-Free Shopping
After leaving the lounge, we browsed through duty-free shops on the fourth floor, especially sunglasses shops. Despite the wide variety of options, I couldn’t decide on a pair and ended up boarding the flight empty-handed.
Flight to Rome
We flew with T’way Air, which features a 2-4-2 seat configuration. The seats were more spacious than those on short-haul flights, and for added comfort, we upgraded to premium zone seats for an additional 100,000 KRW (approximately $75 USD).
The aircraft didn’t have in-flight monitors, so we spent our time watching downloaded movies and dramas on our phones and tablets.
- Lunch: A choice between bibimbap and a pine mushroom rice bowl. The bibimbap was especially flavorful, thanks to the added sesame oil and red pepper paste.
- Dinner: A choice between scrambled eggs with sausage or vegetable porridge. The porridge was soft and comforting, perfectly suited to our tastes.
Arrival in Rome
We landed at Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport at 8:45 PM. After collecting our luggage, we were warmly greeted by our guide, Mr. Pyogiwoo.
Located in Southern Europe, Italy shares similarities with Korea as both are peninsula countries. The weather was similar to Korea’s but felt more comfortable due to lower humidity.
Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport
Address: Via dell' Aeroporto di Fiumicino 320, 00054 Fiumicino, Italy
Hotel: Alba Hotel Torre Maura
A 40-minute limousine bus ride brought us to Alba Hotel Torre Maura, located on the outskirts of Rome.
One unique aspect of Italy is its floor numbering system. The ground floor is labeled as "0," and what we consider the second floor in Korea is referred to as the first floor. It was a bit confusing at first, so we double-checked our room number upon check-in.
While the hotel was rated four stars, it showed its age with slow elevators. However, the rooms were clean, air-conditioned, and comfortable.
Hotel Address: Viale di Torre Maura, 81, 00169 Roma RM, Italy
The hallways were adorned with artwork, and antique tables and chairs added a touch of charm.
This is the view of the hotel room.
From our window, we had a serene view of the quiet neighborhood. Rome at night was tranquil, with most shops closing by 8 PM. Since there wasn’t much to do at night in the area, we spent the evening resting at the hotel.
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