13th Dec 2009
Upon touching down in Rome from Venice, the time is already nearing 2230hr and with the baggage collection wait time thrown in, it is almost 2300hr by the time we are ready to leave the airport. There is the regular Leonardo Express that we could take from the airport directly to Termini i.e. Rome’s main metro station or you could take a cab. Taking our luggage weight into account, we wanted to take a cab, which Fodor’s guide has mentioned that the taxi ride will cost a flat rate of €40 (Supposedly enforced by the government) to any location within the Aurelian wall and Rome Marriott Grand Flora hotel is although situated ride beside the northern Aurelian wall itself.
Upon touching down in Rome from Venice, the time is already nearing 2230hr and with the baggage collection wait time thrown in, it is almost 2300hr by the time we are ready to leave the airport. There is the regular Leonardo Express that we could take from the airport directly to Termini i.e. Rome’s main metro station or you could take a cab. Taking our luggage weight into account, we wanted to take a cab, which Fodor’s guide has mentioned that the taxi ride will cost a flat rate of €40 (Supposedly enforced by the government) to any location within the Aurelian wall and Rome Marriott Grand Flora hotel is although situated ride beside the northern Aurelian wall itself.
Rome Marriott Grand Hotel Flora
However, the counter wanted to charge us €55! Indignant, I sped off to take the train and to my disappointment, the train-ticketing booth is closed and the vending machine doesn’t seem to work either. We are almost going on a wild goose chase until we met a couple of Koreans and a young Italian gentleman who was also trying to catch a train to Termini. Following their lead, we managed to get onto the train without a ticket, which the train conductor collected from us later on in the journey (What were you thinking?). The train ride cost us €11 each and took roughly about 30 minutes if I recalled correctly.
Upon reaching Termini station, the time was like 0020hr and there are neither buses nor metros in operation, so we have to either walk or take a cab. Along the way out, an Italian gentleman abruptly appeared before us and asked us in fluent Italian-accented English whether we would like to take a cab. I asked him about the price and he stated it should be somewhere around €20-25. We agreed and followed his lead out a secret passage (well lighted) towards his dark blue Mercedes Benz… only that his car doesn’t have the official cab lights on top of the car. MY wife and I was like a little hesitant but feeling that it is late and it might be dangerous else where too, we boarded the car.
There is another driver in the car and the first guy was more like a tour guide or something. We didn’t take the regular way (Which is the faster way) to our hotel but took some winding roads there and the first guy was like telling us some stuffs e.g. buildings and shopping etc etc. When we reached the hotel, the car didn’t stop at the main entrance but instead along the side ways. The first guy helped us with our luggage and proceeded to issue us a hand-written bill which shows €32! My heart was thinking “What the fish?!?!” and told him that we have agreed that the price should be within €20-25 and besides, the journey is really short i.e. about 5 minutes, so there is no reason why it should cost us that much. He then agreed and issued us another bill which shows €25. I paid him a €5 notes, then took out my wallet and took out another €20 notes and passed it to him. He then asked and showed me why did I gave him only two €5 notes… I was again like “What the fish?!?!?” and in my mind I was thinking “I thought I thaw a putty tat!”… Nah, that’s not what I thought but I was thinking that “I thought I have given him a €20 notes? No?” Taking that it was my mistake, I apologized and proceeded to the hotel counter to make a change of my Euros and paid him an additional €15.
Upon checking into our room, I told my wife that just now I remembered pulling out a €20 notes and paid to that cabby guy. The next moment was kind of a revelation... My wife said, “Yeah, I thought I saw that too!”. Not wanting to accept the fact that we’ve been conned, I do a backward calculation of all my Euros… God, that guy is good! He just pulled off a quick one on me. That kind of simple magic trick has fooled me there and then. Instead of paying a flat €55 right at the airport cum to do away with all the hassle, we have paid more than what we bargained for! The train cost both of us €22 plus the taxi ride cost us €40 (€5 + €20 + €15), which worked out to be €62! Argghhh~~~!!!!! My wife at that moment in time made an ultimate decision to NEVER EVER come back to Rome again! You would think that’s all right? Well no. He took my S$69.90 leather gloves with him too...
[Tips: Never talk or accept any offers from an Italian who speaks fluent English!]
Putting that behind us, we started to get back to earth. We are given a room with a view of Via Veneto itself but both of us doesn’t like the room and decided to ask for a change since we are promised prior to the trip that we will be getting an upgrade to the executive room with a view over Villa Borghese. So we proceeded to ask from the reception and the guy (Nicholas?) was not very helpful and told us that then, there are no more room available for us, so we have to make do with the room that we have… Oh well, Rome, please show us why we should ever come back the next time.
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