Of course, while going through the security screening at Kayseri I set off the alarms. I got the once over with the wand and then a pat down. In the meantime, another officer wanted to know what the "Whisper" was all about. This is like a little transistor that runs off batteries. It allows the guide to speak through a little microphone and then the voice is picked up by our transistors so that we can hear what is being said. The security person wasn't satisfied with my explanation and called over a police officer. I explained it to him and also that the 40 people behind me also had one each. They said something to each other in Turkish, looked at me again and then waved me on!
We got to Istanbul and then went through the motions again to get the plane to Rome. Yet again, I had a problem going through security. I had the once over again with the magic wand and another pat down. This time, however, it wasn't the "Whisper" that slowed the process down. We had already given these back to Aret when we left him before going through security. This time security took an interest in the stone crucifix I bought and decided he wanted to have a look. He either thought it was some kind of bow and arrow or his curiosity got the better of him. This was a bit of a pain because he had to open up the packaging only to have the smallest of peeks.
So off to Rome we went. Despite the fact that the gate was changed at the last minute from one end of the airport to the other and that the flight left about an hour late, we had a good flight.
We arrived in Rome and as soon as we walked in to the terminal, the chaos began. There were about eight people from our group who did not get their bags. We found out that they were still in Istanbul! Unfortunately, poor Carolyn was one of them! We waited about an hour, after our already late arrival, to see if their bags turned up and while they filled out the paper work. A couple of the bags from other people on our flight, but not in our group, had been quite significantly damaged. I have been very lucky so far!
To get to Domus Australia, our accommodation while in Rome, we had a city tour by night to help us get our bearings. While this was going on, I was thinking about what clothes I could lend Carolyn. Before we reached the accommodation we got word that the missing bags arrived in Rome on the next flight out of Istanbul. There was a great sigh of relief from all those concerned!
Domus Australia is not what I was expecting. It is like a five star hotel! I guess, for a place for Australian Catholic pilgrims to stay while in Rome, I was expecting something a little bit more humble. It was beautiful and, being the Cardinal's guests, we were very well looked after.
The Church on the premises was beautiful. We had Mass there as soon as we arrived. We then had our dinner at about 10:00pm. I was so tired I just wanted to go to bed. I know I was not the only one feeling this way but because the dinner had been prepared we had to be gracious and be present for the meal. I am sure any chef would have been most upset given that they had probably timed dinner for a couple of hours earlier!
We got the keys to our rooms. I had a shower and then went to bed.
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