As a flight attendant when I meet new people I frequently get asked if I work international flights or just domestic. The simple answer is yes, I work international. Honestly it just depends on the time of the year. The Summer is the busy season and with more international destinations it is more likely to get called out for an exotic location. I will spare you the flight attendant lingo, because trust me it has its own language. Rome was not built in a day, but I only had one to explore the city.
Friday evening was my last day on call when my phone unexpectedly rang, the voice on the other end from crew scheduling sounded completely exhausted and thrilled that I answered. She asked if I could make it to the airport in an hour and a half, that I was going to Rome. With our call out being a minimum of two hours, I said it would be close. Luckily I had not really unpacked from the previous trip I came back from! I got ready as quickly as possibly and jumped in an uber and off to the airport I went.
On a sidenote, Rome, always seems to go to very senior flight attendants. The trip is considered high time because the flight is so long. I’ve never been lucky enough to get called to go to Rome so you could imagine I was beyond excited. 7+ hours later we arrived at Fiumicino-Leonardo da Vinci International Aeroporto or FCO for short! With a 26 hour layover I pretty much hit the ground running. I wanted to eat my way through the city. 
A fellow crew member was kind enough to play tour guide. First stop, get a slice of true Italian pizza. First, things first, pizza is supposed to be square or rectangular, round pizza is American! Wrapped in some paper I was off to the colosseum! It all felt so surreal! As I was walking down the streets and seeing so many historic sights, it almost felt like a movie set. I’ve read about these building in books growing up and now I was here to actually experience it.
The weather was almost unbearable. It was extremely hot reaching over ninety plus degrees and the sun was shining bright. What better way to cool off then to have a cold glass of prosecco with a delightful view!
The architecture in Rome is amazing and nothing short of it. Thousands of years old and preserved so well! Being half Italian, I was just trying to soak in every bit of the atmosphere. The winding, narrow streets twist and turn and lead to so many unexacting shops, eateries, and history.
One day, just gave me a taste of what this city has to offer. The cobblestone streets are enchanting and lets one imagine what life would be like thousands of years ago. There are so many sections of the city I still need to visit, but my first visit was a success. I found the locals to be friendly and most spoke English if you attempted to speak some Italian. The flight back to Philadelphia was completely full and took over nine hours! But I would happily do it all over again!
Roma sei bellissima!
xo
Leann
South Jersey Belle 