Jul2007Perugia

Japanese / English

7Jul2007 - 16Jul2007

• On a plane (outward)
• Stay in Rome (1)
• From Rome to Perugia
• Conference place
• Walking in Perugia
• Hotel in Perugia
• Night
• From Perugia to Rome
• On a plane (homeward)

On a plane (outward)

I flew from Tokyo-Narita to Rome via Amsterdam (by KLM). I was on an aisle side, so I took a lot of pictures of personal screen which showed the position of our plane.

• Airline Ticket (Stub)

  

Stay in Rome (1)

I lost my way to the hotel in central Rome, but finally I got to the hotel at 11:05pm. The hotel is on the second floor of the multi-tenant building which is located off-street. Surprisingly, I found the hotel locked. I knocked on the door, but no one answered. I asked someone walking around, but no one helped me.

Actually, I had informed the hotel that I would arrive there until 11:00pm. I tried my best in front of the hotel, considered the situation and then I got one conclusion, "I am locked out by the hotel because of my delayed arrival." I knew that the safety in Rome is not good. So I decided to find another hotel. Luckily, I found some hotels upstairs and succeeded to stay at one of the hotels.

After a few days of my arrival at Rome, I was informed that the staff at the hotel was worrying and waiting for me even after 11:00pm. The front door is always locked for security and I had to ring a bell on the left side of the door. I had never imagined that I had to ring a bell. In addition, I panicked when I found the door locked. Anyway, I apologized to the staff at the hotel when I returned to Rome from Perugia.

Lessons from this trouble is

1. Confirm the name of the street/avenue calmly when you get lost.
   • There are not only traffic signs as in Japan but also signs on the wall of the building.
   • House number is in an orderly row.
2. "First Floor" in Italy means "Second Floow" in Japan.
   • It depends on the nation. Confirm in advance.
   • One reason I got lost in Rome was that I thought the meaning of the first floor was same as in Japan.
3. If the hotel is locked, search the bell!
   • Probably most of the Japanese cannot imagine that a hotel is locked all days. But it seems that a cheap hotel often adopt this system in Italy for the security reason, probably.

From Rome to Perugia

Conference place

Some participants were confused in their poster presentation by the schedule earlier than announced before. There were even cases of some participants arriving at Perugia after their poster sessions had finished (They forced do their presentation on the empty poster board!). I found my laboratory friend hurrying to her hotel to take her poster due to the earlier schedule.

Walking in Perugia

In Perugia, it is convenient to go somewhere by bus. I bought one-day bus-card at an IUGG-discount price. It is difficult for me to get off the bus, since there were no announcement where I was.

Hotel in Perugia

I reserved a hotel at the IUGG website.

Night

The last bus from central Perugia to my hotel was before 9:00pm. IUGG poster session ended at 8:00pm every day, so I had to choose whether to have a dinner in the city or to get the last bus. On the first day of my arrival, I went to the hotel by taxi. On the second day, I waited for the taxi for a long time at the taxi stand, but the taxi didn't come. I walked around the central Perugia searching for the taxi. In addition, I called the taxi with a telephone card which an IUGG participant kindly lended me. However, I couldn't. Two hours later, I gave up and decided to walk to the hotel. Because the map provided by IUGG is wrong, I lose my way and then aggressive guard dogs barked at me. There were no one and I thought I would sleep at a bus stop. Then I found a car coming and I asked the driver how to get to the hotel. Finally I reached the hotel at around 1:30am. It costed 1.5 hours from central Perugia to the hotel.

I also walked from the central Perugia to the hotel on the fourth day. I took some pictures shown below.

From Perugia to Rome

I have a little time in Rome.

On a plane (homeward)

• Airline Ticket (Stub)