Los Angeles to Rome on Norwegian Air

**I am temporary skipping the rest of the Asia trip to report on our most recent adventure on the two MSC cruises around the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Will continue reporting on the land portion of the Asia trip after this.

2019 Western Mediterranean and Transatlantic Cruises on MSC

Pre-Cruise - Los Angeles to Rome, Italy -- October 25, 2019

Please click here for video of our trip on this day.

After months of planning, the ten of us were ready to embark on our month-long journey to the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Our itinerary included two MSC cruises, first one from Rome to Miami with eight days on the MSC Seaview and the second one from Rome to Miami on the MSC Divina for 19 days.

To start our journey we had to fly from Los Angeles to Rome. The lowest airfare we could find was again on Norwegian. An airline that is decent and economical enough for us to fly from Los Angeles to Rome non-stop for a good price. After checking in we were ready to head over to the lounge for a little bit of food and relaxation. 

With Priority Passes, we are able to access the Korean Air Lounge and I believe also the P.F. Chang's restaurant inside Tom Bradley Terminal. We have used P.F. Chang's on our previous trip when the plane was leaving at midnight and the Korean Air Lounge was closed after 7:00. We figured this would be a good time to try out the KAL lounge. 

Tom Bradley Terminal airside

Everybody else had the same idea. A long line waiting for the KAL Lounge to open.

This was filled soon after.

Food was not that impressive. I think P.F. Chang's was a better value comparing to this even though they are not authentic Asian food.

On board the Norwegian flight to Rome.

Quite spacious and comfortable.

First meal with a delicious piece of beef and mashed potatoes. I did not have photos of the second meal.

After hours of flight time we arrived at FCO around noon on October 26. The airport was a mess full of travelers. Fortunately, the line going through immigration was quick and easy for us. After baggage claim we walked out and saw our driver, Emmanuele from Trip2Rome, waiting to pick us up. He and his associate put us in two separate vehicles and we were on our way. Emmanuele is an excellent driver who knows his way around and most importantly about the history of Rome. He gave us some very informative facts about the places we went past on the way.

Soon enough we arrived at our rental apartment located right near the Termini.

This apartment came with four units, each unit has a bedroom and a bathroom. 

Worked out well for the ten of us.

One of the bedrooms with a double and a single.

Kitchen and dining area.

Sitting area for one of the units.

Sample of the bathrooms.

One of the bedrooms.

After settling in, we walked to the Colosseum, not very close but better than taking transportation there. We didn't really want to do any sight seeing on the day of arrival but we had no choice, that was the only time available during our days in Rome that won't interfere with our schedule. There were demonstrations at a couple of places nearby and police were heavily presence at street corners. We had to be careful where we were walking into. That would be the last thing we want, running into problems without knowing it.

Interesting plants along the way.

When we arrived at the Colosseum, we were a bit early so we had to wait around until our assigned time is up. 

It was fun people watching!

Colosseum

Even though it was close to closing time for the day, the Colosseum was still filled with visitors from all around the world. This is our fourth time here so everything seemed to be very familiar. All we did was just taking a walk around the stadium and admiring it under the sunset.

After our visit, we were all very tired. Time to head back to our apartment for the night.

Walked by a small pizza and kebab place which looked quite attractive both at prices and products.

We ordered our food to go and we all enjoyed a hearty meal before heading to bed that evening.

"She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins."   --Matthew 1:21