As we were leaving the EU, Anne wanted to collect the VAT refund on a number of things she had bought. She had carefully saved all the receipts, had the form filled out, and had the items in a bag ready to display on request. The Italian system is designed to be as off putting as possible. After one failed attempt we learned we needed to have boarding passes - bad luck if you wanted to put the items you'd bought in your checked luggage. Once we had boarding passes, next step was to get the form stamped by customs, for which there was a long queue in an unairconditioned corridor with lots of hot people fighting off queue jumpers, and two people behind the counter processing the claims ... until one abruptly walked off for a bit of me time, rendering the glacial progress even slower. Once in possession of the magic stamp, there was a further queue to actually get the refund. Helped to pass the time but not improve sense of benevolence towards fellow man. Rome is an extremely busy airport and we were glad to get on the plane, a very pleasant Turkish Airlines flight.
We'd arranged with our hotel to be collected, and as the plane was almost an hour late, we were relieved to see someone with our name waiting in the crowd. A nice young Turkish chap whose job is a greeter. He greets the people who have arranged transport, calls the car, and waits with you till the car arrives. Great division of labour.
It was on sunset as we were driven through the city. I'm not sure what the building is that Anne is looking at through the window - but we are definitely not in Kansas any more. Or Sicily either, though some of the little streets near the hotel feel like it. Hope we wake up filled with energy tomorrow to begin exploration.
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