DO-IT-YOURSELF SOLUTION:A GROUP of Irish people, including this correspondent, stranded in Rome for four days because of flight cancellations, have made swift progress across the Continent since hiring a bus from a private coach operator to get us back to Dublin.
RTÉ Radio may have referred to us as being on the “slow coach from Rome”, but Italian bus drivers don’t do “slow” and their skill, combined with unexpectedly light traffic, meant the bus was ahead of schedule last night.
The 53 marooned bus passengers still have a long, weary way to go, having paid €150 each for a seat on the bus. We will be dropped in the French port of Le Havre, and from there intend to catch a ferry to Portsmouth tonight. We hope to get to Dublin Port, if all goes smoothly, some time on Wednesday evening.
What began 10 days ago as a short city break has, for many of us, turned into an expensive and truly unforgettable “Roman Holiday”. For others, it was a short business trip which turned into a visit to Dante’s Inferno.
Our day began yesterday with a wake-up call at 3.30am at the Hotel Ergife in Rome. An hour later, “il gruppo Aer Lingus” assembled with their luggage.
The Italians have been delightful hosts, but no one could blame a chic hotel for wanting rid of guests running out of clean clothes, money and patience. One woman dressed in an exquisite Missoni dress glanced with pity at the spaghetti-stained shirt front of a dishevelled Irishman.
At 5am, the bus departed. The head driver, Danilo Paolella, was pleased to find he would be driving the Irish. “Irlanda” he said with pleasure. He was thrilled his name might appear in a prestigious giornale.
The light traffic allowed the bus to speed north, reaching the Alps by mid-afternoon. The mood was a mix of elation and pride that we had managed to plan and execute our own journey home. For some, the chance to drive through the Alpine scenery was a highlight. The bus entered France at 4pm.
We will have to pay for our ferry crossings to England and Ireland, and must pay for our food en route. There is no toilet on the bus, and regular stops are being scheduled. On board are the chaplaincy of Trinity College Dublin, and an Australian woman with a nine-month-old baby.