Labor Day trip: Forum and Colosseum

The proximity of our AirBnb was very close to the Forum and Colosseum, so we made the most of it in between initial raindrops.

We even managed to fit in some pizza and gelato for lunch as we walked back home.  Our dinner of choice for the evening was a nice place just a short walk away called Il Girasole (I was craving lasagna and was not disappointed):

Overall our trip was very fun with no real problems to speak of.  It was a great decision to do an AirBnb close to the forum and within walking distance of the train station.  Would definitely do the same again on a future trip!

Labor Day trip: Vatican and Pantheon

The weather was perfect and we were off to the Vatican for a 12:30p entry time to the museums.  Only problem - we got a late start and I thought we could make a Trevi Fountain stop:

The Vatican museums were not busy though the Sistine Chapel was packed - no pictures!

After taking time through each of the exhibits we maneuvered our way back toward Raphael's tomb and the Pantheon:

For dinner we decided to try a place near the Pantheon that was a bit hidden out of the way - La Ciambella.  It was quite possibly the best Italian meal we've had:

United Introduces New International Routes

United announced today they are expanding international service in several markets with new locations and frequencies.

From USA Today:

Newark-Porto

Begins May 4 and runs through Oct. 4. United will fly one daily round-trip flight on Boeing 757 aircraft. Flight time is scheduled for 7 hours, 5 minutes eastbound and 8 hours westbound.

Newark-Reykjavik

Begins May 23 and runs through Oct. 4. United will fly one daily round-trip flight on Boeing 757 aircraft. Flight time is scheduled for 5 hours, 40 minutes eastbound and 6 hours, 10 minutes westbound.

Washington Dulles-Edinburgh, Scotland

Begins May 23 and runs through Oct. 4. United will fly one daily round-trip flight on Boeing 757 aircraft. Flight time is scheduled for 7 hours, 15 minutes eastbound and 8 hours westbound.

San Francisco-Zurich

Begins June 7 and runs through Oct. 27. United will fly one daily round-trip flight on Boeing 787-8 “Dreamliner” aircraft. Flight time is scheduled for 11 hours eastbound and 11 hours, 50 westbound.

These routes are in addition to the already announced service additions from Houston to Sydney and Los Angeles to Singapore.

I'm looking forward to seeing what redemption options are possible/open on these routes.

Losing another option to Qatar: Lufthansa ending flights to Doha

During a recent schedule update (via AirlineRoute), Lufthansa will be ending service to Doha, Qatar and the end of the summer season.

the airline closed bookings for Doha flight from 28OCT17. The Star Alliance member currently operates Frankfurt – Kuwait – Doha sector on daily basis, with A330-300 aircraft. 

They will continue to fly the segment to Kuwait.

Labor Day Weekend Excursion: Rome

Last weekend I was able to make it back home successfully to spend time with my grandparents and family. This was a redo trip from July 4th weekend which failed spectacularly when United cancelled many Milwaukee flights and had no options for three days.  And this weekend continues the travel plan for August with a last-of-the-summer jaunt to one of my favorite places: Roma!

I'm writing this from the British Airways Galleries Lounge in T5 at Heathrow while we wait for our connecting flight on BA.  This is an all miles trip this time on United and British Airways - connecting through Heathrow only cost 30,000 Avios each to fly Club World.

The weather right now looks good and Vatican Museum passes are in hand...should be fun!