It has taken two attempts to return to Rome and just a smidge of patience, but I finally arrived back in the Eternal City on June 26th. Of course, I was flying from within the EU – Ireland – and that certainly made things easier. Yet, at the beginning of May when I began looking for flights there were slim pickings indeed.

While both Ryanair and Aer Lingus were selling direct Dublin to Fiumicino flights on their websites, scheduled for early June, I was suspicious. A quick message to a contact within the airline industry confirmed that I was right; this was mere wishful thinking on the part of the airlines.