Gumbo was visiting a small city many people travel through, but few people stop to visit. Gumbo was in Fiumicino, Italy. Rome’s main airport, Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino (FCO) is situated a few kilometers from downtown Fiumicino It’s about a half hour drive to historic Rome and about a half hour on the Leonardo Express train from FCO to Rome main terminal. Seems this puzzle stumped everyone in our audience and remained unsolved.
Fiumicino offers a pleasant change from the hustle and bustle of the big city life you’ll find in Rome or Milano. A small fishing village built on one of the branches of the Tiber River as it flows into the sea, fishing is still an important part of it’s economy, as the various photo clues from the puzzle gave reference to.
We enjoyed watching the fishing boats return to harbor from the Tyrrhenian Sea, followed by flocks of seagulls. It was great fun to see the fishermen selling their very fresh catch right off the banks of the Tiber. But fishing has been dwarfed by the role of Rome’s airport and in tourist-related facilities around town (eg. Alitalia’s headquarters is in Fiumicino).
There are many fine small restaurants and a number of small hotels in Fiumicino, so it makes a convenient place to overnight if you arrive on a late flight and don’t want to go into Rome that day, or if you have an early morning flight and don’t want to deal with the stress of making it out of Rome in rush hour. Most of the places to stay at are smaller family owned hotels of variable quality. We’ve stayed in Fiumicino twice in our travels because of its proximity to FCO airport. This gave us time to walk around and explore part of the city, which is pretty and laid back, even if not overwhelming.
There are nice beaches on the sea in Fuimicino if you’re there in the summer (weather is too cool for beaches in the winter), and the town is a popular vacation getaway for people wanting to escape the summer heat of Rome. Also nearby is the ancient port city of Ostia Antica, which PortMoresby previously described at this link.
Fuimicino is a nice place to spend a day or two, especially around arriving or departing at FCO. But you’re in Italy with all it has to offer, so go and explore this great country!
And a few more sights from Fiumicino….
(Cathedral)
(Flowers outside the cathedral for a funeral)
(as with most cities, there’s at least one Irish Pub in town)
(beautiful sunflowers on sale in February)
(fishermen selling their catch of the day)
