From Rome to London and back

In Rome, I had a crazy 2-hour adventure of missing three trains I could take to Ciampino, where my departing flight would be taking off. I was late for my first train and couldn't find the station, then the second train I missed because I didn't know it was that train that I needed to be on, and the third one I couldn't get on because I had trusted the Departures list but the actual station the train was leaving from was on the digital board which, by the time I found out, I went and the train was gone. Thus, on my fourth attempt to get on a train that would take me to Ciampino, I was very happy to see that finally, I was on the right train when I looked out the window and saw my airport.

Now, now I was not dropped out right at the airport. Instead, when I got off, I found myself once again lost in the midst of trying to figure out where I was and how I could get to the airport. Thankfully, this elderly gentleman who speaks English asked if I needed a taxi. I said yes, but that I needed to get cash. He told me that's not a problem and I got in the cab. This was my first big break all morning. Alas, he brought me to the airport with some good conversation and I gave him 10 pounds in place of the 17 or so euros the trip actually cost. I finally go to get on my flight, and thankfully because I'd printed my boarding pass the night before, I was okay for getting straight on the security queue. I got to the gate, and there was a queue that practically filled up the entire room. I didn't understand why. Then, when I got outside, I realized that we are put in a shuttle straight to the airplane and that was it, we were on our flight to London.

Once in London, I had to get to Queen's Park, the part of Kilburn that the Oxford Kilburn Youth Trust (OK Club) is located at and where I would be volunteering for about two weeks, or so I thought.