Review of Alitalia flight from Madrid to Rome in Economy

INTRO

Hello amigos!

This FR covers my one and only trip with Alitalia. I think is worth sharing for archaeological purposes, for those interested in what where the final days of the defunct flag carrier of Italy.

It was a friend of mine's birthday in Rome, and she invited me and other friends to hang around. Tickets were cheap and so I bought them without any hessitation I was quite eager to be in Rome as I hadn't been there before.  This was about a week before the trip.

In the meantime, a storm was brewing in Asia…but the news and authorities told us it wasn't of any concern for us in Europe. As the day of the trip neared, some cases of this strange flu hitting China, Korea and Iran were reported in Lomardy, but they were isolated cases and nothing of concern…

little did we know…
 

At madrid barajas

Alitalia used to operate from MAD's T2. Where basically all european airlines other than Iberia/OneWorld (and Luxair) have their ops.

Since the flight departed at 5:50AM, I was at T2 at the demential time of 4AM. The place was fairly deserted. 

I attempted to enter the "Puerta de Alcalá" VIP, since the priority pass app told me it was open 24/7….but nope. I wanted to get some breakfast and something to hydrate as I didn't expect any service as per the European standard. 
 
In front of our assigned gate a TAP A32X and an UX A330 were parked. Our A320 to Rome was parked at a remote gate (I fail to understand this practice at T2, although I've come to guess that's the reason why these early flights are so cheap). 

Boarding

We were called to board without any particular order. We were basically shoved to the plane. At leaste it was a nice ride.

I was super excited as I always wanted to ride Alitalia but never had the chance before.

A view to the good old T2 from the Airbus… The T1,2,3 complex was bound to be heavily remodelled by the Spanish Government. Of course, this plan went down the drain after the later events.

Since we were shoved on the plane without any instructions, people basically boarded wherever they felt like. With the silly result of people seated at the front of the plane boarding at the back and trying to get across the whole fuselage to their place…and vice versa. Total chaos and sillyness. 

I was a underwhelmed by the pitch. This was the tightest plane I can remember flying, and my knees were touching the seat in front and I'm not a particularly tall person.

Anyways I was so tired because of the early hour I just sat and fell asleep. It would be a night flight, so there wouldn't be much to see in any case. 
The only other thing that caught my attention during boarding is how well the crew spoke Spanish. I didn't expect that at all! 

inflight

Sometime midflight the sun rose and gave us a good wake up light to those of us who were trying to catch some sleep. Service had already passed by (I heard it but chose to keep sleeping).

For reference, they handed out something sweet or salty and a drink.. This photo is from the return flight. Those cookies were quite good btw!

As we approached Fiumicino I was eager to catch a glimpse of Rome…But it turns out FCO is somewhat far from town and there aren't may tall buildings in the Eternal City (but if you squit you may make out St Peter's)
 

Made it to Italy!!!
I am a full fan of Alitalia's old logo and design….I think is a cool detail when they mark the plane on the wings.

A view to FCO

FCO was in full works mode back then, so there was no space to park at the terminal, but rather we had to go to the hard stand.

We were bussed to the terminal, where there were sanitary checks in place…this was the first time I thought something serious may be going on, then why we weren't told anything in Spain? Anyhow…I crossed it and they gave me a leaflet with instructions in case I felt ill. 

I then grabbed the train to the City and had a great weekend getaway knowing Rome. It was weirly empty, without many tourists… we were only days away from the big deal.