Indeed, it is true. I am a fan of efficiency. And on this trip I got to experience efficiency at its best.

To get to Rome from London I flew London-Munich-Rome on Lufthansa. I had 55 minutes in Munich between flights. That’s plenty of time – provided you don’t leave London an hour late, which we did. We landed in Munich at the time my flight to Rome was to start boarding. (In case you’re doing the math, I know it doesn’t add up – we left an hour late, but the flight was shorter than planned, plus they pad the flight time to allow for minimal delays.) I asked the flight attendant before landing if she thought I’d make the flight and was assured that if I made my way to the gate without any stops along the way I would be on time, as the departure gate wasn’t far from where we were coming in. Just after we landed she told me that actually, there would be a white van waiting for me outside the plane to take me to my flight to Rome. Because of our delay we were at an outside gate, not the terminal, which means we were on the tarmac.

Off the plane I went, was greeted by a man holding a “Rome” sign and shown into the white mini-van – in which I was the only passenger. He drove me to passport control so they could stamp my passport, then drove me to my plane. I got there before any of the other passengers did. This flight was also at an outside gate and the passengers arrived by bus from the terminal just after I did. I was the first one on the plane.

A girl could get used to this! Nothing to worry about, chauffeur to get me where I needed to go, including whisking through customs. Very nice indeed.

Unfortunately my luggage didn’t have the same personalized service. I did ask the flight attendant if my luggage was also going to get a mini-van (hey, I thought it was funny) and was told that luggage always moves quickly, so it would be fine. Well, not this time. But that’s okay. In true Italian efficiency, I was told it would be delivered to my hotel later that evening and it arrived the following afternoon.

Love it. All of it.