We had a restless night, waking up every hour or two. Too many things on our minds tonight. It helped that we were organized so there wasn't much to do this morning. We had coffee and toast, did a last minute tidy up in the apartment and George was here at 6:00am for our ride to the airport. We have an hour and a half after going through security and we manage to rid ourselves of a few more euros:) in the duty free shops.
I have seen full planes but I thought for a few minutes it was going to be like the buses....with people standing on route. It is the craziness of all the carry on luggage. With airlines charging for checked baggage these days passengers are taking on more and more as carryon. We are 15 minutes late taking off because of flight assistants trying to find places in the overhead compartments for all the baggage. Almost some air rage happening....this is where our little under the seat carry-on bags come in handy.
10:00am Friday and we are in Rome:) love these short hops. Unfortunately it takes as much work to fly for an hour and a half as it does for ten hours. All big airports are hard work. You never know where you're going and the strange thing for us now is that Italians don't speak English nearly as much as the Maltese. It feels stranger here in Italy than it ever did in Malta. We tried to book our seats with Lufthansa, but to no avail. You just can't get passed the 24 hour rule. Next we looked for a shuttle bus to our hotel. By this time we have walked back and forth and up and down the Terminal 3 area a few times. We gave up and just took a taxi to our hotel.... €25.....no €1.5 buses here:)
Our hotel is a welcome and pleasant surprise. We have to make the transition from apartment living where we had our own supplies to hotel staying where we have nothing....we went out to find a local neighbourhood market where we bought wine and water and 'famous' Milano salami for an afternoon snack. It is time for a nap after our early start this morning.
Our taxi driver, with minimal English, mentioned that we were in Ostia. He said it was a 'good' place. I googled it when we were settled in our room and found it to be Ostia Antica....Roman ruins that rival Pompeii but with less tourist traffic. Rick Steeves categorizes it as 'one of Italy's best kept secrets' ....we are making plans to go there tomorrow. It is nearby and something we can fit into our one day. Neither of us wants to venture into the craziness of Rome with our tired bodies and minds.
Bob chose sleep over eating so I went down to the restaurant myself. I wanted an Italian pasta dinner before going home. The restaurant was lovely and my dinner was wonderful. A half bottle of Pino Grigio, prawn and mushroom pasta, so good that I would have liked to lick the bowl, tiramisu and a Limoncella for dessert. That was a "Happy Meal". I'm now OK to leave Italy again.
I had my journal with me but I did not feel like painting my food. I just wanted to sit quietly and savour it.
We were up at 2:30, in the taxi at 4:00 and there was already a lineup to check in at the Lufthansa counter that didn't open til 5:00am. The long slog home has started. Our flight to Frankfurt was only 2/3rds full so we had our row to ourselves. If this could have been the way we flew from Frankfurt to Vancouver I might even have enjoyed the trip. But the 10 hour transAtlantic flight was packed as usual. I am a sardine between Bob and another man. If we want to travel we have to accept that this is the way flying is these days. The saying " it's the journey, not the destination" definitely was not meant to include the flying part. Other than being crowded we had no complaints about Lufthansa. The food was good, with two meals, lots of snacks and free drinks.
Our move through security and customs went smoothly and quickly. The only snag came at security to get on our last flight to Comox. The CBS agent decided we couldn't take our souvenir, unopened bottle of Limoncella in our carry on where it has been the whole trip. I had to go back to the Central Mountain Air counter and check my carryon bag, then come through security again. An unfortunate bit of beaurcratic nonsense to end our journey. Fortunately we had lots of time to spare.
It is exciting to travel to different places but it is always good to come home. We have wonderful friends and family that we miss when we are away. When you have been away in a strange country the best thing to see when you land at home are the faces of friends. Thank you Warren and Judy for making both our coming and going special times with homemade Chili, jam and birthday flowers.
This is the first time in many years that we don't have an RV to unpack and clean after a winter away. A few suitcases emptied and we are sitting comfortably at home getting over our jet lag.
The last few years have provided me with many wonderful experiences and memories of places I've never been before......the Yukon, the Canadian Prairies, the Mississippi, Italy and now Malta. Bob has been the tour guide revisiting places to which e has both lived and travelled. Thanks to my "WagonMaster" for another safe and successful adventure, with hopes for many more to come. Maybe with a camper to continue with our travels on this continent?
March 13 2013 ...Friday the 13th and Jasmyne's 13th birthday.
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