...aspiring aimee: Italia

Back in May, my friend Diane called me to tell me someone had backed out on a trip to Italy she was planning to go on at the end of June. She asked me if I wanted in. I thougth about it for about 30 seconds and said yes. I had never been overseas and so a spontaneous trip to Europe, not to mention Italy (or the motherland as I refer to it) was a no-brainer. I quickly wrote a check for my part of the villa (see pic below) which included a chef the first night and opera tickets to Rigaletto in Florence. Then, at the wise suggestion of my brother, called AMEX to see if I had enough points to get to Italy. I was 10,000 short so I bought them which came to about $300. That sure beat the $2200 plane tickets I had been scouting before AMEX came to play. Within a couple of hours of Diane's call, I was all set.

I left on June 27th and getting there was NOT fun. My flight from DC-Reagan to JFK was cancelled and therefore I missed my flight to Rome. So I made a big stink at the Delta counter and the nice guy got me on a flight out of Dulles on Air France that night, flying through Paris then onto Rome. I was able to get to Dulles with hours to spare and settled into the Air France lounge, which I was allowed in since I was in business class. (I had a choice, I could fly coach and get some miles back or fly business class and use all of the miles. Was that a serious question, I asked?)

I boarded the plane and sat on the runway for 2 hours. So I knew before I even left the states that I missed my first connection out of Paris. I barely slept on the flight over, even though I had a sleeping capsule. I was too wound up. We landed in Paris and the flight attendant said my terminal was right next door so it wouldn't be a problem getting there. 45 minutes, 2 buses and an immigration checkpoint later, I was in Terminal F. My cell phone didn't work so I couldn't call home to let them know where in the world I was. I had to stand in line for an hour to try and get on the next flight, which I missed just by standing in line. I finally got up to the counter and was put on a flight out at 4:30. I ran to buy a calling card, and then to the security line. I got through and went to a phone booth. I quickly realized that 15 euros I paid for this calling card was a waste becaue it didn't work. I was trying not to melt down, but thinking that I had no contact with the outside world, hadn't showered in over a day (or slept), was hungry, tired and forgot all of the French I knew the day before (from the 5 years of studying the language) put me at the breaking point.

I found the Air France lounge and learned the flight was delayed until further notice. I got to a phone and after cursing and banging the phone for a while, thinking my calling card would magically work, I pulled out a credit card and tried to get an outside line. That finally worked. So I got through to work and had them immediately put international service on my blackberry/phone. Then I called home and called Diane who was at the hotel in Rome waiting for me. At that point I broke down from exhaustion. All I wanted to do was get to Italy. Finally they called our flight and I soon found myself flying over the breathtaking French (or was it Italian) Alps. What a sight. I got to FCO airport and found my bags which had clearly gone on a flight before me. But I had them and that was all that mattered. After spending 50 euros to get to the hotel I was FINALLY there. I found Diane and ran to the shower. All of a sudden, I was ready to go.

We went to dinner at Piazza Narvona that evening and I felt like I was in a movie just watching the scenery. The next day, more people on the trip started coming in. We went and did a lot of the tourist things (Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Colleseum) and then that night I met up w/family who live in Rome. I'll save that whole experience for another posting because it was the coolest thing. (See first photo on my blog). Day 3 we were off to our villa in Tuscany and from that point, we went to Arezzo, Lucca, Florence and Siena. Florence was my favorite followed by Siena. Italy is gorgeous and I could easily live there if I could find a job that would allow me to keep up the bad shopping habits I had while I was there! I'm ready to go back and I can't wait for the next trip. I definitely have the European bug.