Venice,
Veneto,
Italy
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Venice airport 12:30 am ---There were only 5 people that we saw in the airport at this time, none speaking any English. We found some hard benches to sit on and tried again to nap but couldn't. After 4am people began trickling in. At 5 Lufthansa opened their check-in and we were able to go to the concourse to wait. I finally found a place selling pastries and coffee for a snack - by now we are very tired. We boarded at 6:20 am and off at 6:45 towards Munich Germany where we will change planes. We walked out into the cold to take a bus to our small Dolomite commuter plane. As we were leaving the sun was just coming up and the view of the Dolomite and Sothern Alps were just beautiful with the sun hitting them! Off the plane and onto an articulated bus that took us to the airport where we had to go through several securities. We think we walked at least ½ mile and some backtracking as signing was not good and arrived at our gate just minutes before we boarded. We could still see the mountains as we flew north - I was impressed by them. After boarding the plane we were 1 hour late leaving due to some medical emergency - they had to remove someone from the plane. Lufthansa gave us very good service again, they constantly were feeding us; again we tried to sleep and could only shut our eyes for periods of times. I even watched 2 movies this time. Along with all the meals and good service we were each given a big heart shaped cookie saying Oktoberfest 2008 on it. At last we landed in Chicago Illinois USA - and what a confusing place. First Customs and that was a snap, then a confusing luggage area, and a guy who tried to claim one of my bags, then tried to find the Domestic Departures but no such place. Glad we have lots of time here. After asking many people finally boarded a train that took us at least a couple of miles to concourse 3, where I could get my ticket. They had me change to an earlier flight so I would be leaving soon. I originally had a later one so I could make sure Carol was on board hers. She said she felt comfortable getting back on the train to go to concourse 1 and getting her ticket. I got through security, up to the boarding area and called Charlie to tell him of the change. No answer, so emailed him. A call from Carol saying she now was on a later than planned flight but was in boarding area and all was OK. Next call from Charlie saying he had gotten my message and was on his way. By then I had 10 minutes till boarding the commuter plane to Columbus where I grabbed luggage, called Charlie and he arrived shortly. So glad to see him. It had been pouring rain in Chicago but 78 here and warm. He told me that Chicago had flooded the day after we flew out, making a mess of travel there. Then Hurricane Ike came through the Cincinnati and Dayton area. He was without power for 2 days-moved into the motorhome for those days. Dars was out longer and Mary didn't get power for 11 days! Many trees down. Charlie said he had been hiking in one of the local parks and when he realized wind was serious headed back to car and now the trail had many blowdown limbs and greenery on it. Just sustained 70MPH wind but no rain. Today was also the day the Dow stock market lost the biggest amount in history. Read my mail, deleted or took care of some computer messages; I had over 300 even after asking friends to not send while I was gone and by 9 hit the bed. I was really tired. Not sure how long without sleep because of all the time zones, but because of cold/sinus problems did not sleep well Friday or Saturday nights, and none at all since then till here. It was a great trip - I would do it again in an instant!
We loved the cruise, though felt they tours could have been better, longer, or better planned. The highlight of this trip was reuniting Carol and Maria after 52 years. She and her husband treated us royaly and made our visit memorable. They showed us everyday life in their town, something we would not have gotten any other way. It was just great!!
