My husband had a business meeting in Italy back in 2016 and we decided that it would be a good time for me to meet him there afterward so we could spend a few days in Italy together. He’s a seasoned traveler, but I’m almost completely unseasoned and would never go anywhere by myself. Anyway, it will not surprise you (if you know me), that I kept a journal of the experience by way of letters (emails) home. I thought it would be fun to publish those as a weekly series on my blog. It will definitely be fun for me – you’ll have to let me know if fun is had on your side of things as well. Some of you have read these before – maybe you’ll enjoy revisiting it. Or maybe you’ll have a good reason to skip reading my blog on these days. Here we go!
Adventures in Italy – Part 1
I got here (the airport) the prescribed 2 hours early and have nothing to do, so that bodes ill for all of you, since you will now be subjected to early reports about almost nothing. I left 45 minutes earlier than planned after having gotten a surprising amount of sleep (I know I’m not the only person who doesn’t sleep well before a major trip!). Thank you, Lord! Just south of Lakeville, traffic came to a grinding halt and a delay of 45 minutes as we all slowly made our way forward. Of course, you can’t really see what’s going on and you have no idea how long this parking lot state of existence is going to last. Somewhere in the middle of that time, I realized I’d forgotten my only jacket and had to grapple with the 5 stages of grieving. Of course, it’s going to be really warm in Italy, but I was counting on it keeping me warm on the plane. Oh well. Eventually passed the source of the delay – a semi had gone off the road into some mud and a whole fleet of emergency vehicles and tow trucks of immense size were on hand to lend their aid.
Dropped the car off at the lot and was immediately picked up by a shuttle. As I boarded the freezing cold bus, I felt another pang of regret about the jacket. I had a TSA pre-check ticket on my phone, but sort of squandered all that freedom by forgetting to remove the car keys from my pocket when I went through the thingy. Had to step aside and go through the other thingy so they could X-Ray all my parts for dangerous things. Being a newbie is really a drag sometimes. Experienced another moment of confusion when I realized that I didn’t know what concourse I was supposed to be going to. Turns out the G21 on the ticket didn’t stand for Gate 21. Got a good walk in while I walked to the farthest end of the airport to find Concourse G and Gate 21. Everyone at the airport looks vaguely bored like “we’ve all done this a million times,” so I worked on adopting a more seasoned look, rather than the “lost little girl” look I was no doubt currently sporting.
The only jacket I saw at the airport was a MN Twins sweatshirt-type jacket for $75!! The phrase “highway robbery” came to mind. Kris said they have blankets on the airplane, so I’m going to count on that. I’ll just have to think ahead to the weather in Italy:
I have a feeling that all your sympathies for my jacket-less existence just evaporated.
Found out shortly after I sat down that there’s been an earthquake in Italy! Kris didn’t mention it when he texted me, so I’m guessing it was too far south to have any impact where he is.
Well, that brings us up to date! Don’t expect this kind of mind-numbing detail every day. (I heard that collective sigh of relief!!). Remember, you can still opt out of these missives by replying to me something like “enough already!” 🙂
Looking forward to being reunited with my honey in Italy!!
Love, Lynn/Mom
I’ll probably delete this in the buongiorno. Ciao!
Lynniebeemuseoday 
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