We're HERE....Finally!!

As promised, I am blogging to you from my room in our Villa in GENOA, ITALY!!! :) :) Yay!!! We FINALLY made it…..and I say finally, because boy was it a process to get here!!! I actually think it’s quite humorous now looking back, but during the flight frenzies, I nor my traveling companions thought it to be that funny.  

Where to begin...oh my, oh my. Okay:

We had breakfast Tuesday morning with my dad at Cracker Barrel and then he dropped us off at GSP around 11:15 AM. We then met up with Derrick and left GSP with no problems at 2:35 PM Tuesday, November 6th. His mom, Vickie, who is INCREDIBLY awesome treated us to lunch before we left. Thanks Vickie!!! ;) Anhywho, we went through security with NO problems, straight on to our gate, and only had to sit for about 10 minutes. 

Sidenote: Most of you I have talked to and you know how hard the packing was going for me (and, of course, you can reference my last post, New Year, New Adventure to see exactly why) so when we got there, not only did we each have 1 carry-on but we ended up having to check in 2 bags, AND my main suitcase still weighed 71 pounds!!!!! Which we did have to pay a fee for, but there was no getting around it....and of course my sweet hubby isn't letting me live that one down!!

So, back to the flight story....headed to Washington/Dulles and we get there with no problems around 4:30 PM. Sit and wait to board about 20 minutes and we're on the plane ready to go to Rome. Well. This is when the whole problem started. A flight coming in from Chicago needing to board our plane was late. VERY late. So we sit for 45 minutes to an hour before they get on. We then FINALLY head off, with a very uneventful 8 hour flight. Our dinner was actually pretty good for on flight, and we had about 5 movie choices and 5 TV shows playing consistently throughout the flight. I slept on and off because I was SO excited and couldn't sleep. Our plane was probably the nicest plane I've ever been on....we each had our very own TV screen to watch and 1st Class was insane. We were treated with a delicious breakfast about an hour before landing and all in all, it was a very nice time. :) 

HOWEVER, when you wait 45 minutes on passengers to get onto your plane it's inevitable that your next flight will be delayed. Well. Off the plane we go at about 7:50 AM, Wednesday, January 7th, and, we stand in line to go through security for, um, about 35 minutes. Mind you, our flight was to leave at 8:30 AM and at this point, it's about 8 AM. So, we get through that (and by the way, Jonathan did have to have his bag searched) and then we run off to get our passports checked. Can I just say that the Europeans SERIOUSLY need to get their airport/flight/plane junk TOGETHER. UGH. Anyways, we waited in line for about 35 more minutes to finally get our passports checked (DEFINITELY past 8:30 AM now) and off we run to our gate only to find that our plane is.....gone. So. We are then directed to another line where we must re-book a flight for yet, another plane. This line was again, another one of those famous lines where you wait for about 30 minutes. So, we wait (and overhear the Italians saying what we think is that all the flights to Genoa are no longer in existence) and finally get up to the desk and we are able to book 3 flights to Genoa, boarding at 12:15 PM . YAY!!! Having some extra time, we grab a quick sandwich in the airport and then go to sit at the gate and wait. And wait. And wait. And.....wait. We did not stand up to FINALLY get on a bus to take us to our plane until 1:15 PM. Yes, my friends, 1:15 PM. 

But wait, it gets even better.

We hop the plane, and all 3 of us are dead so we immediately fall asleep. This is supposed to be a 1 hour flight to put us in Genoa. I awake to the sound of the captain telling us we are going to be landing in about 20 minutes. Well, apparently there was bad weather, which at the time we thought just meant rain and fog (which was what was happening in Rome), so captain cannot see to land. So, he circles the landing about THREE times (another 45 minutes or so) to no avail. What happens??? We are rerouted to land in Pisa. Yes. Pisa. Ohhhh....I'm just getting exhausted typing this as I'm sure ya'll are getting exhausted from reading it!!!! 

We land in Pisa with NO clue what's going on and no way to communicate (everyone up until this point had been able to efficiently converse with us through English....even the Captain would speak to us in Italian and then translate to English) except through our translation books. We find that a bus has been organized to take all of us that were headed to Genoa, to Genoa, but our luggage is still unexplainable. Did it make the original flight to Genoa??? Did it make the later flight that we took to Genoa??? Did it get left in Rome??? We were told it was left in Rome. Fill out baggage claim form. Give to baggage claim when you get to Genoa Airport. Blahhhhhhhhh.

So, we rush to figure out, where is this bus to Genoa??? We find it. Get on. And off we're headed for a 2 hour bus ride to the Genoa Airport. This turned out to be a good thing, because, the view was INDESCRIBABLE!!! It was completely dark, but we could still see pretty good (and manage to catch a couple of good pictures!!). On this bus ride is when we discovered why we couldn't land in Genoa....SNOW!!!! There was snow EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!! It was BEAUTIFUL!!!! I couldn't believe it.

We get to the airport and we head immediately to baggage claim...but don't forget EVERYONE else on our flight, which was now on that bus, didn't have their luggage for some reason either. Well, we're standing in line, and our very observant friend Derrick sees that there is a whole area directly behind us, a couple hundred feet with some luggage just sitting on the conveyor belts. So he heads over to check it out, and I quickly follow, and....OUR LUGGAGE!! YAY!!! It's all there....every single piece (which was about 11 pieces for all 3 of us)!!!! YAY!!!! I'll say it again folks, YAY!!! It was funny too, because all the Italians started getting excited (after hearing us scream for joy) and followed the Americans and discovered their luggage!!!! 

Finally. Got our luggage and ready to head to the Villa. We found a taxi with no problems and the driver was EXTREMELY nice. Our ride was only about 20 minutes, and he gave us help with our Italian and tips about the city as we drove. He really was awesome!!! He dropped us off, we unloaded our luggage, and our good friend from the Charleston program, Po, greeted us at the door at 9 PM, Wednesday, January 7th. Whew. We were SUPPOSED to arrive to the villa at 9:30 AM Wednesday morning. A whole 12 hours later we arrive. Again, whewwwww. 

I know that was EXTREMELY long and I apologize. If you didn't read it all I completely understand. But several have been asking about the flight over and I definitely wanted to share, and although I'm journaling a little bit, I knew I would never remember this come the end of May when we get back. My hubby did share this same story, much shorter though I am sure, so if you'd like another perspective you can read his. It's probably interesting to see what we each included or left out. 

Nonetheless, after 31 hours of traveling, we're here. Safely. :)