Arrived in Italy

Arrived in Italy

Well, we made it.  We arrived in Verona, the city made famous by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.  Haven’t been down town yet to see if there are any Capulet Family gang members hanging around the street corners but we might see some tomorrow when we start exploring.

Great trip over but not without a few challenges. 

The drive down was fine but when we arrived at the Airport Marriott, they refused to honour our reservation for Park and Fly.  Long story short, we like to fly out of Seattle.  It is relatively convenient, always cheaper, and usually cheaper to park the car.  Thanks to Jinder and Kal, we usually use the Springhill Suites Marriott in Renton, we have always parked for free (regardless of the length) and received free shuttle service to the airport coming and going, all for the price of a single night’s stay (about $100).  We usually chose to stay on the night of our return.  This time around the Springhill was full on our return date of Oct. 3.  The manager booked us into a sister hotel at the airport at double the usual price and assured us the same rules applied.  When we got to the airport Sunday, the Marriott manager said “no”, despite the reservation.  No sweet-talking changed his mind and there may have been an F-Bomb fly from someone as we melted down.  No place to park or stay and we were leaving in two hours.  Desperate, we drove back to the Springhill; they created a vacancy, registered us for the free 25 days parking, and dropped us off at the airport with time to spare.  Challenge resolved.

Just as we began to relax over a drink at the airport we looked outside and saw our BA 747 being prepared.  We were taking pictures of the plane through the window and noticed a worker scramble up to the starboard engine and begin applying strips of duct tape to the undercarriage of the wing, where the engine joined.  As our level of concern began to rise, another curious onlooker remarked in his British accent, “Four strips of tape ought to do it, those Rolls Royce engines aren’t that heavy.”  Trusting souls that we are, we boarded without question.  Since we made it safely we can only conclude that duct tape really can be used for anything.

And then we noticed the tape job in progress!

The polar ride itself was great.  We purposely got up early so we would be tired on the 7 pm flight.  Neither of us made it through the first movie.  We both slept until breakfast was served an hour before the end of the 9 hour flight.  The magic of modern chemistry living is marvelous.  After seven hours of sleep we were very refreshed and ready to start the adventure in earnest. 

Note to self… Seattle flights are cheaper but one must read the fine print and ask the right questions.  We knew our BA flight from Seattle to London Heathrow meant transiting from Heathrow to Gatwick for the two-hour leg to Verona.  What we didn’t expect was that we had to clear Customs and Immigration, retrieve our luggage, find our own way from Heathrow to Gatwick, and pay for it on our own, all in a three hour window.  Daunting at first but we were in Gatwick sipping Americano Espresso’s an hour before our flight.

In closing, here it is at 9 pm, safely in Verona, we have unpacked (literally), and are heading to the hotel bar to toast a glass of wine to our safe arrival.

Ciao Baby...