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.
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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...
