I made it! I am here and better yet, physically all in one piece in Rome. Unfortunately after two days of little sleep and 12 hours of traveling to another time zone, I’m not sure about the current state of my mental abilities. It feels really odd to be here. I know this is where I wanted to go, where I planned to go, but still a little odd that I ended up here. Besides this odd feeling, that I’m sure will take days, weeks, months to shake, the actual travel part was great.
Friday was all about adrenaline. I work up promptly at 8 (after a short night of 4 hours of sleep on the floor). I threw away any item that was possibly left in the apartment at that point and turned in the keys. It was much easier to leave place than I thought, it stopped being our home a long time ago, mostly I felt a sense of accomplishment because it was so empty and clean. For awhile there at the end, it seemed that there was perpetually one more thing to sell, give or dump. I made one last stop at work before hitting the road, said some last goodbyes and turned in the Corporate Amex. A very final action; no more gazillion dollar line of credit for me. I headed out across the Ben Franklin Bridge and said goodbye to Philly in my rearview mirror. As a final farewell blessing, even the New Jersey turnpike sent me off with good wishes and the traffic was light all the way to JFK. The scene at the airport was comical, and I was the scene. Here is the list of luggage that made the final cut and I took to Italy: One medium-large rolling suitcase, one backpack, one purse, one rolling carry-one suitcase filled with books (so I could sneak it in if it was overweight to check), 4 army issued “officer bags”, filled to the brim with everything that I own. The army bags are great, because they can fold up and are easy to store, as opposed to bringing 4 suitcases, but they weren’t so easy to shuffle around through the airport. They are no frills bags: canvas, a zipper and a handle. These bags had to be dragged or carried like dead weight in true military fashion. I think I managed to make a lot of people’s days a little better throughout the airport as they witnessed me wrestle with these bags. First the man checking in the rental car was amazed as I stacked them up one by one on the cart. Everyone on the tram was amused as I had to use every last ounce (or kilo) of my weight to brace the cart from rolling around in the crowded car as it made way to the different terminals. Next was the look of astonishment when I joined the queue waiting for the check in counter to open. Many comments of “long trip?” where made, and I was asked often how many people I was traveling with. The look of horror on the check-in clerk’s face may have been the best of the day. This was another moment of pure spectacle. Once the cart was loaded, it was unwieldy, but manageable. At the check in counter I had to take each heavy and cumbersome piece off the unwieldy cart one by one to have them weighed. I think I probably made the line move quickly for the people behind me as they witnessed this feat of sheer willpower. One man asked me if I was the equipment manager, although I did note that no one really offered to help me. I guess I must have looked like I had it under control. Then, because I took a budget carrier, I had to load all of the bags back onto the rolling cart, go to a different desk to pay for the excess baggage and then take all of the bags to off load at the security check point. At a few points I worried that I ran over a few small children, the bags were packed so high, I couldn’t really see over the front of the cart! Besides the intense physical labor involved, after the bags were checked the travel was easy. I had a good 8+ hours to think about how I was going to get the bags off the belt in Rome, that is, IF they came in!
The flight itself was manageable; I would highly recommend aer Lingus. If nothing else it is soothing and pleasant to listen to all of the on board announcements in the Irish accents. Getting into Rome was just about flawless. All bags miraculously arrived, no one at customs even looked at me and after a brief wait, Josh was there to take his turn in schlepping the bags.
The taxi ride from the airport was fun. It was a 30 minute Italian lesson. The driver, who looked a bit like an older Italian George Clooney, spent the whole ride explaining the finer points of the Italian language. He also pointed to my skin and shouted “molto Bianca” and told me I needed to get to the beach. Not bad advice on your first day in Italy.
The day from here consisted of me sleeping and Josh working. . I can feel the travel trauma wearing off and the clouds in my head clearing. The breeze is pleasant and the room is cool and out of the hot roman sun, I’m safe and with my husband and my cat. I can’t ask for much more than that.
Friday was all about adrenaline. I work up promptly at 8 (after a short night of 4 hours of sleep on the floor). I threw away any item that was possibly left in the apartment at that point and turned in the keys. It was much easier to leave place than I thought, it stopped being our home a long time ago, mostly I felt a sense of accomplishment because it was so empty and clean. For awhile there at the end, it seemed that there was perpetually one more thing to sell, give or dump. I made one last stop at work before hitting the road, said some last goodbyes and turned in the Corporate Amex. A very final action; no more gazillion dollar line of credit for me. I headed out across the Ben Franklin Bridge and said goodbye to Philly in my rearview mirror. As a final farewell blessing, even the New Jersey turnpike sent me off with good wishes and the traffic was light all the way to JFK. The scene at the airport was comical, and I was the scene. Here is the list of luggage that made the final cut and I took to Italy: One medium-large rolling suitcase, one backpack, one purse, one rolling carry-one suitcase filled with books (so I could sneak it in if it was overweight to check), 4 army issued “officer bags”, filled to the brim with everything that I own. The army bags are great, because they can fold up and are easy to store, as opposed to bringing 4 suitcases, but they weren’t so easy to shuffle around through the airport. They are no frills bags: canvas, a zipper and a handle. These bags had to be dragged or carried like dead weight in true military fashion. I think I managed to make a lot of people’s days a little better throughout the airport as they witnessed me wrestle with these bags. First the man checking in the rental car was amazed as I stacked them up one by one on the cart. Everyone on the tram was amused as I had to use every last ounce (or kilo) of my weight to brace the cart from rolling around in the crowded car as it made way to the different terminals. Next was the look of astonishment when I joined the queue waiting for the check in counter to open. Many comments of “long trip?” where made, and I was asked often how many people I was traveling with. The look of horror on the check-in clerk’s face may have been the best of the day. This was another moment of pure spectacle. Once the cart was loaded, it was unwieldy, but manageable. At the check in counter I had to take each heavy and cumbersome piece off the unwieldy cart one by one to have them weighed. I think I probably made the line move quickly for the people behind me as they witnessed this feat of sheer willpower. One man asked me if I was the equipment manager, although I did note that no one really offered to help me. I guess I must have looked like I had it under control. Then, because I took a budget carrier, I had to load all of the bags back onto the rolling cart, go to a different desk to pay for the excess baggage and then take all of the bags to off load at the security check point. At a few points I worried that I ran over a few small children, the bags were packed so high, I couldn’t really see over the front of the cart! Besides the intense physical labor involved, after the bags were checked the travel was easy. I had a good 8+ hours to think about how I was going to get the bags off the belt in Rome, that is, IF they came in!The flight itself was manageable; I would highly recommend aer Lingus. If nothing else it is soothing and pleasant to listen to all of the on board announcements in the Irish accents. Getting into Rome was just about flawless. All bags miraculously arrived, no one at customs even looked at me and after a brief wait, Josh was there to take his turn in schlepping the bags.
The taxi ride from the airport was fun. It was a 30 minute Italian lesson. The driver, who looked a bit like an older Italian George Clooney, spent the whole ride explaining the finer points of the Italian language. He also pointed to my skin and shouted “molto Bianca” and told me I needed to get to the beach. Not bad advice on your first day in Italy.
The day from here consisted of me sleeping and Josh working. . I can feel the travel trauma wearing off and the clouds in my head clearing. The breeze is pleasant and the room is cool and out of the hot roman sun, I’m safe and with my husband and my cat. I can’t ask for much more than that.
2 comments:
I am so glad you made it! I miss you already. Do they have a 3 day walk in Rome? I will start raising money now!
PS thanks for writing this. I feel like I can't wwait to see pictures of your apartment
All the best on your new adventure!! We all wish you most extraordinary time, Kristen will certainly miss you!
Enjoy!! Aunt Suzanne
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