I made it

I have neglected this blog for over two weeks and have probably lost all of my readers.  Yet on I go writing about this glorious trip because, at 82 years old next month, it is remarkable to be able to withstand the rigors of a trip to Italy and back traveling alone.  It reminds me of the article about Senator McCain's mother who was a twin.  At 90 some years old they flew to Paris and planned on renting a car.  However, the French informed them they were too old to drive and refused them a car.  So the twins went to a BMW car dealership, bought a red BMW and drove themselves all over Europe and then shipped the car home. Inspired by this story of a woman who just died a few months ago at the age (I believe) of 106, I undertook this adventure.  And, even though there will probably be no one reading this, or finding it interesting if they did, I will print it and store it in my journal of life.

It started on October 3, 2019.  I arrived at JFK without incident and soon boarded an American Airlines plane of luxury never before experienced in all my years of travel to and from Europe. I was ushered to my personal cubical and given a glass of champagne before my butt hit the luxurious seat which easily eased into a bed later on in the flight. I was stunned.  It was business class and there was no first-class section because Business Class was actually first class.  I have my own personal television with a plethora of movie choices. I had my own personal charger for phones and Ipads etc. A fluffy pillow and a quilt for later use.  Leg room galore, everything new and special to anyone's needs on an 8 and 1/2 hour flight that actually got there an hour early.

We arrived in Rome at 7:15  and a wheelchair whisked me through to my bags (I only used the wheelchairs at the airports) and a driver was there to take me to my first tour hotel for two days in Rome. I have to be honest, Rome did not thrill me nor did the food of Rome.  It might be that hotels and tour places feed you whatever they like because they know they will never see you again.  But, I had not come to Rome for the food.  Our tour of Rome and the two days we spent there was fine and soon we were on our way to Venice. Traveling through Tuscany's olive groves and the Apennine Mountains bound for the Queen of the Adriatic, Venice. By then, friendships on the fine bus had been established and my seat mate, Stacy, who looked like my daughter-in-law who was about to have a baby, and did, while I was on the trip turned out to be most pleasant and certainly added to my pleasure on this trip. Venice was fun even though crowded.  I thought there would not be many people in October in Italy but I was wrong.  Tourists were everywhere and I was informed during the season it would be 4 times the number of visitors.

We boarded the bus for Verona home of Shakespeare's ill-fated lovers Romeo and Juliet.  It turns out that this is a farce.  Juliet's balcony never held Juliet and she never lived or stayed where the tour guides led.  It was made up a long time ago by a tour guide who wanted to promote the area and promote happened and people actually pay to go view a balcony and to rub the breast of a statue of 'Juliet' for love luck.  (I found this out when I got home from Rick Steve's TV show. Fortunately, I did not fall for that extra tour expense.) It was on to Pisa and then Florence where the Trafgar tour ended for we three: Johnna, my daughter-in-law, and her sister Angela.  It was the Villa and the wedding the real reasons we had come to Italy in the first place. So we said good-bye to our seven-day tour relationships and headed for Villa La Vedetta. NOW we are talking about luxury, good food, excellent accommodations, and a fairy tale wedding. I have never seen such a large event go on without a hitch.  It was glorious. We then had three more days to explore and enjoy Tuscany.

On October 17th I started home, back in the luxury of cubical flight and it was a perfect trip until JFK.  I won't bore you with the two wind- canceled flights at JFK and a rush to Chicago where my wheelchair driver rushed me to a faraway gate to Columbus and I boarded 10 minutes before they closed the gates. I tipped that young wheelchair driver guy so big he will never get over it and neither will I; I  was just that grateful. I saw Columbus at midnight.  Believe me, I slept for days it seemed. Never mind my three bags took some trips on their own and It was three days bfore they were delivered to my doorstep.  Not the fault of American.  I shall carry on for years to come about that great airline, as far as I am concerned.  They are the best.