The Long Trip Home

Oh my god! We made it. There were more than a couple times I thought we wouldn't. 

I had been worried about all the layover times in each airport. They were very short times and I just knew we'd miss a flight. 

We flew home Iberia from Venice to Madrid. Then Madrid to Dallas. Our flight from Venice was 45 minutes late. We only had 1.5 hours in Madrid to change planes. I thought we might JUST make it. We were seated to the front of the plane so at least we had that going for us. 

We landed in Madrid and we booked it to get to our next flight. We had to change terminals and we had no idea how long that would take. I thought, briefly, we just might make it. 

Then we turned the corner to passport control. Damn. Now we weren't going to make it. 

As luck would have it, a passport agent opened a small line and we got to pass through. YaY. Maybe we'd make it. 

Then we started the trek to the next terminal. EASILY a mile and half. I told Janet to just go. Get to the gate and see if they'll hold the plane. She was reluctant to leave me, but she did it anyhow. 

Y'all... I am not a runner. I don't walk fast anymore and certainly don't job. But I did my BEST jogging/walking effort I could and was breathing heavy and almost ready to pass out by the time I turned the corner to our gate. 

There was Janet jumping up and down when she saw me saying, "She made it!" 

We made it. 

We got on the flight and the flight attendants handed us water as we headed to our seats. One flight attendant stopped by my seat with some napkins to mop up the sweat dripping off my body. 

Turns out the flight had heard of our late plane and held it for about 20 passengers that needed to get there. And we weren't even the last ones to make it. 

But this, now put us late to get into Dallas. I guess if I was going to miss a flight I would rather it be in the US. 

We landed in Dallas and I turned on my phone. I read my email and saw that our flight from Dallas had been cancelled. 

Fuck! Fuckity! Fuck. I just want to be home. 

BUT, American Airlines had booked us on another flight first thing the next morning. That means we're staying the night in the airport. 

We got our luggage and got in this massive line to drop off our luggage and confirm the flight we had. FOUR hours we stood in this line. Truth be told I had to go find a place to sit a couple of times because my back was aching. 

We finally got to the front of the line. Got our boarding pass and off we went to find a place to sleep. Our gate said it was in the A terminal so we found a shuttle outside the terminal to take us to Terminal A. 

In terminal A we had to wait until security opened up at 3:30 in the morning. By now it was almost midnight. So we found some very uncomfortable chairs and attempted to get some rest.

We got through security without any lines because, well no one was there. We got to our gate and sat and rested. Nothing was open so we just sat there. 

For some reason Janet checked her phone and we found our gate had been moved to Terminal D. WTF? So we gathered our items and took the link train inside the airport BACK to terminal D. As we came down the stairs from the link train, our gate was RIGHT there. 

We sat for a couple of hours until the stores started opening. Janet took off to get some Starbucks. I was waiting for McDonalds to open. I wanted a sausage McMuffin and hash browns. 

We both got our breakfast and was sitting waiting for our flight. I overheard these teachers who were there with a ton of students headed to Costa Rica, tell all their students to be back at the gate by 9am. That seemed odd to me since our flight to Seattle was leaving at 8:30. 

It was then I looked at the flight app and SHOCKING, they moved our gate to Terminal B. Good Lord!

Back to the link train and off we went to the B Terminal.

We got there and had about an hour to spare. 

We had center seats on the flight which was sad because I had upgraded us to First Class for our other flight that was cancelled.

My seat was in the last row of the plane. I sat myself down, buckled myself in and I was out. I don't even remember taking off. I slept for a good three hours on the flight. 

But, alas, we made it! Sherrie picked us up at the airport and listened to me grumble about the chaos in getting home. 

I also brought home a nice cold with me. Good times. Now I just want to rest and hug my cat. 

Port 9: Venice; and we're done

Here we are ... Venice. 

My stomach is a little off and a little ok. We got off the ship pretty quickly. We found the taxi line and stood there for a bit. I noticed a lady walking up and down another line offering people a shuttle to the airport. Since our hotel was near the airport I thought we'd give that a shot. 

Turned out it was 70EU each. The airport was a good hour and a half away and the taxi would have cost us a fortune. 

We got to the hotel, sorta checked in and left out luggage. Another couple there was headed into Venice via a taxi and asked us if we wanted to share it with them. I hopped on it right away. Janet thought we should take the train, but I wasn't in the mood to figure the train out. Plus splitting a taxi 4 ways was pretty inexpensive. 

In Venice we got on a water taxi to take us to San Marcos Square. Venice is such a beautiful and unique city. And, oh my god, the people. So many people. 

We stopped to have lunch since we had a couple of hours to spend before our 3pm walking tour. 

After lunch, and a potty break, we walked around the corner to San Marcos square. 

Again, so...many... people. Back in 1987 even during Carnivale it didn't feel this packed.

We met our walking tour guide and started the trek through the back alleys of Venice. One of the reasons I signed us up for this walking tour was because it took you off the beaten path. 

Its hard to fathom that people actually live in Venice. Though, according to our tour guide, you need to have serious coin to live there. That doesn't surprise me. It got me wondering what these people who live here do for a living. 

After the walking tour we had a gondola ride. I was done and was about to say no thanks (in fact I think I might have said "I'm done") but the look on Janet's face told me we had to do the gondola ride. And I'm glad I did. 

It was total chaos out on the grand canal. So many boats and gondolas. The gondoliers job is one that is passed down from family member to family member. And boy are they strong. 

Grand Canal chaos

Rush hour!

After the gondola ride we trekked back to get on the water taxi to head back to where we started in the morning. I was exhausted and so very tired of people. We took a taxi back to the hotel. I told Janet I'd pay for it because, frankly, I didn't want to deal with the train and figuring all that out while exhausted. 

We had dinner in the hotel that night and it was quite tasty. Tomorrow we head home. I'm ready to be home. As I always say, it's nice to travel but nice to go home. 

Port 8: Split, Croatia

Here we go again. The liquid #2s are back and there was NO way that I was going to get off the ship. I went with Janet down to the theater to wait to disembark and as I stood there I knew. I ran to the bathroom twice and it was really clear something wasn't sitting right. 

So I dropped my head and went back to the room to be 5 feet from a bathroom. Ugh. 

I spent the day drinking water and electrolytes and pooping. Not the day I had planned. 

Port 7: Corfu Greece

Woke feeling ok. Tried to get some breakfast down and managed to get some Cheerios down. Wish I had tried those earlier the week.

Corfu is beautiful. It's clearly a tourist island and that's about all. Still it was fun to get off the ship and see the beautiful sights of Corfu. 

The first stop we made was to Mouse Island. The legend of Mouse Island as told by the tour guide ...

According to the legend, Pontikonisi was Odysseus’s ship, the vessel that brought the legendary king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, to the island of the Phaeacians. It was during a terrible storm that the boat was washed up on the shores of the island, and the god Poseidon turned his boat into green rock, giving it his name.

Whether its true or not, the island was sure beautiful. 

Further into the island we walked to this Mansion. They called it a castle, but it's clearly a mansion. This villa was built as a summer residence for the British Lord High Commissioner. Nothing really interesting inside the mansion to see. 

This little building is where Prince Phillip (Queen Elizabeth's husband) was born. 

Then we walked around the main street/shopping center in Corfu. Oh. My. God. The number of people. There was no WAY I'd be walking down the road to "shop". No thanks. I found myself a little hut that sold ice cold Fanta and sat and drank it in the park (Janet did as well). 

On our way back to the bus we found this lovely lounging in the park. I did the "pspspsp" and he came right over. He wouldn't let me pet him though. He was just out of reach. 

We drove to another part of the island for lunch. It was THE BEST lunch of the trip. Beautiful location and yummy food. 

We started with this salad and pita with sauces on top of them. One of them was tzatziki and the other two I had no idea. 

That was followed by the slow braised beef and pasta in a tomato sauce. Oh lord was it good. 

This was our view from lunch. 

Port 6: Messina Sicily

Today I feel better. I figured I could get off the ship and do the two stops in Messina. 

Our first stop was Toramina. It's a quaint little village up on a hill. Gorgeous views, small medieval roads and a ton of people. The first photo stop we made showed us Mt. Etna. It was steaming a little and I was hoping that a virgin had been sacrificed already and we didn't need to worry about an eruption.

I don't really recall the history of Toramina, but I did like the walk we did and enjoyed all the old buildings. 

Of course if there's a cat, you know I have to take a photo of this. This little guy just sat there and let me coo at him and tell him how pretty he is and thank you for letting me take a photo.

This alley way is like 24 inches wide. My ass wouldn't fit up there whether I go sideways or straight. We'd need olive oil to get me out of there.

At the end of the walk was this old Greek theater. It was fun to see the ruins and learn a little about the Greeks who settled there long before the Romans.

After the long walk down the main road, we stopped for me to use a restroom, conveniently in a gelato shop. I noticed they had afogatos and Janet and I both ordered one. I asked if they could use Nutella gelato instead of vanilla and they gladly did that.  I couldn't finish mine, but Janet finished hers AND the rest of mine.  

After our time in Toramina we drove even higher on the mountain to Castelmola. Not a very interesting village. I sat in a plaza while the rest of the group walked down this hill to see god only knows. While I was waiting though, I went into a shop and bought myself a pine cone. 

Ceramic pine cones are often seen in Sicily on balconies, walls or next to gates. The pine, as an evergreen tree, stands for health, vitality and constant renewal and is also associated with the divine, eternity or immortality. The pine cone with its hundreds of seeds stands for fertility and prosperity.

We had lunch in a nice restaurant in Castelmola and were back on the bus headed to this ship. 

Back on the boat, I was exhausted again and my tummy felt a little iffy.