Recipe: Tuscany 2006 Journal Entry #17-Homeward Bound

Tuscany 2006 Journal Entry #17-Homeward Bound

Thursday, April 6th and Friday, April 7th

We had a very nice breakfast provided by the Pisa hotel, the Royal Victoria. The best breakfast of any of the large Italian cities we visited on either trip. Out of Venice, Florence, Rome and Pisa, Pisa was the best. I needn't have spent the $ on the banana the day before. We had many choices that morning. About 7 kinds of Muesili in single-sized packets, Prosciutto pate in small packages, salamis, cheeses, ham, hard rolls, lovely-looking croissants, crumpets, some kind of tomato-topped pizza biscuit, yogurt, honey, jams, butter, two kinds of cereal in self-serve tubes, milk, oj, pineapple and pineapple/orange juice, fresh pears (very yummy), kiwi, bananas, apples, coffee and tea. It was a very impressive, fresh offering.

We taxi to the airport with a very friendly driver this time, a shorter route to the airport and a less expensive one.

We were quite early so there was no line at the check-in desk. We find the place to get our tax-free stamp with the help of several helpful Italians. We breeze thru security and get the Euro back for the tax-free purchase in a store near the gate.

The flight to Rome is short and sweet. The flight to NY not so much. DH is sitting behind the first real jerk of our trip, (an American, wouldn't you know). DH's knees really take a beating. This time our monitors work though, and we watch Just Like Heaven and Elizabethtown. Great soundtrack in Elizabethtown, Tom Petty, Elton John, etc.

The airport at JFK really knows how to move people around. We take the air train out away from the terminals to the hotel van pickup area where we are met by one that takes us to our hotel. Not a great choice on my part of the planning, it isn't near anything, but the staff is so very friendly they make up for it. They allow me to use their computer to get our boarding passes for the next day and we score two "A" boarding passes.

The next day around noon a driver shows up to take us to Islip airport. As we get into the car the driver hands me his cell phone and it's the driver who was supposed to pick us up, the one who took us to JFK from our Manhattan B&B room. He is asking if this driver is OK, he has had a scheduling problem. I assure him that is fine. I speak too soon. Almost immediately after hanging up it becomes apparent that our driver has NO idea how to get to Long Island. He gets on his cell phone with someone who can't understand his accent and is reading the off ramp names to them and having to repeat them. By the time the person he is talking to understands him, we have passed the ramp we were supposed to take. This goes on for quite some time, the driver calling people and people calling him back to see where he is. DH and I keep looking at each other, it's funny at first. Thankfully, we are very early for the flight. At least at that point we're early! We get off the third or fourth freeway we've been on, (going both ways on some), and end up in a shopping district somewhere. The driver ROLLS DOWN THE WINDOW and asks directions from the man in the vehicle next to us! At this point both DH & I, (who are in NY for the only second time as adults), are watching for signs for the Long Island Freeway and giving the driver directions. Once we are on the freeway we are both hyper-vigilant for the off ramp to the airport. The driver starts to take the correct off ramp then reconsiders and pulls back onto the freeway. Both of us are, "urging", him to, "TAKE THE EXIT! GO RIGHT, GO RIGHT!!" He recorrects and we finally pull up to the curb in front of the airport. Although we wish him well, we do not tip him well.

There is no line at the sky cap and they cheerfully check our bags, leaving us to share a wonderful vegetable panini near the gate at Mama Lombardi's. The flight attendant even asks us if we ate there, she says it's one of the best places to eat even if it is in an airport.

We score exit-row seats, cool! The flight attendants are very friendly and funny. We touch down in Chicago but don't have to change planes so we get to keep our great seats. Our luggage arrives intact and Dad is circling the airport to pick us up. Home again with great memories of another wonderful trip!

Now it's time to start planning that Caribbean escape...



Our Corgi, asking, "Where have you people BEEN for the last 3 weeks?"

---