… something to write home about.

I wish I could say that I got up early as I prepared for my trip to Italy, but I’d be lying - I didn’t sleep at all.  Instead, I packed my back pack, did laundry I would need and then built a playlist or two for my MP3 player.  Oh, and watched a bunch of crappy, late night television.

So, as the time approached, I showered, left and drove up to my mom’s where I joined her and my brother to drive to the airport.

Some highlights of the morning:

• My (other) brother forgot that I go by my middle name so when I checked in, my passport didn’t match my ticket and I had to get a live person to assist me in getting a boarding pass.
• I forget that other people don’t fly very often and with electronics (such as a laptop).  I was through security and ready to go while my brother was still trying to pack his laptop back up and get everything put back together.
• I’m traveling on a Delta ‘buddy pass’ for this trip.  My brothers both work for Delta Airlines and as such, he and my mom were third and fourth on the standby list.  However, buddy passes aren’t put in as a high priority so I was last on the standby list. Not a big deal for the flight to JFK, but it ended up that they both ended up in first class from JFK to Nice, France, while I ended up in coach.  However, I had a whole row to myself and with the assistance of no sleep and Ambien, I slept most of the way.

We arrived with no problems and met my mom’s cousin, Andre, just as we came out of arrival area.  He speaks French and Italian  and quite passable English, even though he apologized for not being very fluent.

We’ve picked up our rental car, so it is time to go - more later!