Furniture Construction Trip --> Day 1: Travel Day(s)
8:26 AM EDT – As anyone who travels to Europe knows, most flights to Europe leave in the early evening (6:00 PM to 8:00 PM local time here), and arrive in Europe sometime in the early morning of the next day. Lucky me, however, has a ticket that requires four (4) flights to get where I want to go. I’m writing this Thursday morning (May 11). My travel plans start at 1:30 PM eastern daylight time, and end at 3:40 PM Italian time tomorrow, when I arrive in Ancona in LeMarche. My trip takes me from Columbus, Ohio, to Detroit, to Amsterdam, to Milan, to Ancona. I’ve got two large bags of “stuff” I’m taking with me, each right at about the 50 lb. limit. Care to bet whether they’ll make it to Ancona with me?
12:19 PM EDT – I’m at the Columbus airport. I’m listening to a group next to me talk about losing weight. They’re talking about the diets they are on. It’s all talk about what to eat or not eat. Not one comment about exercise or increasing activity to lose weight. The Italians have it right … eat regular, balanced meals in an amount that satisfies, walk everywhere, consume moderate alcohol and sweets, and stay away from saturated fats – use that fabulous olive oil they produce for everything that one would “normally” use butter or other fatty-fats for. Simple. Tasty. Proven. Fad-free. I don’t even have to leave the US to contrast the differences between our two cultures.
Oh yeah, already my first flight is scheduled to be at least 30 minutes late leaving Columbus. My connection in Detroit isn’t too tight, so the ticket agent tells me I’m still OK. We’ll see.
7:00 AM Friday – Amsterdam Schiphol Airport – the flight from Columbus to Detroit got out just in time for me to make the connection for my flight to Amsterdam. A bit of excitement when we got to Detroit – the jetway would not move to the plane when we landed, so we were delayed 20 to 30 minutes at the gate, well after being on the ground. I barely made a 4:05 PM connection, and we were supposed to be in at around 2:30 PM (if we had been on schedule). There were plenty of unhappy campers who missed connections. I’ve felt their pain. So, it’s a beer (or two) here for breakfast, with no sleep but about 30 minutes on the flight over … wired I guess. Today (Friday), is going to be a long, long day. Especially when the lack of sleep hits. I am really looking forward to a porchetta sagra in Monterado (in Le Marche) Saturday and/or Sunday. If you’ve not had porchetta, you’ve missed one of God’s gifts to man on earth.
Wonder where my bags are right now?
My flight to Milan (3rd of 4 legs, yikes!) appears to be on time. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll get lucky. Oh yeah, the Heineken draft is great for a nightcap/breakfast depending on what time zone you’re in … if you care …
… to be continued …
12:19 PM EDT – I’m at the Columbus airport. I’m listening to a group next to me talk about losing weight. They’re talking about the diets they are on. It’s all talk about what to eat or not eat. Not one comment about exercise or increasing activity to lose weight. The Italians have it right … eat regular, balanced meals in an amount that satisfies, walk everywhere, consume moderate alcohol and sweets, and stay away from saturated fats – use that fabulous olive oil they produce for everything that one would “normally” use butter or other fatty-fats for. Simple. Tasty. Proven. Fad-free. I don’t even have to leave the US to contrast the differences between our two cultures.
Oh yeah, already my first flight is scheduled to be at least 30 minutes late leaving Columbus. My connection in Detroit isn’t too tight, so the ticket agent tells me I’m still OK. We’ll see.
7:00 AM Friday – Amsterdam Schiphol Airport – the flight from Columbus to Detroit got out just in time for me to make the connection for my flight to Amsterdam. A bit of excitement when we got to Detroit – the jetway would not move to the plane when we landed, so we were delayed 20 to 30 minutes at the gate, well after being on the ground. I barely made a 4:05 PM connection, and we were supposed to be in at around 2:30 PM (if we had been on schedule). There were plenty of unhappy campers who missed connections. I’ve felt their pain. So, it’s a beer (or two) here for breakfast, with no sleep but about 30 minutes on the flight over … wired I guess. Today (Friday), is going to be a long, long day. Especially when the lack of sleep hits. I am really looking forward to a porchetta sagra in Monterado (in Le Marche) Saturday and/or Sunday. If you’ve not had porchetta, you’ve missed one of God’s gifts to man on earth.
Wonder where my bags are right now?
My flight to Milan (3rd of 4 legs, yikes!) appears to be on time. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll get lucky. Oh yeah, the Heineken draft is great for a nightcap/breakfast depending on what time zone you’re in … if you care …
… to be continued …
posted by Mark Pukita | 2:31 AM
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