Fiumicino Finale

June 28 You know what's not good? Being woken at 4:30am by your ringing mobile phone when you have a morning flight to catch. Ugh. I picked it up, only to be hit, half-awake, with a charming recorded message informing me that our 11am departure was now a 2:30pm departure. Crap. I tried hard to get back to sleep and had just pulled it off when at about 6:30 I received another recorded message that it was now an even later departure - 3:15. BUT that this situation could change at any time, so we still needed to appear as if the flight were still 11.

Our car got us there in record time so we entered Fiumicini Airport at about 8:30am. We were greeted with an enormous line at the United counter and lots of disgruntled passengers who were just discovering that their flight was almost five hours behind schedule. While in line, Mr."Never Forgets a Face" Tony sees a guy that he swears he recognizes, but just can't place. I think it was good that the line was long and slow - ditto for the security line - so that by the time we reached the gate we were faced with a mere five and a half additional hours of waiting.



Tony catches a few Zs in the Fiumicino Airport.

We had consoled ourselves with visions of fabulous shopping opportunities at the gate but the reality was that of the approximately 15 shopping establishments in the G concourse, at least ten were super high-end such as Dolce & Gabbana and Prada. The one store we really liked was a food store, where Sam and I made several last-minute purchases of pesto, sauce, and pasta. After spending a good 20 minutes fighting our way through two separate lines for a late breakfast, we settled into a corner to try to find ways to pass the time. Sam and I talked, read books, and people watched while the girls played video games. Tony, who had already demonstrated his uncanny ability to sleep anywhere, any time, stretched out on the airport floor and...slept. Upon awaking, he again spotted the familiar face and it suddenly occurs to him that it's the Ravens' Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron. He decides to go over and chat.

The next seven hours were a blur of wandering, waiting, shopping, and eating. Finally, at about 3:30, our flight was called and we were allowed to board the plane. The flight was long, but fine. Sooo hard to sit on a nine-hour flight after sitting for almost eight hours at the airport. But by then, we were just thrilled to be on our way. Other than some fairly significant turbulence (bad enough for the pilots to make the flight attendants strap in) I can't complain. Upon arrival at Dulles (so happy to be on Virginia soil) we still had to endure the further "herding" involved in the "mobile lounges," passport control, and customs. That took a good half hour. I had texted Joe, who had agreed to pick us up, when we landed and told him that I would text again once we cleared Customs so he would know when to leave home. Right after Customs I texted "now" just as we walked into the International Arrivals area. We moved through the crowd and as the last of our group, I was the only one to notice Joe, who was already in the airport, in the crowd, and holding up a sign that said "de la Paz." I don't know when I've ever been happier to see him. He ushered us out to my car and drove us home in short order. Blissful!