Off to Italy July 9, 2015

This year we flew out of Trudeau Airport in Montreal. The price was much cheaper and our friend, Will, or Willie as he is know in Italy, had offered to drive us. At the last minute an offer came for a cooler ride, sorry Will. It turned out that be driving our friends Mercedes and parking at an airport hotel we would be doing our friends a big favor. No problem! Except finding the key at their house and getting the car to start with an unfamiliar “key”. It was amazing to ride in a car that was so quiet and did not vibrate the driver like a milkshake. 

So the scope is we flew Air Canada Rouge. They do NOT have little TVs at every seat. you have to have downloaded their app on your iPhone or iPad before you fly if you want entertainment, but it does seem to be easier to sleep when one is not entertained. The food was good enough, but one should always have emergency food: animal crackers from Trader Joes, chocolate, granola bars, and water.

Here we are in the Montreal airport. It contains all the usual airport stuff, but one thing I had never seen before. The receptacle for needles in the bathroom. OK either many people in Canada have diabetes or quite a few people in the airport are shooting up heroin. I think the needle container is a great idea to keep workers safe, but it was unexpected to think that so many fliers might be wasted. 

Here are some pics of us in the airport. One is one of my first attempts at Elements 13 photo merge. Can you guess which one?

We arrived in Rome on time at 8:30am, waited a long time for our one piece of luggage, breezed through customs and walked out and on to the Prontobus. This uneventful, but beautiful trip ended in Pratola where our friend, Bjorne, picked us up and drove our home. A mere 26 hours instead of three or four days and we were at home by 1pm. After a nap we walked up to town and saw one of my favorite sights! Linda and Olga were still sitting on their bench. 

My next favorite sight: coffee on our table in the piazza and our friend Victorio riding by on his bike by a new office for a building company. 

On the way back from the grocery store we got our first piece of free produce from a gardener who’s garden I have always admired: a cucumber. We have now been to the grocery store twice so starvation is not imminent. After another nap we went to visit Karin and Bjorne and then off to have pizza. In a mere 8 hours we saw almost everyone we know in town. It is such a social place. 

We went to bed at 11:30 and did not wake up till 7:30 this morning. A great first day in Castelvecchio Subequo where every day is a perfect day.