Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone!  New year's in Florence was pretty cool.  Lots of music, people, and fireworks.

So, I've needed to post for a while, especially about my travels to and from the United States.  Well, to start off, the Friday before I was supposed to leave on Sunday had the most snow that Florence had seen in something like 24 years--about 5 inches.  Of course everyone here was sooooo happy to see snow, but after living in Pittsburgh for four years I knew how much it could suck when it snows.  And of course flights were cancelled.  Even the buses just pulled over on the sides of the roads and quit running.  The entire airport shut down Friday and didn't reopen until 5 p.m. the next day, and that was mostly just to rebook flights.  My plan Saturday night was just to stay up all night and sleep on my flight across the Atlantic because I had to be at the airport by like 5 a.m. anyway, which also meant getting a cab at around 4:30 a.m.

Due to the snow, the cabs wouldn't book a ride ahead of time, so that sucked.  Then I kept checking the airports all night and around 2 a.m. my flight had been cancelled.  Luckily, I got in touch with my mom and she called the airline and found a new flight for me, but as soon as she booked it (or maybe before) the flight was cancelled.  But no matter what I needed to go to the airport to rebook.  Around 3 or 3:30 I started calling to book a cab, but they kept saying that I couldn't book ahead of time because they wouldn't know who would be available.  Well, that's why I wanted to book ahead of time!  So around 4 I just started telling them I wanted a cab right then.  Well, at that point they just kept telling me that no one was available and hanging up.  So I couldn't even get information on what I should do to try and make it to my flight!  They really didn't care.

So, I got my stuff together, bundled up, and started walking.  I didn't go very far until I found some other Americans my age and asked them if they were waiting on a cab.  They were waiting on a shuttle to the train station where they would try to get a cab.  So we stood and talked while I kept calling cabs.  I finally got one and when he showed up I asked if they wanted to go with me.  They were two girls with 8 or 10 bags; one of their friends wasn't there at the moment.  I told them they were welcome to join me in the cab, or they could stay and wait on the shuttle, but I was leaving then.  So one hopped in with me and we went to the airport.  The cab driver was really nice and we talked quite a bit.  Luckily it only cost me 15 euros since I had someone to split the cab with.

So, at the airport my flight was of course cancelled, so I just went and got into line.  For the first hour or so I just stood in line by myself.  I didn't even have headphones for my iPod.  Then a friend showed up in the back of the line and we talked off and on and tried to figure out the system.  For the last hour and a half or so I made some friends that had actually been at the same school as me this whole semester!  After they had stood in line as long as I had the guy told them that they could have just gone to the check-in counter and taken care of everything.  So they left and when I got up to the counter they told me that I could get on another flight later the same night to go to Amsterdam, then fly directly to Memphis the next day.  It was a a much better plan than staying in Florence because Florence doesn't have any airlines that cross the Atlantic.

Oh, funny story right before I got my flight.  I was next in line and a friend behind me said, "You're almost there!" or something and I said, "Yeah, except for this guy that just kinda magically appeared in front of me..." and a few people understood me and the whole line behind me started yelling at him that he couldn't cut.  It was fantastic.  It was really cool that the entire time I was there the mood was just sort of, "Hey, we're all screwed right now.  There's nothing else the airport can do.  There's no sense in being rude so let's just be nice to each other."  So if you cut, everyone yelled at you.  Otherwise everyone was nice and friendly; lots of chatting in English and Italian.  A bit of other languages.

Okay, so that story had to be told because of the goodness of people does exist from time to time, and also because for the girls that had been told they could just take care of their flight at the counter, as soon as they had gotten out of line the flight was officially cancelled and they were stuck.  So they needed back into the line which they had already stood in for three hours or more.  Luckily I was still there so one of them just ran over and went to the window next to mine.  No one made a big fuss, but if they had I was ready to explain her case.

So, they got a flight to Paris for around the same time that evening as mine to Amsterdam.  So we had some bonding time, which was nice.  Then I found out my other friend who is an actress here in Florence was on the same flight as me to Amsterdam.  So, I hung out with my new friends for the rest of the day, and we all went down really early to stand in line for check-in, but we all just stood in line for the ticket counter because other Paris flights were still being cancelled.  I decided it would be better to have a spot in line just in case my flight was cancelled.  Eventually it wasn't and I my other friend from Florence and I ran to get into line.  Thankfully, due to the airline problems, there were no charges for heavy bags!  So I checked mine straight through to Memphis to sort of trick the system and get a heavy bag on all my flights for free.  Score.

For the rest of the day my traveling partner and I hung out and had some good bonding time.  We called my mom and asked her to book us rooms at a hotel.  But the flight was pushed from 16:50 to 17:30 and then to 18:30.  So we waited until we were on the plane and the door was shut before sending a text to book the room.  The Amsterdam airport is fantastic.  We both were starving and got hamburgers and beer.  Obviously we weren't pumped to get back to the USA.  We tried to take a cab to our hotel but the driver told us we should take the free shuttle (which we had been told didn't exist) instead of paying him 30 euros for the cab.  But then of course the shuttle didn't exist and we came back and he was booked.  We finally found a cabbie who charged us 35 euros for what should have been a 10 minute cab ride but took about half an hour because he got lost.  But at last we got to the hotel and got a good night's sleep.

So the next day we'd planned on taking public transportation to make up for the expenses of the taxi the night before.  The lady at the front desk told us to take a cab because it would be impossible to get anything and even if we did it would take forever.  As she was saying this the bus we were supposed to take drove by and then came back in the direction we needed it.  We ran out but missed it, but then waited about 5 minutes and another one showed up.  We tried to pay, but nothing really happened, so we got a ride for free.  We had a lot of fun reading signs in Dutch and figuring out what things said.  Then at the train station we tried really hard to buy tickets, but there was only a machine which only took cards, but none of the cards we had.  So a train came up, we ran upstairs, hopped on (because she had said it was the right train), then she had to ask someone if it was the right train.  Luckily, it was and the airport was only one stop away!  So, we ended up getting free public transportation for the whole morning.  But we tried really hard to pay!

We had an amazing breakfast at STARBUCKS!  My first American style coffee in months, and a delicious blueberry muffin.  There are pictures, just not on my camera.

So, I already had a boarding pass, but she didn't, so we had to check her in again.  She also had bags which needed to be checked.  When we got to the counter she had to move stuff around so as to not have an overweight bag (hehehehe....I had an overweight bag....) but then we found out that she had been upgraded to business class!  Jealous.  And she was very smart to realize that that meant she could check TWO bags.  Lucky.  We were both very over theatrical about her being in business class and me not being upgraded, which seemed to make the days of the women working at the check-in counter.  But after we walked away we looked at my ticket and I WAS in business class on my flight.  Woo-hoo!  Though we were both pumped to go hang out in our lounges, we would have had to go through separate security checks, so we opted to hang out and shop.

So anyway, we finally did have to separate.  I was worried about being late to my check in, so I rushed right through it, but then, being business class and all, I got to hop right around the line and check in.  So then I was just there for a couple hours.  That was kinda lame, but not too bad.  We we started boarding I got to walk straight up as well, and I was in the front row of business class.  There was a bottle of water, pillow, blanket, and a goody bag waiting for me.  So cool.  I was sitting there for a short while, was served a bit of sparkling wine, and having a great time when I was asked if I would mind sitting in an aisle seat.  I of course did not and I actually prefer the aisle on a plane.  So I switched so that a husband and wife could sit together and was bumped up to FIRST CLASS.  First class is so great.  Lots of food, reclining chairs, and never an empty glass.

So far as food, I had a multi course meal on actual plates with real silverware and even table clothes!  The menu as I recall it was:

Appetizer:
Mixed nuts
Smoked salmon with capers
Delicious soup
Caprese salad (tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, and olive oil)

Main Course:
Mixed salad
Filet of beef with mushroom gravy of some sort (a very large piece of meat as well)
Mashed potatoes
Spinach sauteed with garlic
Cooked carrots

Both of these with a variety of dinner rolls to choose from and three different wines I think.  Oh, and quite good coffee.

Desert:
I was going to go for the healthier choice of cheeses and fruits, but when the guy referred to the ice cream as a sundae, I had to go for it.  So I had a giant scoop a vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream.

And then at a random point during the night a lady came buy and offered me a chocolate chip cookie.  It was still warm.  Fantastic.

Then about an hour before we landed I was to have a turkey sandwich, which I assumed would be a crappy sandwich, but it wasn't.

Lunch:
Turkey and melted cheddar, lettuce, tomato, and mayo on a loaf of whole wheat bread with pumpkin seeds on top.
A salad of shredded carrots, nuts, and dried fruits.

So, the trip home pretty much.  It was pretty fantastic.  The trip back of course was pretty bad of course because I was back into coach which was only slightly more uncomfortable, but had like half the food.  Luckily I planned ahead.  And once again I couldn't sleep on my transatlantic flight.  Very annoying.  Then when I landed in Munich they were very surprised that I made it to my connecting flight because I had to get my passport checked again, go back through security with my bag, and run across the airport.  But I made it, and then we sat in our plane for about an hour just to be told something wasn't working and we had to switch planes.  Of course, this wouldn't have actually been that terrible if the flight hadn't been filled with Chinese families with like three or four kids each.  None of them spoke a common language with anyone on the plane, they wouldn't sit down, they were constantly changing seats, and they moved other people's stuff.  I couldn't find my backpack in the overhead bin at one point because they moved it without telling me.  And every time we had to get up for something they all acted like they would actually get somewhere faster by standing up and grabbing their bags immediately.  For one, at both of these airports everything took place out on the tarmac, so any transfers meant that everyone had to get on the same shuttles to be transported, so it doesn't matter if you're off the plane first or last.  Also, airplane aisles are super small, but for some reason they all thought that we could get up and stand in the aisles at the same time, and of course that if they didn't immediately get their bags then they would disappear.  I was telling them in as many languages as I could to calm down and wait.  I had to push one man behind me at one point because even though the line wasn't moving he kept pushing against me.  So, that flight was kinda hell.

I got to the airport, and for the first time ever my bag had been lost.  It was bound to happen eventually and seeing as there was nothing I immediately needed in the bag I didn't worry about it.  And actually they had my bag the next day and delivered it to my place.

So, that's my long story about traveling home and traveling back to Italy.  New Year's here was cool.  More details later I hope.