As you know based on my last entry, I began the day with a delayed flight out of Port Columbus due to "mechanical problems with the aircraft." While this is frustrating, I will say that I'd rather find out about mechanical problems while I'm sitting in the airport than sitting on the airplane. I spent my time there chatting online and exploring Facebook.
Then, after about two extra hours in the airport, I finally boarded. The flights from Columbus to New Jersey are always on the smaller "commuter" planes, so the turbulence was TERRIBLE. There was this adorable little kid sitting next to me that just kept saying, "Mommy, I'm gonna go potty in my underwears." Apparently, he had to go potty, but was too afraid to unbuckle his seatbelt - this may have been bad for his mom, but it was adorable for me. The flight also took a turn for the better when the lady behind me gifted me Sundays at Tiffianys, a James Patterson book she had just finished reading and thought I might like.
When I landed in Newark, I had absolutely no way of finding Annie - without cell phone service overseas, I left mine at home to avoid losing it. I finally came up with the genius plan to use one of my international calling cards to call her cell phone, but by the time I had done all of that she headed into the city to meet a friend. My options were 1) pay for a train ticket to take me into the city and meet her for about an hour with all of my carry-on luggage and laptop OR 2) stay at the airport for 5+ hours. Well, as glamorous as option 1 sounded, I ultimately chose number 2 to avoid getting lost/robbed/swindled. During the time that I've sat in the airport, our flight has changed gates THREE times, so I just keep moving my crap around.
Even with the obnoxious amount of time I've spent in airports today, I'm still really looking forward to the trip - let's just hope everything goes smoothly from here on out!
Finally - here's a map of Italy, marking Siena for those of you wondering where it is!
View Siena in a larger map
Arrivederci :-)
Brittany
