Home. But not without trying really, really hard

We are home. It didn’t look like that was going to happen this morning in Milan. Yesterday we had a long, like really long, chat with Delta Airlines about how getting home would happen (see yesterday’s blog if you’re interested), and finally all three of us were booked on a flight from Milan to Amsterdam, to hook up with our connection home. 10:50 was our flight time. That turned out to be true for Mom, but alas, when we arrived at the airport at 8:10, to our great alarm, we discovered that George and I had been booked on the 6:40 AM to Amsterdam. KLM, Delta’s partner in crime, didn’t want to help us, so I booked it across the departures terminal to the literal other end to speak with a Delta rep. Poor Simona, the woman working the desk, already had two other parties in need of assistance, both with complex, overwhelming problems. So when I approached she seemed pretty distressed. So was I. And others around us. I was at the counter for about an hour before Simona, working one desk phone and two cell phones all at the same time, trying to fix problems, was able to re-ticket us. Mom’s knee was acting up. George was gimpy. I was just done with it all. Then our wheelchair assistance didn’t arrive and we had to walk the two miles to the gate (okay, not two miles, but it sure seemed like it). It took all of the three hours of time before our flight left to get to the gate. But at that point, I was just grateful to have a ride home. Our Amsterdam connection went smoothly, but I did have the misfortune of sitting next to a very old, very Eastern European woman with very pointy elbows, which she placed in my ribcage for almost 9 hours. Customs and taxis and rain and then finally! We are home. Got to see Alexander and hear his stories and also got to pet cats. Now, we will try to stay awake until about ten to reset the old clock. Signing off until next time, which is scheduled to be Peru in 2020! Thanks for traveling with us.

These are the Alps!