Today makes one week since we set off on our departure from the states. One week since we took four airplanes to get from Jacksonville, FL to Napoli, Italy.
The trip was long, but not at all terrible. All of our flights were on time. Our luggage made it to our final destination in good shape.
Oh! ---Speaking of luggage---
I didn't realize until the night before we left FL, when I began to check-in online for our flight, that I had to pay to check our 3 bags. The total came out to $455, and I was just like "Yeah, no. I'm not paying that." So I didn't do the online check-in. When we got to the airport, I went to the check-in desk and started chatting up the lady who was helping us. I told her all about our travel plans and repeatedly referenced her as "my friend" to Zion. Zion then joined in with his dimple-faced charm and after a few minutes, she whispered to me "Hablas espanol?", to which I affirmed. Then she told me in Spanish "You would have had to pay over $150 for each bag, but I did something to waive that for you. Here are your bag tags."
Great. Start.
Anyway, back to the main story. The trip over to Italy went smoothly. We had a 6 hour layover in Boston, so we left the airport and took a taxi to East Boston for some really good Mexican food. Then we returned to the airport and I set up a little "Chill Zone" for the kids. I ran back and forth through the hallways with them until they (and I) got tired, and then they actually chilled until it was time to board.
Once in Portugal, we had another hours-long layover and by that point, we were all pretty beat. We brushed teeth, freshened up, grabbed some breakfast and spent an uncomfortably long amount of time waiting for the "airport powers that be" to let us know which gate we were departing from. By the time they released that information, we were rushing to get to the plane. We had to take a bus to get there. It was crowded and chaotic, but even so, all of us handled it well.
By the time we were seated and waiting to take off, I felt like I hadn't slept in days. I was able to doze off for a bit during that 2 hour flight, but not nearly enough.
When we got to Napoli, I was so exhausted that I was dizzy. So dizzy that it felt like I was in a constant earthquake. NOT FUN. That dizziness lasted for 2 1/2 days.
Once we got out of the airport in Napoli, we caught a taxi over to a nearby Airbnb.
Annalisa, our host, was so friendly, welcoming and helpful. It was at this point that I realized that my 8 months of studying the Italian language was SO worth it. I was able to communicate with her without feeling stupid.
We followed Annalisa's recommendation for dinner at a local restaurant and the food there was absolutely atrocious. Bad. Inedible. So we left and popped into another pizza joint close by that was much better. The people working there were nice, the food itself was good and the price...unbeatable. A (very) large pizza, a Fanta (that Alyssa just had to have) and a Peroni came out to 13 euro. We were pleasantly surprised. But the best part was...we met a local family there. They were curious about us, but by the end of the conversation they were sharing their food with us and blowing kisses goodbye. Here's a picture of me mid convo:
The next day, we left Napoli and took a 4 hour train ride to our new hometown; the beautiful Diamante. I love it here. But you'll have to wait til my next post to hear why.
Here are some photos though. Enjoy miei amici. Ciao for now.
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