After a journey that started at 5:30 am Eastern time on October 16 and ended at 1:00 pm Central European time on October 18, we arrived at our first stop in Italy - the beautiful Italian Riviera town of Camogli. The trek started in Richmond VA with a flight to JFK where we took the AirTrain and NYC Subway to meet our generous host, Molly, to pick up the keys to the Comogli apartment and get some last minute tips. On the way to the AirTrain Nancy spied a convenient baggage storage service - RELIEF! After lunch with Molly we headed back on the subway to JFK - our flight was not leaving until 11:00 PM! Thank you eBooks from the Minuteman Library! We also did a little rearranging of our baggage so we had one roller suitcase, one large backpack, and two small backpacks loaded with stuff that we could not do without if anything got lost - and the rest was moved to one roller suitcase and one large backpack that we would be willing to check - fingers crossed because we had 2 connections to make.
We boarded the TAP Air Portugal flight headed for Lisbon just after 11 and then we sat - and sat - and sat on the tarmac for over 2 1/2 hours!! It was clear before we even took off that our connections were toast. When we arrived in Lisbon the TAP agents had already arranged new flights for us and fortunately the delay would only be a couple of hours. Thanks to Richard's Chase Sapphire Reserve Visa we could spend the time in a really nice airport lounge. First order of business was to book a night at the Tower Genoa Hotel at the Genoa airport - based on Molly's description of the location of the apartment, trying to get all the way to Canogli late at night was out of the question. (Thanks again, Chase, for the flight delay insurance!). The TAP flight from Lisbon to Rome was quick and easy, but our connection was a tight one - so we bolted through the terminal to the Alitalia flight that TAP had booked for us to Genoa. But when we arrived at the gate we were turned away - we needed to get a new boarding pass from Alitalia! Fortunately the flights to Genoa are frequent and we had just enough time to get a new boarding pass and board the next one. It was after 11:00 pm local time when we arrived in Genoa. Miracle of miracles - our checked bags were right there on the carousel! Our hotel was a short walk across the parking lot, where we had a welcomed glass of Italian wine and collapsed on a comfortable king-sized bed. We slept like rocks until the chamber maid knocked at 11:00 am! A short cab ride took us to a local train station and for 3.80 Euros each we caught a train that had us in Camogli in just over an hour. On the way we met up with a nice couple from Toronto who were on their 4th trip to this town! Finding the apartment from the train station was easy thanks to Google Maps. Molly wasn’t exaggerating that the 30 steps to the second floor apartment were STEEP! But it was great to finally be at our first stop on our European adventure. 5 lessons learned:
8 Comments
Laura Vail Wooster
10/21/2019 09:13:56 am
Nancy and Richard - What a great website (and logo)! And what a start to your trip!! Baptism by fire, as they say...but as usual, you always look at the bright side. Congratulations on the beginning of your life without a home - enjoy Italy, and beyond!!!
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Martha H Gallagher
10/21/2019 08:33:36 pm
Yay!! You are on your journey! Can't wait to meetyousomewhere.com! Live it up you kids. xxxooo
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Pennell Locey
10/26/2019 10:56:11 am
As usual - entertaining & teaching us at the same time! So excited for you!!! Penny
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Jeanne Mooney
10/29/2019 03:44:43 pm
So great to follow your escapades here! After reading about your packing reshuffle, I’m interested to learn what roller bags and backpacks you decided to go with and any packing tips. Did you get the Away? 🎒🧳
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Dianne & Bill Caso
11/6/2019 11:13:54 am
We couldn’t be happier for you. Thanks for taking us on your journey
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Cecilee Stone
11/6/2019 12:50:55 pm
So very excited for you both! What an adventure indeed!!! Love the pics and smile! You can almost taste the food :)
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KiKi McCarthy
11/6/2019 04:24:20 pm
Love the updates.... it’s like a virtual field trip.
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Sandra Collins
11/12/2019 04:32:40 pm
Congratulations and best wishes on your exciting journey! It will be fun for me to live vicariously through it.
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