Home sweet home

One final early morning wake up call on the Celebrity Equinox marked the beginning of the end. Ok, I won't be so dramatic. How about just the beginning of the last day of the best vacation we've had. Better? I hope so, because it only goes downhill from here, kids!


A quick look at the iPhone (before 6am) and I knew we were in for a long day. One US Airways plane goes from Philly to Rome, then back again, daily. That's it, no more than that. The outbound flight from Philadelphia was delayed (for maintenance), which in turn delayed our return flight by more than three hours. I can think of about a million other things I'd rather do than spend an extra three hours in the Rome airport (like wandering through the city), but I certainly didn't have a choice. On the bright side, we had the opportunity to catch up on posts and email. Not a complete loss, but it definitely brought us back to reality more quickly than we would've liked.


Side note: disembarkation from the ship was the best I've ever seen. We were dismissed as we arrived at our waiting area, luggage was ready to go, and we were happily surprised to see our driver waiting for us 40 minutes early.


Once we boarded the plane everything went fairly smoothly. In an attempt to quickly adjust back to East Coast time, we tried to stay awake during the flight. Surprisingly, I was the successful one. Movies certainly helped with that. Customs was a breeze, but the the whole process of gathering checked luggage and going through security again is not my idea of fun. It's especially tiresome when you're running on essentially no sleep and you have to meander through the mazes of construction in one of the world's worst airports. Ok, I'm being dramatic again. It wasn't that bad, but I just wanted to sleep! We had plenty of time between flights. This was mostly due to John's thoughtful planning and partially due to our flight to State College being delayed (weather).


After a long day of traveling, it was so nice to see Mary Ann's familiar and smiling face. Special thanks to her for picking us up very late in the crappy weather. Of course after seeing my friend I got my second wind. Not an ideal time for it, I know. So, I took full advantage of it and unpacked. Once the luggage was empty, laundry sorted, and washer set to begin in the morning, it was finally time for bed. I'm looking forward to a Waffle Shop breakfast and my dad bringing Glorydog back in the morning. Looks like it's back to the real world for us!

And we're off!

It was an uneventful, yet entertaining flight from State College. Although kind and helpful, I think our flight attendant would be better off at an open mic night. We've officially claimed squatter's rights close to power outlets in the Philly airport. The remainder of our five hour layover will consist of watching movies and trying not to fall asleep. Usual airport rituals already checked off the list: eat expensive, low quality airport food, people watch, scramble to charge as many electronic devices as possible, and an overall fight with technology (which lasted a good three hours). Looking forward to our flight and some sleep!

A big thanks to my sister for taking us to the airport and taking care of Glorydog while we're away. Even though it was a rainy day, she enjoyed the short ride to the airport to wish us a fun trip. I'm sure she'll have plenty of fun playing with Nike!


For those who were wondering...Packing finally concluded at 10:12 this morning, one of my books for class being the last item stowed. Of course that wasn't packed until a frantic and fruitless trip to work. Here's the final tally: one camera bag, one backpack, two carry-ons, and yes - one checked bag (and eight pairs of shoes for me)!