Today was bitter sweet when we woke up. It was a beautiful sunrise with a great view of Rome. Instead of going down to have breakfast without the kids, Tavis and I decided to go find a geocache close by the hotel. It was a nice short walk and the temperature was perfect. It was also a quick find. By 7:45 we were waking up the kids and getting ready for our last breakfast buffet. From the buffet we went straight to the pool and enjoyed our last 90 minutes relaxing in the sun, swimming in the refreshing water. It’s funny, the pool did not have the slightest hint of chlorine on the skin. As a matter of fact, it made my skin and hair feel clean. The birds were even drinking and bathing in the pool! At 9:30, we handed in our towels for the last time and went back tot he room to shower and pack our final items.
At 10:00 we checked out and caught a taxi to the airport. It was a quick and our smoothest ride in Italy with only 40 minutes. I am really going to miss the chaos of Italy. Not so much the traffic (although a little scary) but the parking! Cars just park anywhere and everywhere…it was not uncommon to see cars double parked blocking in other cars and motorbikes at the same time!!! I would never want to drive in Rome, that is for certain!
We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to go through security. There was literally a 2 minute wait (as posted on the screen), though I don’t even think it was that long! The only bag that got pulled out was Tavis’ because of the cork screw that the Concierge gave him. We then went to the British Airways Lounge to wait to for our gate to be posted. I also discovered that we have trained our kids a little too well to seek out and take advantage of free food. Everyone filled up on snacks and beverages before getting on the plane.
When we were seated on the plane Ari managed to sit next to a pretty girl. I feel really bad for her because Ari had turned on the charm and was talking to her the entire time. By the end of the flight I think the poor girl learned more about airplanes than she ever thought she would. I heard a lot of laughter though and the flight attendant made a point of telling us how wonderful and polite our children were. It makes me happy to hear those compliments. I enjoyed my window seat as it was a beautiful view of the islands and coastline as we flew toward London. The water is absolutely gorgeous even from the plane.
We arrived in Heathrow around 2:45 and had to get through security again before making our connecting flight which was scheduled to board at 3:15. We had to dump out the water from our water bottles that we had just filled on the plane. It was a bit frustrating as we just went through security before we boarded and haven’t left the airport. The line up for security was long and slow. At 3:20 we were still waiting for 2 backpacks to get manually checked. They told us we had too many bags of gels and liquids (Even though there were only 3 bags for the 5 of us). In the end those were the only things that held up our bags which we took out and had separate to begin with. It didn’t help that we thought we were going to miss our connecting flight to Chicago.
By the time we received all of our bags we went straight to a screen and learned that our flight to Chicago was delayed. It was rescheduled for 5:20 so we had time to visit the British Airways lounge. Atleast we got to enjoy the snacks and beverages while sitting in nice seats as we waited for our flight. Ari enjoyed the kids gaming area!
We were delayed a long time but we finally boarded an Airbus A380 just before 5:00. I think we left closer to 6:00. Our seats were upstairs and when we walked onboard we were all very impressed! I’ve never seen such a big plane. The seats were incredibly comfortable and the care packages were really nice. My favourite was the actual duvet (not a blanket). The flight was 8 hrs and 11 minutes. Ari charmed all of the flight attendants in his usual fashion. He even went on his own tour of the plane and introduced himself. One of the flight attendants took his personal information and said she would pass it along to the captain. During the flight we were able to go into the galley and help ourselves to snacks. They had the best salt and malted vinegar kettle chips ever!
At the end of the flight we were all invited into the cockpit. Ari got to sit in the captain’s chair and wear his hat! He even gave Ari the flight plan and a personalized card! We have a very happy little boy and the whole flight crew helped make the journey home a memorable experience. We were in with the captain and co-pilot too long everyone had departed the plane. The cleaners and flight crew were waiting for us before they could proceed but everyone was very kind. We ended up leaving with the flight crew but had to say goodbye at the parking lot.
We had to wait 20 minutes before catching our shuttle to the Hilton hotel. It was nice but nothing compared to our last one. Unfortunately by the time we arrived it was too late to go for a swim. John, the hotel attendant was awesome though! He joked around with the kids, gave everyone a water and a snack. He even offered to have breakfast to-go packages made up for us since we are leaving before the buffet opens. When we got to our room we organized the bed situation. Ayva slept on the pull out couch, Ari and Addison shared a Queen bed and tavis and I took the other queen bed. I think everyone was sleeping by 11:00pm.
Our alarm went off at 3:30am and we were all up and ready to go at 3:55. As we were leaving the hotel at 4:00 we were each given a to-go breakfast package which included a muffin, apple, granola bar, and an orange juice. We arrived at the airport around 4:20 and made our way through security. It was so nice to be TSA approved and everything went smoothly. We arrived at our gate about 45 minutes before boarding.
At 5:15 the boarding process began. We found our seats and the flight was not too full. Tavis and I had an empty seat between us which gave our family the entire row. As we were on the plane we realized it was raining. Our weather luck this trip has been amazing! The plane departed at 6:00am CST and the 4.5 hour flight went quite quickly and uneventful. Our economy seats weren’t nearly as impressive as the crazy beds in our last flight but the seats were still large and comfortable. Before we knew it we were landing in sunny Seattle just before 8:30am PST. We made our way to the area where we caught our shuttle to the Park N Jet lot and our vehicle was waiting for us. We then made the 3 hour drive home and arrived at the house just before noon.
When we got home we quickly unloaded the car. Tavis and Addison had a bit of a cough and we didn’t have much in the house so I made soup for lunch and put in the laundry. Then the kids each went to school by 1:00. While the kids went to school, Tavis and I went to Costco and bought groceries. We got back the same time as Ayva and Ari and I picked up Addison from school at 3:30. Then I mowed the lawn while Addison went to a friend’s house. At 6:30 we had KD and hot dogs for dinner and after that I laid down for a short nap. I woke up at 11:0, got ready for bed, and fell back asleep until 4:30.
What a crazy 24 days. I think it will take a bit of time to get caught up on our sleep and for our internal clocks to adjust. Although it was an amazing vacation, it is nice to be back at home.