Thursday-Arrivilederchi

March 31, 2023

We were all packed and ready to go! Steve and Jeff had a dry run of tying the suitcases on top of the roof of the car Beverly Hillbilly’s style. So we knew it would work.

We said goodbye to our favorite people. Antoinella in Luna’s. Jeff and Steve had gotten her an orchid plant and had given it to her to thank her for her kindness all month. In the small world department, they bought it from a florist who happens to be Antoinella’s cousin! She loved it and had tears in her eyes when it was given to her.

As we walked through town, we saw it was placed in the window.

We said goodbye to our favorite bread store. The line was usually out the door…a very good sign!

We said goodbye to our fantastico view of the Adriatic Sea

We said goodbye to the sign on the main road Via Pompeo Sarnelli that told us where to turn to go back to our house at 21Tritone.

Goodbye to the many Apes Steve saw and then took pictures !

We said goodbye to our hostess Enza who was so nice and helpful to us during our whole stay at Palazzo Penelope!

The Clampets drove out of town. Steve and Jeff dropped Susie and I and all of our luggage at the departure door and went to return the rental car. Luckily there was no problem with the car due to Steve’s excellent driving. They were back in less than 15 minutes. Next check in to Air Dolomiti. All bags met the weight limit. Through security 2 people in front of us. Steve and Susie had a pat down since they couldn’t go through the x-Ray machine. All set, painless and 2:30 minutes before departure.

The flight to Munich was quick. I fell asleep for a bit. Steve read. Jeff and Susie read. Upon descent we could farmlands. They looked as though they created with a ruler and pencil. The rectangles were perfectly straight. Each color was different.

That should have been a red flag…we hadn’t suffered enough! The connection from Bari to Munich was a tight one. We had 1 hour and 10 minutes between flights. We left Bari 8 minutes late. When we landed in Munich, I kept seeing the terminal getting farther away. We finally stopped and then they put the staircase up for us to deplane. At the end of the staircase was a shuttle bus. We all got on the shuttle bus. Now we were looking for Gate L25. We went up an escalator. Across the 2nd floor. Still following gate L. Then we went down an escalator to a tram. On the tram, off the tram after 1 stop, and up an escalator to see we have to go through security. We all have Global Entry. We rush to Kiosks. At first it didn’t work for the lady in front of us. Then she went through. I put it in it worked the 1st time. I was in the area where they take your picture. The camera was lowering to take my picture and then the camera was going up. A man had gotten into my camera lane. I turned and told him “Get out! This is my passport picture.” The security guard was screaming 1 person 1 person. I was yelling back “He just followed me in!” Susie was at the next kiosk and it wasn’t working. Steve was behind me his wasn’t working. Steve let people go in front of him. Finally, he got through. Jeff and Susie still not getting through. We went ahead to tell them more we’re coming. We found our friend and got in line with her. Susie came through, she said “I can’t find Jeff!” We said get in line with us we’ll hold the plane for Jeff. She said I’m not going without him. As we snaked around we saw Jeff had joined her…it was so stressful! All set everyone is where we should be! Phew!