The Road to Rome

I’m in Rome. Finally J

Midland to Detroit

My journey began at 5am on January 20. With all the jet lag, it’s hard to keep track of what time and day it is! I meant to post this sooner, but I was completely dead. Better late than never, though, so here it is!

The night before we finished up packing my suitcase… It had to lose six pounds before the trip! Downsized, locked, and strapped in, it was ready to go. After about three hours of not really sleeping, we hopped in the car for the airport, Big Apple Bagel’s and McDonald’s coffee in hand. Soon enough it will be a pastry and a cappuccino. I’m not complaining J

We thought the drive would be an easy one. Clearly, this was not the case. We first saw flashing lights on I-75 and took a small detour with no luck. We passed countless cars spun out, in ditches, and upside down! Thankfully we never slid on the ice. Three and a half hours later, and after the quickest gas station bathroom stop in Baker family history, my dad dropped my mom and me at the North Terminal of Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

I checked in with probably the nicest, friendliest woman on Air Canada’s staff with a bag of EXACTLY 50 pounds. I wish I could say I planned that but really I just crossed my fingers as I set it on the scale. The usual photo shoot took place and I said my goodbyes! Going through security, I learned that no, you are not allowed to carry peanut butter on a plane. It must go in your checked baggage. I’m a little heartbroken, but it looks like I’ll be eating a lot of Nutella instead!

Detroit to Toronto

I made it to Gate D4 way before my plane did! I spent some quality time with my Kindle while munching on cinnamon jelly hearts until this adorable little plane showed up. It was just like in the old movies – the pilot stood outside to greet me as I walked up the stairs onto the plane. I loved every second of it. I even stopped to take this picture! (The airport workers just smiled and laughed.)

There were three of us passengers and two pilots on board. It didn’t hurt that the pilot was young and attractive J

It took less than an hour to touch down in Toronto where I think I probably walked a mile following the “Arrivals” signs. I wasn’t sure if I’d get one, but they stamped my passport! I grabbed some lunch and of course Tim Horton’s coffee since I was in Canada to wait out my five hour layover. Thanks for the Sudoku, Mrs. Shull! It kept me busy for a while.

Toronto to Frankfurt

The next plane I boarded was definitely bigger. I settled in to my seat and lucked out having no one next to me! I put in my headphones and settled in with Sherbert (yes, I took my teddy bear) to watch Sweet Home Alabama and Under the Tuscan Sun. Fitting, right? Something for home and something for Rome. Or something like that. I can only dream of how amazing Italian pasta will be compared to the airplane food, but at least the brownie was tasty. Coffee for breakfast time was even better. At least I was finally across the Atlantic Ocean! All I could see of Frankfurt, Germany was the lights of the airport – I’ll have to really see it when I go to Berlin in May. I took this before the plane took off! It was pitch dark and about 5am when I landed in Germany.

The Toronto airport was a breeze compared to the Frankfurt one. First of all, I finally had to read the fine print beneath signs. I’m so used to reading signs in English in the US that I take it for granted. This trip is teaching me a lot already. I like the challenge. Finding my way is more rewarding and I feel so independent. I followed signs for connecting flights which took me through “Passport Control” to get another stamp J

I had to go through security again. My boots, necklace, or belt must have triggered the detector because I was pulled aside to get patted down. The first thing the woman working said was, “English? Francais?” to figure out what language to speak to me in – something else I take for granted in the US! I think the best way to describe hearing so many languages you don’t understand is humbling. It makes me think about how not everyone is like me nor wants to be like me. I appreciate the security guards, receptionists, and baristas who can cater to me in English because I’m the one who can’t speak their language. Back to security, though; my backpack had to be searched, too. I had a water bottle left over from the flight! Oops. The security woman laughed at all the candy I have in my backpack to share with people at AUR. She probably laughed at my teddy bear, too.

That’s when all the easy to read directions stopped. I found a departures board with my LH 232 flight to Rome FCO leaving from Gate B. Easy enough, right? Actually, there are over 40 “B” gates in Terminal 1. Awesome. The passport control guy I asked for help said to check back with the board about an hour before my flight. This made me a little nervy, especially since I didn’t actually have my boarding pass from Lufthansa yet. With about three hours to wait, I was hungry again! I don’t even know what meal I’m on. How about brunner? That covers all three. I got a yogurt parfait, or “yoghurt with honey and berries” as it was labeled. I’m not exactly sure what kind of berries they were, but they were sweet and I liked them! It was tasty but not at all like anything I’m used to. It’s crazy how different the things people eat around the world are when they look and sound so much the same.

The board finally updated me that my gate was B10. I met a wonderful woman named Teresa in the airport. She’s so interesting I’ll have to talk about her in another post! I also met a boy from MSU going to AUR. Crazy! He had a bracelet that said “My Spartan Career” so I figured I’d ask.

Frankfurt to ROME J

I sat next to a 23 year old Italian boy on the plane who I didn’t mind chatting with one bit. I’ll post about him and Teresa later! I didn’t expect food, but Lufthansa is pretty great in my book because they gave me a chocolate stuffed croissant. Oh yeah. This was the view out the window.

I met back up with Joey from State – it made it a lot easier getting off the plane and having someone to grab my bags and go through customs with. Students and a staff member met us at the exit, put us on the bus, and brought us to our apartments. I was finally at my new home.

I could go on, but I think that’s enough for now. Ciao!