Homeward Bound - August 29, 2011

Last leg of our trip = 2 hr. drive to Milan Linate Airport.  

For the first time ever, we were actually early to the airport only to wait an hour to check in for our flight!  First flight provided a beautiful aerial tour of the Italian Lakes region and Swiss Alsp (narrated by our Italian seat-mate), but we didn’t have our camera!  Our flight was also late taking off meaning little time for connections in Dublin.  Good thing the new terminal is well-marked!  However, we still found ourselves nearly running to the final boarding call at the gate because we had to wait to identify our bags as part of the new security system in Dublin.  

Despite these setbacks and Hurricane Irene, our flights we’re heading home…and ready to be back state-side.  We had a great trip, but it will be nice to get back into a routine instead running off from place to place, see people at home, and sleep in our own bed.  It’s amazing how much we saw and did in 2.5 weeks.  We traveled to 8 countries, drove 47 hours in the car for a total of 4,275km,visited with family, celebrated 2 birthdays and an anniversary, sampled tons of local cuisine…and even found time to relax!  Now that’s a good vacation!  Where to next?  Back to school for me, back to work for Joe, and hopefully this time we’ll actually spend the next few months organizing our pictures instead of planning another trip!

The Gritty Trip Driving Details