The Journey Home

The journey home started early. Our driver came to get us at 4 a.m. Florence time. We chuckled as we watched a group of girls staggering home from the "club". We got to the airport and were the first in line to get checked in. Thank goodness I had been upgraded so that we could "skip" the line and get our boarding passes and luggage done first. You see, this was the only airline where we could not get our boarding passes ahead of the flight. 

We sat at the airport for a few hours and finally made our way to the gate to board. The Florence airport is small. And, there are now jetways. So, another first on this trip.

Yes, I had to load onto a bus and be driven to the plane where then I had to walk out on the tarmac and up the stairs to my seat. On the bus, a man sat next to me who was from the United States. He had recently retired and spent time in in HR role relocating individuals to Florence, but never spent time there. So, he said he decided to spend 3 months there - which he loved - and was heading home. 

Our flight to Madrid was just under 2 hours - and it was smooth. However, it was a budget airline and there was no drink or snack service. My upgraded seat had more leg room than first class flights in the US, however the seats wrecked narrow and the armrests were in a fixed position. OH, and one other thing I noticed on European airlines, the seatbelts were "longer" - which I appreciated. No struggle to get them buckled. 

Once in Madrid, we made our way to the International terminal (took about 25 minutes) by train. Once there, we found some food.

None of it look appetizing to me, so a pumpkin spice latte for me and some snacks from the magazine shop and I was good to go. The Nutella "wafers" I got, which I would say were like an Oreo cookie where the filling was Nutella, were great. 

Once again, we had to board a bus and be driven to our plane. Let's just say the Spanish are not in a hurry to get you to the plane or let you out of the bus.

We flew Iberia airlines home. Iberia is an American Airlines partner and I will say their business class was essentially the same as American, although their seats near the window staggered a bit differently, which mine being right next to the window and the seats in front and back of me being right on the aisle. The seat seemed smaller than American business class and there was less storage. However, the seat did lie flat, the entertainment was a bit better, and the pillow and blanket were a nice touch.

 

I settled in, however was still nervous for the flight home. We had learned the day before about the terrible tragedy in D.C. and my crazy fear of flying made this journey particularly difficult. Plus, we would be doing this in the light and I'd be able to see the big body of water I so feared when flying.

 

By the time we boarded, I was hungry.  Meal service didn't start right away, so I broke open my snacks and discovered the best Dorito flavor ever!

We had a little more turbulence on the flight home than we had on the flight coming over. You'll see it in this next video.

Oh, I can't forget the amenity kit.

 

 I thought I might fall asleep on the flight, but once again I did not. So, I kept on eating.

 

And more.

 

I have to admit that I did not look at the window all that often on the trip. Why? Because I knew we were flying over water. And mostly frozen water at that. But the times I ddi, I just say it was beautiful.

We landed in Chicago about a half hour early. Great, but we lost all that time just waiting for our baggage. We did get through customs relatively quickly (thank goodness for Global Entry), however the baggage was a bit of a cluster. By this time. I'd been up 24 hours, we had to keep walking back and forth between baggage claim 2 and 9, with the airline finally settling on 2. Oh, and priority bag tags are an absolute scam. My bag was one of the last to come out. Oh well. 

It was nice to be home and I continued to stay up until close to my regular bed time. And with that, I was up once during the night for about an hour. I went back to sleep and got up at 5:15 a.m. Chicago time (which is the normal time I get up in the morning) and went about my day like it was any other. I didn't experience jet lag on the return either. 

I'm so glad Rachel pushed me to join her in Barcelona. I absolutely loved the trip. For a girl who loves history and art, this trip was truly a dream. And now, I realize what I've been missing by allowing my fear of flying to get the better of me. I think it's time to plan the next trip. 

Oh and in case you were wondering, Italy was #1, Spain #2, and France #3.