Italy Trip 2004
(Sept 21st - Oct 3rd)
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2004 / TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 21, 2004
The flight was supposed to leave at 10:45PM, but was delayed to 12:15AM as someone died on the way back to Toronto. The flight had to make a stop in Ireland which caused the delay. We didn't end up taking off until 1:00AM.
When checking in to the SkyService desk, Adam got some attitude from one of the customer service reps for borrowing her pen to fill out a form. It was really odd and quite rude.
Neither of us got much sleep on the flight. The entire flight crew handled the trip extremely poorly. They started the flight by serving a full dinner. Who wants dinner at 1:00AM??? Every time there was the slightest bit of turbulence, the pilot would turn on the seatbelt light and the cabin crew would go through their noisy routine. First, they'd make an announcement on the PA that seatbelts must be put on, while seats and trays should be in their upright position. This message would be given in English, French and Italian. Then they'd make a noisy trip up and down the isles checking that everyone followed the instructions given in the announcement.
After landing, we met with an Alba Tours guide and boarded a bus to the hotel.
We were a little surprised to find a RECTANGULAR toilet in the bathroom, along with a bedai. There are two buttons of the wall to flush the toilet. A small button is used for #1, the large for #2. The shower was nothing more than a bathtub with a handheld shower head.
We went walking around the immediate area around the hotel. McDonalds seems to like advertising they serve an "American Breakfast". It seems breakfast isn't a big part of an Italian diet, so I guess an Egg McMuffin is a big deal here.
So far, all the restaurants we've seen are smaller family owned places. No huge chains. There are numerous restaurants down every block we walked down. We stopped in to a restaurant and I had a soup with meat tortellini in a beef broth and meat ravioli in a meat sauce. The pasta is so good hear. It practically melts in your mouth. I have a feeling it has more to do with the cooking method, rather than the pasta itself.
Grabbed a chocolate gelato before heading back to the hotel. This is how ice cream should be.
--> WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 22
