FAMILY
TIME
December
28, 2005
We get up
early this AM. Whitney and friend Amy arrive
today for a 10-day visit. Kimberly is
very excited. We have decided to learn
one more thing about “how-to” in Rome.
We will take the bus to the train station and then the railroad to
Fumicino Airport. No problem except
somebody forgot to tell us that the Fumicino tracks are about half a mile from
the entrance to the Terminal. We are
rushing to catch the 8:52. We arrive at
the track at 8:52 and the train is still there, yea. It is loaded with travelers on the way back
to the rest of the world. The doors
close and we do not get on; I am not happy.
Just another day on the trail.
Within 30 minutes we are boarding the next train, less crowded and an
express as well. I am learning the
lessons of Rome even as we start to think about leaving.
Our
mission before picking up the girls is to get new paper tickets for our trip to
San Fran. We are changing dates and that
is only part of the problem. Lufthansa
no longer has a ticket office in Rome; all of the airlines have closed these
useful-to-the-customer cost centers.
Their ticket office is at the airport.
They have told us to expect a long wait in line to get to the counter,
but surprisingly the line is short and we are face to face with a most helpful
agent. What a relief, it is a non deal
and we walk away about 20 minutes later with new tickets and a ride home.
More good
news, Whitney and Amy are on time (Kimberly is ecstatic) and we grab a cab back
to town. How much riding the rails can I
do? In my mind the cab will be more
efficient, faster and not that much more.
In my very first blog the driver had no idea of where he was going. This man does know the way and we arrive back
at our cabin in plenty of time for lunch.
Things
are going too well. We enter our
apartment to find that it has been tossed, burgled, robbed, whatever it is
called these days. I have always felt
very violated by crimes against property and this time is no different. They have taken Kim’s jewelry, the TV
satellite programmer and the TV remote as well as some Coco perfume from the
bathroom. I suppose we were lucky, the
computer is still here as our most of the other things we like including an
I-Pod and I-shuffle. I had my camera
with me as well as money and passports, the new tickets and wallet. Still, it is maddening to lose your personal
property and it sets my teeth on edge.
We try to stay calm, but it is not the perfect ending to our
sojourn. I feel good that nothing
terrible has happened. When I was a kid
I had a car accident that did some serious damage to my Dad’s car. His only comment was, “Are you alright”. He
wasn’t worried about the property only me - a good lesson. I was and am alright, but as usual in this
place daunted by its complexity.
We take
the kids to lunch and then we all nap.
Not too bad.
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