Ciao Italia!

This morning started early with a 2:30am wake up call. Thomas and I got up and dressed, finished packing and got our bags out in the hall at 3:00am. We then went down to the lobby at 3:30am and had some breakfast that they had for us in a bag. At 4:00am the shuttle showed up and they got our bags loaded. Then after telling Linda goodbye we headed for the airport (Aeroporto Internazionale di Napoli). We got checked in and went through security and found our gate. At 6:55am we took off headed for Rome.

Alitalia

We landed at Rome's Flumicino airport (or Leonardo da Vinci airport) at around 8:00am. Here we had a four hour layover. We made our way to the area for our gate for the next leg of our flight to Atlanta. Once there we found a restaurant and got a little something to eat. Then we found a place to sit and read. About an hour before the flight Thomas and I got called to the counter to get a security check. It was a quick check - all they did was ask where we had come from and if we packed our own bags. By this time they were starting to board so we got in line. It took 50 minutes for them to get the plane loaded. We got settled in our seats and started reading. Finally we took off at 12:45pm (30 minutes later than the scheduled departure).

Delta

Throughout the flight we ate, read, played games and talked. The flight was 10 hours but seemed like it lasted a couple of days - it just didn't want to end. About 5:20pm we landed at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport. After getting off the plane we checked in with passports at a kiosk and got a printout which we took to a desk and went through customs. Then we had to pick up our bags and went through another checkpoint. Once pass this point we rechecked our bags and then went through security. It was totally ridiculous - it took one hour and fifteen minutes from the time we got off the plane to the time we got to the gate for our flight to Albuquerque. And we went through four checkpoints - totally unnecessary and time consuming. But we were glad it was done. Once we had found our gate we went and got a bite to eat then returned to our gate and read until it was time to leave for Albuquerque. We boarded at 8:55pm and took off at 8:30pm. The flight was just under three hours and we just read the entire time. Finally we landed in Albuquerque at 9:40pm. By this time we had been awake for 27 hours. We got off the plane and went to baggage claim where we had to wait about 20 minutes for our bags. Then we caught the shuttle to Airport Parking and to our car. We got the bags in the car and took off for home. Fifty minutes later we arrived in our driveway. The dogs greeted us and we spent a little time loving them. Then we got the bags into the house and took showers. It was midnight by the time we went to bed. We were up for 30 hours but we are glad to be home.