Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Part One

October 11 & 12: Caught the shuttle to the airport, proceeded through check-in, security, and found our departure gate without any problems. We didn't even set off the metal detector and they didn't dispute any of our liquids. We boarded our flight to Amsterdam and found out that each seat has it's own T.V. with remote! Score! They had regular T.V. shows, video games, movies, and radio stations. So glad Jay and I didn't have to watch the same things. Jay's list: Transformers 3, Terminator and who knows what else. Sara's list: Ice Age 3, Monsters vs. Aliens and the cave man video game. The only thing to make the flight better would have been first class seats.

We arrived in Amsterdam and had to get help getting our boarding passes for the next flight, but the people were so nice. Right next to us was an older gentleman traveling to New York. He didn't speak a word of English, but had a green card. The Dutch man helping him couldn't believe he didn't speak English and was given a green card and allowed to live in the U.S. Apparently Holland will not allow immigrants unless they at least speak basic Dutch. Makes sense, maybe we could learn a few things. Should I write a letter to the president?

The flight to Florence: let's just say I NEVER EVER want to do that again. The plane was old. Not crowded, but there were three ladies in front of us who talked THIS LOUD in Dutch the entire two hour flight. We were tired and hungry and not very thrilled. Then about 45 minutes before we landed:4 worst. turbulance. ever. I am not a huge fan of flying anyway, but have gotten to the point where I don't mind your everyday turbulance. This, however, was not ordinary. I am pretty sure we flew right through a thunderstorm. If we had not been buckled in we would have been in the aisle. I thought the plane was going to fall apart or fall out of the sky. Almost got sick. The poor girl across the aisle did. I had a death grip on Jay's leg. If I remembered my Hail Mary's I would have been saying them. We landed and the pilot had to slam on the brakes because the runway is too short and they run out of room. I could not get off that plane fast enough let me tell you.

I wanted to take a taxi to the hotel because I was tired and feeling lazy. Jay, though, had the true traveler's spirit and convinced me to take the bus into the Florence train station and then catch the train to Pontassieve where we were staying. We did this without a hitch! Good job Jay. It was pouring, and I mean pouring in Florence and in Pontassieve. I had a map...sort of, but the directions weren't great. However, Jay has an excellent sense of direction and after about 20 minutes of me trying to tell him where it was he walked us right to it. Thank Goodness! It was about 2:00 in the afternoon so of course everything was closed. We had a granola bar and took a 3 hour nap. I know, I know, not what you are supposed to do, but we literally could not keep our eyes open. Around 7:00 we walked to the grocery store and picked up what would come to be our usual fare for the trip while feeding ourselves: bread; wine; cheese; salami, biscuits, yogurt, and not to forget the WINE. :-) One word: YUM.

*Sorry no pictures yet, we are working on it. And stay tuned as I continue to relate stories of our adventure. *

CIAO!

Jay and I are leaving on a jet plane this Sunday. We. Cannot. Wait. :-) Neither of us have packed yet, that is what tomorrow is for. Then we are dropping of Chloe at my parents and heading to Seattle to spend the night. Sunday at 1:00 pm we will be in the air winging our way to Florence via Amsterdam.

• I have checked the weather and it is in the 70's. Pretty much perfect.
• The mail is stopped.
• The bills are paid.
• The neighbor and Jay's brother are coming over to watch Ralfie and give him loves.
• I have an international cell phone.
• I have copies of our passports, itinerary, reservations, tickets, insurance etc.
• I have an adapter and chargers for the phone, camera, and iPod.
• I called the credit and debit card companies to let them know we will be out of the country.
• I have addresses so I can send postcards home.
• I have my families phone numbers in Italy so I can call them.

Jay and I have been joking that I better not lose him anywhere because he has no idea where we are going, staying, or how to get there. He told me this morning to get him a harness and a leash like you see on two year olds and I thought maybe I should make him a name tag. It would look something like this:

"Hi, my name is Jay. My wife's name is Sara. Her phone number is 509-393-9518. If you find me wandering around please call her. If you buy me an ice cream while we wait she will pay you back. Thank you."

I guess I should get it translated into Italian also.

See you all when we get back!

Oktoberfest Marathon, Half Marathon, and Marathon Relay

Saturday was the fifth annual Oktoberfest Marathon. I orginally signed up for the half, but after my ten mile training run, sore ankles, and just overall burn out I decided I didn't want to do it anymore. I also didn't want to lose my entrance fee that I had already paid AND they were giving out sweatshirts this year. Couldn't miss out on that! So I rounded up five friends and with minimal arm twisting convinced them it would be a good idea to join me for the marathon relay - with six of us we would only have to each run between 4 and 4.5 miles. Then the night before the race I was talking to Will and mentioned that this was going to be an all day event to finish the entire 26.2 miles. He gave me the best idea ever: since there were six of us and two people ultimately run the same leg just at different times, why not go at the same time? BRILLIANT! This way Emily and I ran together (well if you must know she beat me :-) ), Desiree and Delcie ran the second leg at the same time and then Lindsey and Edrie finished up. This way we were done in a little over two hours instead of 4-5. So much better! Thanks a million Will. Of course he might have had an ulterior motive since he needed me as a babysitter by 5:30, which obviously wouldn't have worked if we were still running, but I don't care. :-) The day started out freezing - literally 35 degrees or something - so cold! It warmed up to a beautiful day though and it was lots of fun. I got some of the girls hooked on running - hee hee. Next year I think we will all do the half.

Desiree, Delcie, Sara, Emily Pre-Race

Desiree, Emily, Sara, Lindsey, Edrie Post - Race

Baby Ella, Edrie's daughter, and our support crew.

This is what I'm talking about!

My sis Carla working it in the dirndel.

I introduced Desiree to Bratwurst. Look how happy she is.

All in all an excellent day with a fun group of girls. Until next time!