Arrivo!

This turned out to be my "good Friday". The flight from DC was flawless..arrived in Copenhagen to clear blue skies. A quick 1 1/2 hour flight to Malpensa airport and I have arrived! Overcast skies greeted me but I am happy to be here. Finally. And a nice surprise awaited me when I got here..stumbled over to the SAS baggage office where I had to report my 2 missing bags( with pretty much everything in them) , as I was filling out the paperwork, the guy doing it informs me the bags are actually sunning themselves in Roma. Authorities are on the way to pick them up and get their lazy butts up here to Varese pronto! Very good news but I'll be content when they are in my hands..
So it's a Friday nite in Varese...off to the Break Bar to visit with my friend ,Beppe, and to plot the next few days adventure..
Namely, getting an apartment,car,bike,and my luggage.
As they used to say in my old 'hood...
"Bozos Circus is on the air!!"

Same old scene....

New day, same airport. 2 bags still completely missing in action. Gave up on the bargain ticket, I need to get going! Dropped a quick $1100 for a one way to Milan on SAS. So I'll get to see Copenhagen and then finally Iatlia...I hope! As for the missing bags with 6 months worth of clothing and my laptop..well I hope they're having fun out there and they and better come home soon.
Next post SHOULD be from the land of pizza and wine but ya never know....

No fun.....

And away we go........
A nice 6AM flight out if SB..or so I thought. Its got good potential as a friend has given me a "buddy pass". Good and bad. Good,because of the price,bur bad because you fly standby. So, I arriving at the airport and check in. For starters, the flight looks full. Bad. Upon checking in I find out my 2 suitcases are both 10 pounds overweight for standby passengers. To make them follow me it will cost $200 PER BAG! Really. So I figure, whatever, the flight was still a bargain. So the counter guys says" if you had another bag,we could split it up and it would only cost you $100 for the extra bag". Hmmmmm. I DO have an overnite bag in there..so I pull 20 pounds out of the 2 suitcases. The y both weigh in at 49.5 pounds..right under the limit. Then he looks at my duffel and says " well if you just carry that on then there's no fee! " Happy! That drama solved I now have to hurry to catch the plane. One seat left on the fight and I get it!! Perfect..on my way to LAX and hopefully I'll get on the next plane to Washington DC. 
So at LAX,standby again, I am #14 and there are only a few seats left..I wait till the end and miss getting on the flight by 1 person! Arrrrggg!
Ok, theres another flight in an hour and now I'm high on the wait list..
The next flight checks in full but the sun is shining on me as one person does not show and I get the last seat! And the flight is so full my 20 pound duffel has to be checked! Cool, one less thing to drag around....oh wait. One more piece of luggage for potential loss...we will see what actually arrives in Roma....but for now I am stranded in our nations capital..NO FUN!

Getting closer...

Only a few days left in Santa Barbara.enjoying the summerlike weather a d getting a few last minute rides in between to to move and pack. The anticipation is mounting..

T-minus 19

Ok...totally new to this but let's see how it goes.19 days till I leave Santa Barbara for a life in Varese,Italy..excited but scared even tho ive lived there before this time I'm older and supposedly wiser. We will see...