Day 1: Chicago to Cortona

This year’s Thanksgiving week plans are unique! Rather than spend time in Chicago or Minnesota, Belinda and Cordwood invited us to join them at a house in Cortona, Italy. The time flew by and suddenly it was time to leave. After work, Matt and Jo hopped the usual Blue Line to O’Hare. TSA was a breeze and we had plenty of time to relax in the lounge… just kidding, the Priority Pass lounge at O’Hare is not actually for Priority Pass members. We are now 0-for-2 trying to get into that Terminal 5 lounge because they reserve it out for business class travelers on other airlines. No matter, we don’t need you anyway. We have comfortable seats at the gate next to a friendly chatty lady named Cindy.

Leaving snowy Chicago

Poe on his way to camp

Thats our train!

The first leg of our journey is Chicago to Zurich. The flight boarded on time and we got to our seats. Not too bad so far, Swiss Air. The plane had to be de-iced thanks to the snow (which certainly melted a few hours later). By the time we were ready to push back, we were at the end of the line. We eventually took off an hour late and pretty hungry.

Getting de-iced before leaving Chicago

Next stop, Zurich

After dinner was served, Jo fell asleep quickly while Matt stayed up to get some work done. There was some turbulence and general economy-class comfort issues, but hey — travel isn’t supposed to be comfortable! We originally had a two-plus hour layover, but since we were late, that time was cut to about an hour. We didn’t bother with a lounge and headed straight to the gate. The Zurich airport is pretty big. We had to leave the gate area, find the tram, go to the next terminal, go through a customs/passport check (got a stamp!), and go through the shopping area. We finally got to the gate with plenty of time to spare, especially considering the flight was delayed by about 15 minutes.

Landing in snowy Zurich

The flight from Zurich to Florence was a much smaller plane (no-frills flying school bus!) and not a very full flight. We loaded up in buses to get to the plane waiting on the tarmac. Once again, thanks to the snow, our plane was de-iced. Shortly thereafter we were on our way. At least I think so. I passed out immediately. Fortunately Matt collected my Swiss Air chocolate for me.

Navigating the Zurich airport

Getting de-iced again before leaving Zurich

Italian Alps and Lake Como

When we landed in Florence (finally in Italy, woo!), we met up with Cordwood and Belinda. Originally, they were going to get in about two hours before us, but they had some weather delays, and after some finagling booked a different set of flights that got them in at the same time as us. We met Cordwood at baggage claim while Belinda went to get the rental car. Soon after, we all took the shuttle to the rental car area and we were on the way!

We found Belinda and the rental car!

Before going to the house, we made a stop at the Florence Marathon Expo for packet pick-up. While we had the good foresight to not run a marathon, we did sign up for the special 10K Florence is hosting this year as part of the marathon’s 40th anniversary. The expo is a crowded event in the city, and parking was a challenge. Matt and Jo jumped out to see if we could pick up everyone’s packets. Spoiler alert, we did! Eventually Cordwood met us inside for a few minutes before we went back to the car with Belinda waiting patiently in definitely a legal parking spot.

Packet pickup here

Excited to be at the Firenze Marathon expo

Ok, so now we are on the way to the house. Google says it will take an hour and 40 minutes, getting us there just in time for the official check-in cut-off time. We made it out of the city and got on the A1 headed south… and then… just stopped. Traffic was insane and we remained at a near standstill for quite a while — it is Friday afternoon/evening after all. We contacted the host of the house and got instructions to check ourselves in, so no more worries there. We also took the extra time to give Lily a call and see how she is doing over in Greece. We will see her next week. Stay tuned.

Eventually we were out of the traffic zone. We never saw an accident and hypothesized the backup was from when the highway went from four lanes to three. We made it to the house at 7:10pm — 40 minutes after the original google prediction. At this point, Matt wasn’t feeling too great. He had been feeling sick for a few hours (jet lag? sleep deprivation? bad peanuts? all of the above?) and went to lay down.

Entering Cortona’s old city

Jo, Cordwood, and Belinda went out in search of food. The plan was to pick up some bread and olive oil as well as other essentials, but all of the grocery shops in town were closed. We weren’t in the mood for a sit down restaurant meal either. Luckily, we came across a walk-up pizza place. We did some quick translating and ordered a sausage pizza. We walked around the town window shopping and getting a lay of the land while we waited for the pizza to be ready. Once it was, we took it back to the house to eat. We all were exhausted from the travel and turned in for an early night.