OK, I said I wasn't going to post anymore and here's one last entry.We're back in the US and I just had to report on our trip home.

We had a rental car reserved to drive from Macerata to Rome. We didn't think it would be a good idea trying to take the train (which requires 2 changes to get to the Rome airport from Macerata) while carrying 6 suitcases and 3 carry-ons. Monday evening I got a call from the rental car company that the car reserved for us would not be available. They had another smaller, but she knew we had requested a larger car, so she called to alert me. We were to get the car Wed. morning. I lost a lot of sleep Monday night. Tuesday morning I called the Macerata Avis office. No problem - they had a station wagon we could take and drop off at the airport. All that worry for nothing.

Wed. we left Macerata and drove to our hotel near the airport. Thursday a.m. we dropped off the car and went to our flight. They were just about to begin boarding when they decided to delay the flight. Three hours later they canceled it. To U.S. Airways' credit, at least they didn't have us sitting on the plane the whole time. They made us retrieve our luggage (ouch!) and bussed us to a nearby hotel for the night. They fed us and treated us well, except for the dribbling of information. When will people learn that the best PR results when a company shares what it knows with customers?

The next morning they had a wake-up call at 3:30 a.m. Breakfast (continental) was available and busses would begin boarding at 4:30, registration at the airport would be at 5 and the plane would leave at 7...which got changed to 8. About the time we were ready to leave, we were told our flight was delayed until 10 and busses would leave at 7. We got to the airport about 7:20 and stood in a very long line. Not knowing how to work the system, we were in the line for 3 hours. Others behind us in line got taken care of before us, by going to other desks, using the phone, etc., but 3 hours later, there we were with an Italian priest behind us in line. Our original 7 then 8 then 10 flight was now going to go about 3, which would've made us too late to catch our connection in Philadelphia. The nice, overwhelmed US Airways agent got us on the flight at 11:15 (the one we would've gone out on the day before) which was only delayed about an hour. But, the Philly-Indy leg was full, so she couldn't book us onto that, and told us to talk with US Air in Philly when we arrived.

About 4 p.m. Philly time we arrived and went through a very painless passport and customs check. The toughest part was collecting our luggage again (ouch). Then, we talked with another nice US AIrways agent who kindly forced us onto to the full flight. I don't know how she did it, but we got seat assignments and by the time we got to the gate they were offering people incentives to stay overnight and take the first flight the next morning. Our flight was delayed leaving Philly so we arrived in Indy about 26 hours behind schedule (the full day plus a 2 hour delay). It was a good thing the last flight was delayed, because we never would have made the original flight time. After collecting our bags and getting through customs, we left the secured area to get ticketed for our next flight, then had to go back through a very long line for security again (about 45 minutes). Why, if we were already in a secured aea did we have to leave it? It seems like a design error that causes increased labor costs. It wasn't just us because of our re-ticketing situation. Everyone on our flight who had to catch a connecting flight had to do the same. That's an airport problem, not US Air. Now that federal agents are handling security, doesn't that mean wasted tax dollars screening people who have already been screened?

All in all we made it through unscathed. We didn't miss a family gathering or a day's pay because of it, and we were treated as nicely as can be expected under the circumstances. God bless Nicole! Our 13-year-old held up great. She had really hoped to be home to see friends and her cat, and she kept up her spirits and stamina. She didn't sleep on the 9+ hour flight, either, opting to watch movies the whole way home (not having seen English-language TV or movies for 4 months). We couldn't have asked for a better traveler.

We're thrilled to be home. It was a great trip, a wonderful experience, but it's always nice to be home. Happy Holidays to all, and in the immortal words of Tiny Tim, "Tiptoe through the Tulips"........ oops, wrong Tiny Tim. I meant, "God bless us, every one."