OK, we made it! No pictures, just a quick account of the trip.

After Nicole dropped us off at the Indy airport (and she continued on to Bloomington for her second semester), we had a leisurely wait for our first flight. It was our last leisurely wait. We had about an hour in Philly to get to our overseas leg. Fortunately a shuttle bus takes you to the international terminal, so we didn't have a long walk. The Philly-Brussels leg was OK, but I can tell you a ton of things - all minor - that were disappointing. First, we were an hour late leaving. Someone on the flight was sick before we left. They not only took the person off the flight but also searched the cargo hold for the baggage, which took quite a while. The aircraft was a 767 (2/3/2 seating) and seemed smaller than other overseas aircraft I've flown. It was pretty uncomfortable. Next, they had no scotch!!! I had to pay $5 for wine. OK, I understand charging to cut expenses, but not having liquor? The movie was Nancy Drew, so neither Kim nor I was interested in buying headphones. What's more, of the three flights, this was without question the bumpiest.

We had made up some lost time on the flight to Brussels but were still behind schedule. Kim and I walked very fast, having to go through passport check and re-check through security (not our checked luggage, but carry-ons). We didn't have seat assignments in advance on this leg and ended up in the back of the plane.

When we arrived in Milan, one of our two bags didn't make it. After waiting a long time in line we placed our claim and headed for the train station. You have to take a bus from the airport about 40 minutes to the station. From there we hopped a train to Civitanova, about 20 minutes from Macerata. For most of the 5 hour train ride, we talked with a couple that had just returned from Kenya. They were there on holiday when the uprisings occurred.

At Civitanova, Filiberto (the program director and great friend) picked us up, took us out for a bite (about 10:30 p.m., almost normal dinner time here), then took us to our apartment. Tired and happy to be "home."

More later