A day’s journey to Venice – April 26, 2009
Chicago O’Hare moments before a big trip is simply delicious. People watching almost at it’s finest. And the excitement of the journey right upon you. And this amazing sense of peace in knowing that I’m packed (for better or for worse), I have the boarding pass, and both me and the plane are at the gate. We’re going!
Preparing had come down to the wire. The flight was at 5 p.m. and as of 10 a.m. that morning–I still was not packed. I couldn’t decide what to take.
Issue #1–How to look stylish enough for Italy and be comfortable in what promised to be weather ranging from rainy 50-60s to sunny 70-80s? I settled on comfortable shoes (Finn Comfort flat brown suede clogs, brown Dansko clogs and black suede dressy janes), a cotton jersey dress and a few trendy cotton jersey tops with tanks, a lavender sweater, lightweight cream fleece, a white scarf, rain slicker, and jeans. Done.
And then there was Issue #2–Camera gear. The Nikon D80, filters, 50mm lens, Lensbaby + accessories, the Holga, the point and shoot Olymus, the Video Camera…and about 48 GB of memory cards and 5 hours of video tape. It all went in the bag.
We called a cab and waited outside. Belle stood in the door staring at us–the worry wrinkles on the top of her head seemed more pronounced. She looked sad and I worried. Seventeen nights apart from my dear old Dalmatian lady. On the way back, the airplane showed Marley and Me. Had I seen that movie on the way over, I might have turned right around for home upon landing in Italy.
Reminder–exit rows on international flights are COLD. It was -80F outside and about 32 inside. Yow. Sleepless, cold night.
