Saturday October 31, 1992 – Milan, Italy
It was a little hard to know exactly when Saturday began. So, I’m saying it was when I landed in Milan, Italy even though it was still Friday 11:30 pm Pacific Time. I spent about 2 hours at the Milan airport. Claig and I went to the airport café, and I had an Espresso that was so strong it made my hair stand on end (1200 Lire). The airport was quiet at first but soon picked up. The weather was crisp and looked and felt much like the weather in Washington D.C. The flight from Milan to Rome lasted about 1 hour and was mostly cloudy with occasional glimpses of the countryside. The country was surprisingly green considering it’s Mediterranean. Landed in Rome at about 12 noon Rome time (3 AM Pacific). There was a mad dash for the customs and passport check gate where everyone ended up standing in line waiting for someone at the beginning of the line who was having problems getting through. That seemed ominous but by the time I got to the gate, the guy barely looked at my passport and waved me through. I was relieved but also a little disappointed he didn’t stamp my passport. The next step was to find my baggage which, after making 3 plane changes, made me a little apprehensive. I can’t tell you how relieved I was to see my big salmon colored suitcase coming down the belt! I then proceeded to lug my baggage to the train terminal where I could catch a train into Rome. I had a vague description of how to get to the train terminal, part of which included avoiding aggressive taxi drivers. The train terminal was close and only required going up a couple flights of escalator stairs and crossing a bridge. The train to Rome was scheduled to leave every ½ hour and required buying a ticket from a machine by punching in your destination and inserting the proper amount of Lire. The terminal reminded me of BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) in San Francisco where you had to insert your ticket into a turn style to get to the loading platform. The train ride to Rome lasted about 20 minutes and went through some poor looking areas. I’d never seen so much healthy Arundo grass as I saw along the tracks. Some of it was at least 20 foot tall! The train ride stopped at the Ostiense Station which was the closest stop near my hotel. Under normal conditions, it would have taken about 20-minutes to walk to the hotel. Unfortunately, I had a ton luggage, and I wasn’t exactly sure how to get to the hotel. I think the Taxi drivers sensed my helplessness because as soon as I walked out of the station, they descended on me like flies. I had been told that taxi fare should be around 12,000 – 14,000 Lire. So, I asked “how much to Hotel San Anselmo?” Big mistake! Three taxi drivers replied in unison, 30,000 Lire ($22) which I knew was too much. But, when I replied, “too much”, they all just looked at me like I was crazy and walked away. At that point, I knew I was beat, so I said OK. The lesson I learned was, don’t ask how much and just them have go by their meter. If you enjoy roller coasters, the ride to the hotel was worth every Lire. Driving in Rome must be one of the scariest experiences around. Riding with a normal, sane driver would have been scary but riding with a crazy Italian taxi driver surely ranks at the top of the scary list. I made it to Hotel San Anselmo at about 1:30 PM (4:30 AM Pacific). I had been quoted a price of 100,000 Lire (~$75) for a single room but in the process of checking in, the price suddenly jumped to 150,000 Lire. I questioned the hotel clerk about the price change, but he was insistent that it was the normal rate. At that point, I didn’t want to argue (especially since I couldn’t speak Italian and he barely understood English). The room was clean and basic and included a bathroom which I think was extra. The bathroom included a bidet and tub/shower that was about 3 feet off the ground. I unpacked some of my things and debated on whether to crash or check out some of the sights. I decided to check out some sights and ended up walking to the Colosseum which was about 3 miles away. The Colosseum and surrounding ruins of the Roman Forum were awesome but a bit crowded with tourists. It looked like maybe half of the tourists were Japanese. I walked around the Colosseum area constantly watching for pick pockets which I had been warned were common there. Apparently, a lot of the pick pockets are young “gypsy” children who have a very aggressive way of coming up and asking for money. A couple times I was approached and barely caught one of them trying to put their hand in my pocket. One trick they use is to distract you by holding up a newspaper like they want to sell it to you while they pick your pocket with their other hand. Another method Claig had happen to him was a young girl grabbed his arm while another one picked his pocket. I eventually learned to recognize pick pockets and found that if you look like you’re wise to them, they don’t bother you. I made it back to the hotel around 5:30 PM (8:30 AM Pacific) and hit the sack.
Saturday, October 31, 1992
Friday, October 30, 1992
Italy - Denmark Trip - Day 1
Friday October 30, 1992 – McKinleyville, California
Somehow, with a bit of luck, I was selected for a one-month detail to work on a global tropical Forest Resources Inventory project with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, Italy . When I first saw the job being advertised, I didn’t really think I had a chance but decided to apply anyways. Turned out my supervisor also applied for the job! Needless to say, it was a bit of a shock when I got offered the detail. I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare so I had to really expedite getting a Government Passport, making plane and hotel reservations, etc. Having never been outside the U.S., except for Canada and Tijuana, I was feeling just a wee bit out of my comfort zone but very excited at having an opportunity to travel and work on a project like this. It all felt very surreal though.
On the day I was scheduled to leave, we had a surprise visit by our good friend Bill. Turned out Bill was on one of his whirlwind road trips starting from Seattle WA, through Billings MT, Winnemucca, NV, McKinleyville, CA (our house) and back to Seattle WA where he planned to fly back to Denmark where he was living with his wife Lotte and daughter Marie. I was glad I got to see him before leaving but was sad having to say goodbye. Thankfully, because the Arcata-Eureka airport is small and only about 5 minutes from my house in McKinleyville , I was able to delay leaving until the last minute. As it was though, I barely had enough time to check my baggage and board the plane. The first leg of the flight to SFO lasted about 1 hour with barely enough time for stewardess to serve drinks and a bag of peanuts. I was a little concerned about missing my connecting flight since there was only about half an hour between flights. As it turned out, I was just able to get on the plane and store my carry-on. The plane was a huge Boeing 747 . My seat was on the side in a row with only two seats which was unusual. Most rows had ten seats with three on the sides and four in the middle. My seat was also near one of the kitchens where the stewardesses would congregate and load their trays with food to serve passengers. It was also in a bad location for seeing the in-flight movie and other entertainment. Luckily the movie wasn’t great, so I didn’t mind missing it. The movie was titled Sister Act starring Whoopie Goldberg as a singer/prostitute who pretended to be a nun.
The stewardess came by and asked if I needed a headset. When I said yes, she said it would cost 4 bucks! I said never mind and I think she felt a little sorry for me and gave one to me for free 😊. The passenger next to me didn’t speak a word of English and when I tried to talk with him, he just looked at me with a blank stare. I felt a little sorry for him because I could tell he felt uncomfortable not being able to communicate. At one point, he pulled out a cigarette and started puffing away. That immediately brought the stewardess over who literally read him the riot act. I don’t think he understood one word, but he did at least get the message, NO SMOKING!
I spent most of my time reading and listening to music. I also occasionally listened to the movie, even though I couldn’t really see the screen. I was able to read a bunch of stuff sent to me for the project I was going to work on in Rome, so it was time well spent.
I couldn’t believe how many meals were served. It seemed like they would barely finish serving a meal and picking up your tray and then come back with another meal! The food wasn’t too bad. The first meal was a crepe stuffed with chicken with rice, salad, coffee, and carrot cake for dessert. Meal two was a chicken and cheese sandwich, drink, etc. The scenery was a little disappointing since it was cloudy the whole way. Luckily, I got some nice glimpses of fall color coming into the Washington Dulles airport which made me want to stay and look around. It was slightly raining and about 45 deg. F. in Washington, D.C. I had about two hours between flights which was just enough time to take the tram to my next flight boarding gate and buy some Italian Lire. I bought $102 which came to about 120,000 Lire. The flight from Dulles to Milan, Italy lasted about 7 hours with arrival in Milan at 8:30 AM (11:30 PM Pacific Time). During the flight, I met a guy flying to Rome for a 1-week vacation. His name was Claig and he said he was using a ticket he got from “Mileage Plus” and was planning on going to Siena to meet some friends he met last time he was in Rome. He raved about Siena and said if I had a chance, I should be sure to go there.
Somehow, with a bit of luck, I was selected for a one-month detail to work on a global tropical Forest Resources Inventory project with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, Italy . When I first saw the job being advertised, I didn’t really think I had a chance but decided to apply anyways. Turned out my supervisor also applied for the job! Needless to say, it was a bit of a shock when I got offered the detail. I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare so I had to really expedite getting a Government Passport, making plane and hotel reservations, etc. Having never been outside the U.S., except for Canada and Tijuana, I was feeling just a wee bit out of my comfort zone but very excited at having an opportunity to travel and work on a project like this. It all felt very surreal though.
On the day I was scheduled to leave, we had a surprise visit by our good friend Bill. Turned out Bill was on one of his whirlwind road trips starting from Seattle WA, through Billings MT, Winnemucca, NV, McKinleyville, CA (our house) and back to Seattle WA where he planned to fly back to Denmark where he was living with his wife Lotte and daughter Marie. I was glad I got to see him before leaving but was sad having to say goodbye. Thankfully, because the Arcata-Eureka airport is small and only about 5 minutes from my house in McKinleyville , I was able to delay leaving until the last minute. As it was though, I barely had enough time to check my baggage and board the plane. The first leg of the flight to SFO lasted about 1 hour with barely enough time for stewardess to serve drinks and a bag of peanuts. I was a little concerned about missing my connecting flight since there was only about half an hour between flights. As it turned out, I was just able to get on the plane and store my carry-on. The plane was a huge Boeing 747 . My seat was on the side in a row with only two seats which was unusual. Most rows had ten seats with three on the sides and four in the middle. My seat was also near one of the kitchens where the stewardesses would congregate and load their trays with food to serve passengers. It was also in a bad location for seeing the in-flight movie and other entertainment. Luckily the movie wasn’t great, so I didn’t mind missing it. The movie was titled Sister Act starring Whoopie Goldberg as a singer/prostitute who pretended to be a nun.
The stewardess came by and asked if I needed a headset. When I said yes, she said it would cost 4 bucks! I said never mind and I think she felt a little sorry for me and gave one to me for free 😊. The passenger next to me didn’t speak a word of English and when I tried to talk with him, he just looked at me with a blank stare. I felt a little sorry for him because I could tell he felt uncomfortable not being able to communicate. At one point, he pulled out a cigarette and started puffing away. That immediately brought the stewardess over who literally read him the riot act. I don’t think he understood one word, but he did at least get the message, NO SMOKING!
I spent most of my time reading and listening to music. I also occasionally listened to the movie, even though I couldn’t really see the screen. I was able to read a bunch of stuff sent to me for the project I was going to work on in Rome, so it was time well spent.
I couldn’t believe how many meals were served. It seemed like they would barely finish serving a meal and picking up your tray and then come back with another meal! The food wasn’t too bad. The first meal was a crepe stuffed with chicken with rice, salad, coffee, and carrot cake for dessert. Meal two was a chicken and cheese sandwich, drink, etc. The scenery was a little disappointing since it was cloudy the whole way. Luckily, I got some nice glimpses of fall color coming into the Washington Dulles airport which made me want to stay and look around. It was slightly raining and about 45 deg. F. in Washington, D.C. I had about two hours between flights which was just enough time to take the tram to my next flight boarding gate and buy some Italian Lire. I bought $102 which came to about 120,000 Lire. The flight from Dulles to Milan, Italy lasted about 7 hours with arrival in Milan at 8:30 AM (11:30 PM Pacific Time). During the flight, I met a guy flying to Rome for a 1-week vacation. His name was Claig and he said he was using a ticket he got from “Mileage Plus” and was planning on going to Siena to meet some friends he met last time he was in Rome. He raved about Siena and said if I had a chance, I should be sure to go there.
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