Italy: Day 1 and 2

I am in Italy! I can't believe it. I made it safely and pretty much on time. So much has happened in this one day alone that I don't want to forget any of it. So, I am going to try and spend a few minutes each night recaping the things that I have done, experienced, ate, etc. while on my trip. This will probably be rough, as I am just going to jot a few things down, but I don't want the days to get mixed up, and I certainly don't want to forget anything that happened. I started off my whole trip with my wonderful friend Jennifer bringing me to the airport in Dallas. I got there super early, but there was NO ONE there! I wasn't searched going to the gate, I didn't have to sit on the floor while waiting for my plane, in fact it was glorious to just sit and read my kindle. As the time got close to board my flight for Philadelphia, they announced that our plane would be delayed an hour and half to 2 hours. Cue the anxiety attack. I had to make it to Philly on time or I would miss my next 2 connections: one that would take me overseas, and one that would get me into Italy. Deep breath. Ten minutes later they announce they will begin boarding US Airways flight 710 to Philadelphia. Thank you, Lord! With a slight delay in take off, I knew I would be cutting it close to make my connection. Either way I was sitting in a row by myself in a practically empty flight. Relaxing. We landed, taxied, and then a hustled, running the last 200 yards caring my laptop-burdened backpack. They announced a last call...I made it. Whew. I made a few phone calls from my seat, since it would be the last time I would use my phone. With an extra few minutes to spare, I use that time to play QRANK and earn the award for playing in Philadelphia -- BONUS. US Airways flight 750 to Brussels, Belgium was underway. The flight to Brussels would only take 7 hours. I really enjoyed the flight. They served us a dinner with the choices of chicken or pasta -- I chose pasta. The inflight movie was Chronicles of Narnia, along with a bunch of random shows. I know I wanted to get some sleep so I chose to read on my Kindle for a while and then turn out the light. I surprisingly got about 3 to 4 hours of sleep. It was not restful and I woke up a few times, but I would soon find out that those few precious hours would be helpful. I woke up to watch the sunrise over Europe, they served us a hot danish for breakfast, and I listened to How Great is Our God as I watched the sun appear for the first time. Glory and splendor. I landed in Brussels, which I will admit, I wasn't aware it was Belgium. All week I thought I was heading to Belarus. I learned a geography lesson from the map in the back of the Sky Mall magazine and actually sat next to an American who lives in Brussels. His Dad works for NATO and he was looking at colleges in the states. Another few lessons learned about Belgium. Did you know they speak french and flemish there? It really sounded like an interesting place to visit and from the view from my Airbus window, it looked beautiful and rich in history. Thankfully, almost every sign in Brussels was also written the English translation. It made finding my flight, gate, way through customs (my first passport stamp!), and check-in SO much easier. My first stop after customs was of course the bathroom, which was probably the one thing that was the most different. From the door knobs, to the stalls, to the way the toilets flush. Crazy. I found my flight and my gate, and managed to choke out "I need to check in" to the french-speaking gate attendant. (I am sure, me handing her my passport was a dead give away.) So much time wasted in the passport line and bathrooms that in less than 15 minutes we were on the plane. Airport secruity in Europe is so much easier to get through than the US. It reminded me of the good ol' days before taking off your shoes, pulling out your laptop, and pat-downs were a necessity. Brussels Airways flight #3123 was the last puzzle piece to Italy. I tried to read a little on the plane, but I dosed off for a minute or two during take-off. I thought it was a minute or two, but when I awoke I had missed the drink cart. So far, I had not eaten or driken anything since the small hot danish on my past flight. I was thirsty! Oh well, I tried to take advantage of my window seat and put my limited knowledge of European geopgraphy to use. I was in awe of the lush green lands, the perfectly outlined houses, and right as I looked up to remember that we would have to fly over the Alps, there they were along the horizon. I spent the next 30 minutes or so watching the plane grow ever closer to this amazing mountain line. They were thicker, bigger, whiter, and more amazing than I had pictured in my head. I was amazed that any one could travel through those, let alone Attila the Hun on foot with an army of hundreds of barbarians. (My geography is bad, but I am fair in history.) We land in Bologna and I am supposed to get my bags and meet Alex Dix and Tom Roy as I walk through the glass doors. I am told that Tom is 6'5'' and will stand out like a sore thumb. Easy enough. Not. They aren't there! Or at least I don't notice them. I sit and wait for 10, 15, 20 minutes until I decide that a $5 phone call might be worth trying to find my ride with guys that I don't know who they are or what they look like. I decide to wait a little longer. At last a guy comes up to me and says, "English?" I responded with a hearty Texan, "Yeah!" We introduce ourselves and I trustingly give him my bag and follow him to his car. This guys is not 6'5'' and does not stand out like a sore thumb. I meet Alex which puts me at ease a little more. At least this guy is traveling with someone named Alex, who knows a little more about me. Come to find out, MUCH later in the evening, Tom didn't pick me up. It was Tony. Relief. Alex (who is German) drove us to the hotel in his Audi. As I sat in the backseat talking, I noticed he was doing 160 kmh. I was thinking it was about 75-80 mph. The conversation later told me that it was more 95-100 mph. Wow. We made it safely to Hotel Byron. A tiny, old hotel right across from the Adriatic Ocean. Home for the next week. I clean up quick and meet Tony and Tom for lunch. I am not only thirsty, but very hungry by this point as well. The three of us walk along the beach-lined street getting to know one another and looking for some sort of restaurant that is open on a Sunday afternoon. Surprisingly, we fins a little pizzaria. I had an Italian Cocoa-Cola and a Magherita pizza. DELICIOUS! We sat and talked for a while. The Italians have no sense of urgency and you don't need to leave a tip. It was so enjoyable to sit outside on the porch overlooking the beach, talking and eating unforgettable Italian pizza. On the way back to the hotel we stop for gelato. My first time of many that I will have this week. I got a small, which was a tiny cup, but you chose 3 flavors and they fill it to the max! I wish I could remember the flavors of the gelato I got today (I can't spell them, or say them) but they were all really good. I will try something different tomorrow. I now had a spare hour or 2 in my room before dinner. Dinner...I can't even think about dinner. I skyped my mom, took a nap, cleaned up and headed downstairs about 6:15. Many of the Germans are in town and I am introduced to name after name. I so desperately want to remember all of their names, but finally convince myself that I will get them over the week. Much to my surprise though, I will be coaching girls and boys that range in the ages from 25-50! There were actually 40 and 50 year old men on the team I will have the next 5 days. (Heart begins to race, but I am calm.) We enjoyed a four course meal which tonight consisted of: salad of your choice chosen from the salad bar, pasta (tonight was a spiral noodle with a traditional tomato sauce and what appears to be hot dog chunks, but is so much more delicious), our main course which was a pot roast and potato but cooked with veal instead of beef, and to finish it off an unbelievable Tiramasu. There was a lot of drinking from the Germans going on and a lot of German speaking. These players can speak and understand English but it is sparingly. Enough to communicate fully, but not enough that you get that strange look if you tell a joke, start speaking too fast, or speak with a Texas twang. I might be in trouble. I spent the rest of the evening getting to know some of the players and mingling around the room. This trip will be all about building relationships. It is now 11:40 pm and I really need to get to bed and get on Italian time. Please pray for rest tonight and not too harmful of effects of jet lag tomorrow. Until then...