Switzerland!

We came back on Tuesday night from a 15 day trip to Switzerland. Pietro's hometown is in the canton of Ticino. The little town is called Locarno and it is on Lago Maggiore. This lake extends into Italy.

Pietro hasn't visited his family in 3.5 years, so he was tremendously excited to start our journey. We wanted a non-stop flight to Zurich, so we left from Dulles. We expected a bit of waiting. We expected a fair amount of standing in line. It was CHAOS! I have never been to Dulles when it has been so crowded. The security lines were endless. The trip from the check in desk to our terminal was extraordinarily long. Once we got to the gate, they (the idiots at United) told us that we could not sit together because they had overbooked the flight. Ok...a two year old in his own seat surrounded by strangers might be a little amusing. Pietro is a fairly calm person. He doesn't make much fuss over problems. This time, he was a teensy bit more assertive. The lady at the desk asked him to stop yelling, she's see what she could do.

At this point, I wanted to turn around and go back home. I still had a 8.5 hour flight left with a 2 year old. I was able to sit with Amedeo, but Pietro had to sit in the middle seat in front of us. The lady sitting next to Amedeo on the flight asked me if he was going to sleep. I said, "Ummm...I don't know. Probably not. Maybe if you want to sleep you could switch with my husband." She said, "oh, I'm fine." At that point, I gave up on trying to prevent Amedeo from kicking her, or jostling her or squealing. After 5.5 hours of being in her aisle seat, she finally made the switch with Pietro. It was only then that Amedeo was able to settle down and sleep. Only 2 hours of sleep! Ack! It was a stressful flight. I almost asked the flight attendant for a bottle of whiskey and some Ambien.

When we caught the second flight to the airport closer to Pietro's town, we got the news that my suitcase was still at the Dulles airport. Another major bummer. I was resigned to wearing the same clothes for 15 days, my mood bolstered only by large quantities of home made wine from Pietro's dad's cellar.

My conclusion after this: don't fly United. They are incompetent. Don't order the children's meal for your child. They are disgusting. Also, keep a spare pair of panties in your purse when on an international flight. At least you'll have them when your suitcase doesn't arrive.

On the very very bright side, Amedeo recognized Nonno Romi instantly! He raced over to him in the airport and hugged him. They were instant pals. Or at least Amedeo recognized that Nonno was willing to follow certain orders such as, "Nonno, Come here!" "Nonno viene qui!!!"


Amedeo is thinking, "I have Nonno right where I want him!!! Playing with me!"

Pietro was delighted to be back at home, eating Nonna Annita's cooking. Cheese, salami, pasta, soup, salad, roasts....etc etc...and of course, oodles of wine and buckets of coffee.


Nonno and Amedeo share a love of music. Shown here are the two virtuosos playing a duet on the harmonica.

And, of course, Amedeo was able to find a playmate any time, any place. There was always a willing person available! "Come here, Nonna!"

Next, a brief discussion of What We Found When We Came Home, followed by a continued rehashing of the trip.