Left at 4 am via Blue Van (Super Shuttle?) Airport Shuttle. Despite not having slept the night before, I was very awake because 1) the driver didn't know how to get back to the freewar and 2) didn't driver properly (according to my definition). That is, he switched lanes without signaling and he cut exits and lane changes very close and very sharply.

At the airport, we were one of the first people for the American Airlines flight but there was already a huge line for a United Flight (the two counters are next to each other). The representative taking our tickets was very friendly and enthusaiastic. She gave the impression of being a warm grandmotherly tupe who would spoil you with love and cookies.

After getting through security, there was nothing to do until... we spied a Shoe Shining Service! At least, the station for it. No one was at work yet. So, seeing no one working it, I immediately humped onto on eof the oh-so-comfy chairs. I was followed closely by my two sisters and later my mom, much to the amusement of onlookers. I then decided to take a photo of my family. We did a few other poses with other cameras. What can I say? I hadn't slept very much...

Sac to Chicago

Finally, it was time to board. According to the itinerary, continental breakfast was included on this flight. However, I was surprosed by what was offered. As each passenger boarded the plane, s/he was to take a cute paper gift bag from an ice chest. (I saw some teenage boys grabbing 2 or 3... :-P) Inside each bag were a small cup of blueberry yogurt, a Chewy Wholesome (TM) Apple Granola Bar, and a packet of Raisins, and a spoon and napkin. Cute, but not what I had anticipated as "continental" (like a muffin/croissant/roll). I suppose the low-carb thing is "in. I keep seeing advertisements bragging about the low carb content of each of the various meal packages (in food courts and on ads in general).

The flight itself - my sisters and I sat together but my mom had to sit by herself. During takeoff, my sisters and I were scared when we noticed what smelled like Natural Fas or Fuel. I would have been more scared if I were not so sleepy. I figured, if the plane blows up now, I'm screwed anyhow. At that point, I just hoped no one would light a flame. Scenes from the beginning of Mission Impossible 2 (if that is the correct one) where the pilot and the passengers were gassed before the plane hit the mountains, flasked through my mind. Then I went to sleep. I would wake up occasionally, according to my sister and act very out of it. Near the end of the flight, when we were descending into Chicago, there was a lot of turbulence. Leaving the airplane, I noted that Chicago smells like Hong Kong. Warm and Humid.

@ O'Hare International Airport

The next few hours were spent browsing books and gift shops while waiting for our connecting flight to Rome. There were two very noticeable things at the airport.

1) Nice architecture
2) Toilet seat covers in the restrooms.

Instead of the usual toilet seat covers, these were supposed to be automated sophisticated plastic sheaths that slid from one end of the toilet seat to the other. The whole thing was continuous and went from right to left. A fresh section would be laid out before you... IF you could figure out how to work the thing - which was to put your hand in front of a sensor. It reminded me of floss, in that you work with one section, and after you were done, you slide the next section over from one finger to another.

The food court area (Terminal 3) was nice - a huge variety to choose from. McDonalds was about twice as expensive there as in Roseville. This was probably due in part to it being in an airport.

We passed by a duty free shop filled with makeup from Clinique, Estee Lauder, and others, along with chocolates, liquor, cigars, cigarettes. Seeing as make up was cheaper here than in most places (and being duty free since we were leaving the country) and knowing that I like chocolate, my mom asked me if I wanted anything. I told her I wanted to buy that Buy 3 Cartons, get 1 free deal on Winston cigarettes. She just smiled. :-)

I have no idea what I would have done ith 800 cigarettes. Also, I was playing with this lipstick thing because the top (a transparent cube) was cool looking. It refracted light. All of a suddent, I noticed something hit my palm. It was the lipstick! Apparently, while I was twisting the top round and round, marveling at the many colors, I was also moving the lipstick up the tube. What I thought was the top, was actually the bottom. So, then my hand looked like I had a nasty bloody cut on it. Interesting.

The Plane

There are certainly some angry rude people around. I dunno why they stress themselves out that way. One guy (sat behind me) held up departure by 20 min because he had to find his lost cell phone. He actually was all mad at the airline for not finding it for him EARLIER. Hello? You're the one who lost it in the first place! There were also some other PO'd (For various reasons) people sitting behind and to the side a bit. Sheesh - relax!

Snack: Baby Pretzels!! :-D
Dinner: As usual, they forget that not everyone is on a meat centered Atkins Diet. It annoys me that American, and much of North Western European cuisine is centered around the meat. Under entrees, you usually indicate what you would like by saying something like "I would like the beef/fish/chicken/porkchop" even though there are other things, which are called "side dishes".

Anyhow, despite having ordered ahead of time for a vegetarian meal, none were available. So I had the beef version of the airplane meal. I gave the beef to my mom and ate the other stuff on the tray.

Francesca let me listen to her Busted CD. Apparently, Busted writes their own songs. I like the funny story ones. :-)

Breakfast: Croissant, Strawberry Jam, Coffee au Lait, Orange Juice, Cheery Vanilla Yogurt.

Oh, and I was so excited to hear Italian on the Airplane. But about the only thing I understood was "Seignors E Seignorie" (I don't know how to spell that) AND, we passed over the Swiss Alps. It was very cool :-)

Roma (Rome) and Civitavecchia, Italia (Italy)