The first Leg of Our Journey

It was suggested we get to the airport three hours early which, as it turns out, was not totally unreasonable. Checking in for an international flight can be time-consuming. Still, we had some time before the plane left. We had all our documents ready and got the chance to dream about what we would do and where we would go for the next two months.


After a lot of chat and, maybe...a Starbucks! We were on our way!


We left Dulles Airport at 5:35 and got on a United Boeing 777, a wide body jet that holds a BUNCH of people. Fortunately, the gracious people (Thanks!) who arranged our tickets reserved two seats near the window for us. The 777's seating plan has two seats next to each window and a lot of seats in the center so we had room for the two of us and the luxury of napping whenever we felt like it without having to worry about strangers next to us.

The flight was long but comfortable. We arrived in Amsterdam at 6:45 AM, almost an hour ahead of schedule. This gave us some time to find a spot an relax or "rest our eyes" as Kelly puts it.

The Airport at Amsterdam look much like any Other airport you might see in the States.



That is, until you see all the different and much smaller vehicles they use over here for daily transportation.


After a 3 hour layover, we were off to Rome. Once again, we had great seat and caught a glimpse or two of the Alps through the cloud layer.

At the airport in Rome, we found a lot of very nice and very helpful people who spoke English and were able to help us find a way to get to our hotel.

We'll have more on our hotel, and incredible and beautiful place, along with pictures in our next posting.