Making and Missing Connections

Our Plane After Landing in Munich

We both got several hours of sleep on the flight to Munich, which was nice, as it would be a long day.  We killed time in the lounge while we waited for our next flight, and it was interesting, as that day there were regional elections underway in eastern Germany.  There was a lot of concern -- which was later confirmed as warranted -- as a right-wing party won those elections.  It was interesting to hear the color commentary while we waited.

The plane that took us to Milan was a regional jet which, ironically, is the smallest Lufthansa flies.  We literally connected from their biggest to their smallest.  It was a short flight, and we arrived around 4:30pm. As soon as we landed, I fired up my phone, only to receive an email from Lufthansa saying they had failed to load two of our three suitcases onto the flight from Munich.  I was rather shocked at how old the airport was, and it had a much more second-world look to it that I expected.  Katherine waited for our one bag (with her things) while I hiked quite a ways to the lost luggage office.  The place was packed with people and there was a very long line.  It all had a very Soviet-esque look to it.  I saw an empty line marked as "Premier Passengers," and I went that way.  There were only two people working and, ironically, everything was being done by hand, to include the use of carbon paper.  I had no idea they were even making, let alone using, carbon paper anywhere in the world.  These two handled luggage claims for all the airlines, rather than the airlines doing it themselves.  I went through the drawn out process of describing the bags and having them start the claim.  While this was going on, we had a driver waiting for us in Arrivals.  I tried to call him to let him know what was happening, but I never got the call to go through.  After about 45 minutes of fussing, they had our hotel information and told me the bags were arriving on the next flight from Munich, scheduled to arrive in a couple of hours. I rejoined Katherine, and she shared that more than 40 bags were not loaded onto the plane, so there were a lot of very unhappy people.  In hindsight, I think there simply wasn't enough room on that small plane for all the luggage.

Our Small Jet for the Flight to Milan

Big vs. Small

Our driver was very understanding of our situation, so that helped.  We were headed to the small town of Como, on the lake of the same name, which is about 45 minutes north of Milan.  We were arriving one day early for our tour, and I was very happy to have that extra cushion, considering the luggage situation.  Our hotel was right on the waterfront, on the town's main square, so the location was perfect.  It was a Saturday night and the streets were packed with people.  We elected to take a stroll and get dinner, planning to collapse into bed afterwards.  We ate outdoors, on the lakefront, and very much enjoyed our first meal in Italy.  Here, too, we get acquainted with what became our "go-to drink," which was an Aperol Spritz.  In fact, we sampled half a dozen different varieties of spritzes during the tour, but those with Aperol remain our favorite.

View from Our Hotel Room

Our Hotel in Como

Lake Como

Our Inaugural Spritzes

On the walk back to the hotel, I discovered that the airport lost luggage folks had called and left a message that the flight from Munich was delayed and that it would be too late to deliver the bags all the way to Como that evening.  Despite my annoyance at that news, we collapsed into bed around 10:30pm and both fell fast asleep.  

Como at Night

Planning and Departing

 As with previous trips Katherine and I have taken, we keep a small running list of the Gate1 tours that are of interest to us.  A tour to Italy might seem a bit "pedestrian" compared to some of our other destinations -- especially as both of us have at least seen parts of Italy in the past -- but what has always intrigued us both was the opportunity to visit the famed Amalfi Coast.  With that in mind, we identified a trip offered by Gate1 which had the itinerary we wanted.  Namely, we saw no reason to revisit some of the better-known locations in Italy, so we honed in on the 13-day tour called "Northern Italy, with Tuscany and Amalfi."  With that in mind, we waited until this tour was offered on sale, and we booked in September 2023 for a departure one-year later.  Italy is known for being a magnet for tourists over the summer, and we figured going in September would offer both cooler temperatures and fewer people.  

Going later in the year, though meant that it seemed a like very long slog until we finally got to take a trip in 2024.  Summer dragged on and, as fate would have it, I got word of my new job only a few days before we were to leave.  That made the timing difficult, but also rather perfect, as this would offer a well-desired break before starting in the new position.

Itinerary of Our Trip

We left home on Friday, 30 August.  We have a new dog watcher, who we "test drove" during our visit to my brother's earlier in the summer, to celebrate my dad's 90th birthday.  She and Chip got along great, so we felt okay leaving him in her care.  We booked a late-night flight, allowing us both to work a full day and not have to compete with all the other international flights departing around dinner time.  We were booked on Lufthansa, and flew to Milan over Munich.  I was excited as, after we booked, Lufthansa changed the plane for our Dulles to Munich leg to the massive Airbus A380; a plane on which I had yet to fly.  It also meant more seats, allowing me to upgrade us to business class for both our outbound and return trips, which always makes traveling easier.

We flew upstairs on the plane, the entire length of which comprises First and Business Class. We had a short delay on departure, but had sufficient padding for our connection in Munich that we had no concerns. I have to rate this first flight as the smoothest long-haul leg I have ever flown.  We felt zero motion the entire trip, which allowed us both to get in some good sleep.

Lufthansa Airbus A380

Pre-Departure Drink!