Travel Karma Strikes Again!

Emily, Mary Jo, and Sam got up VERY early to go to the famous thousand year old fish market in Venice. Leaving our hotel, we ambled across the famous Rialto bridge with dawn breaking gently over the canal. We had the city to ourselves with only the delivery boats stacked high on the grand canal and men delivering those boxes of supplies to the shops by hand carts. We saw all the fish mongers set up for  what would be a busy morning as they closed at 12 noon.  They were displaying octopus, scallops, clams, tuna,salmon, sardines, and literally any fish you could ever imagine! We bought pasta and risotto. Can't wait till we try it. Bon appetite.

We were on the home stretch of our vacation, Sicily. Only two quick domestic flights and we’d be sitting on a beach drinking cocktails. The early morning start was wonderfully simplistic. After the fish market we had a quick breakfast followed by a unique trip to the airport in a water taxi. These perfectly maintained lacquered wooden vessels were as sleek as they were powerful. We cruised through the narrow canals, upsetting early morning delivery boats and patrons on their relaxing morning walks.  The city was otherwise quiet and peacefully picturesque. After escaping the intra-city canals we emerged on to a ‘boating highway’ lanes in open water lined by aged and worn pilones signifying the various routes. The water taxies reved up their throttles and veered playfully in and out of each others’ wakes as we all raced towards the airport.  With frighteningly good skill our driver drifted into a loading dock to let us out into the airport. 

As we embarked on our journey from the romantic canals of Venice to the sun-soaked shores of Sicily, little did we know that our travel woes were just beginning. The day unfolded with a series of unfortunate events that left us exhausted and frustrated.

Our troubles began with unexpected delays that threatened to unravel our carefully planned itinerary. Each passing minute brought us closer to missing crucial connections and losing our precious luggage. The tension in the air was palpable. 

To make matters worse, news of a fire on the runway at Catania airport forced an abrupt rerouting. We found ourselves diverted to a distant airport, where we sat on the tarmac, anxiously awaiting clearance to return. Two long hours crawled by before we were finally on our way back to Catania.

Throughout this ordeal, our only sustenance was a meager 4 ounces of water. Thirst gnawed at us, a constant reminder of the challenges we faced. We tried to remain patient, but the exhaustion was setting in.

In the end, our journey that was meant to take a mere few hours stretched into an agonizing 11-hour ordeal. It was a test of patience and resilience, leaving us yearning for the tranquility of our destination. Despite the setbacks, we pressed on, determined to find solace in the warm embrace of Sicily's shores.

Our hotel, despite arriving at night was spectacular. A true heavenly resort perched on cliffs overlooking the ocean. Once we arrived we stumbled out of the van exhausted , hungry, and weary. Emily started marching towards checkin with a fierce determination only to be held up as Mary Jo and Sam decided to chat up the driver (who they ignored for the previous hour) about rocks. Rocks. Emily, in her primal ‘need food’ state was implicitly/explicitly sending me signals that unless she was fed someone was going to die. So we wrapped up our enthusiastic conversation about rocks and headed to the front desk. The concierge women gave us all a half glance and stated, “why don’t you go straight to the restaurant and we can handle checkin late..?”. She escorted us to the restaurant while I silently mouthed “thank you”. Once we had some good food and wine in our bellies we were laughing again at the whole ordeal. We can’t wait for tomorrow!