Wednesday, June 29, 2022

europe day 13, venice > philadelphia > home

 

The last run was a little earlier but just as beautiful as the others.  We took a different turn and ended up at the Peggy Guggenheim gate again.  This was a welcome accident.



After my last run in Venice, we finished packing and met in the lobby for breakfast before checking out.  This was our last group pic at the hotel.  That's a happy bunch of people.



The halls of our hotel felt like a hospital at times.



The rooms were simple, but everything you needed on a trip like this.  A shower and a place to sleep.
After checking out, we took the vaporetto to the bus stop and took the bus back to the airport.  The airport was named Marco Polo Airport.  Did we play Marco Polo inside Marco Polo?  You know we did.



I took these photos across Fiona again.  That's Venice as we left.



The snow-covered Swiss Alps below us.



And the first sight of the US, Cape Cod.  This all day flight took us across Europe, past the southernmost tip of England, the tip of Newfoundland and eventually to Philadelphia.  I watched a movie or two and tried to read on the flight but it was too dark.  I could have used my light but I would have felt like a butthole.  It was hard for me to sit still so long.  
Philadelphia airport was one of the most ridiculous places in terms of security.  Rude, annoying and completely illogical.  I'm sure it's a lovely city though.  Once we were through security AGAIN, Sean and I plotted to get an authentic philly cheesesteak sandwich.  Emily blew past us and stood in the line for Chick-fil-a.  We got Geno's and I'd like to say it was great American food but it was wholly unsatisfying and utterly disappointing.  Sean got some garlic fries at Smashburger and those were good.  I also got a proper white chocolate mocha at Starbucks and it was delicious.  Then we sat on dirty airport carpet and waited for our flight to board.



I had the window for the flight home. That's Philadelphia as we left.



And that's Charlotte as the sun was setting.  We lost 6 hours in the flight back home and while it was 8:00 pm or so on our watches, it was 2:00 am on our bodies.  

At baggage claim, we were able to grab our bags and Katherine and I quickly divided up our souvenirs.  I handed my kids a bag to carry out and we said our goodbyes to the group.  This was a great group to travel with and I really enjoyed the trip.  

The kids asked a lot of questions and told me a lot about what I missed while I was away.  After a little while Blue put his ear things in and tuned out.  Sometime after that I fell asleep and woke up to a car on fire in the opposite lane.  I quickly fell asleep again and woke up just as we pulled into the driveway.  I ate, drank a lot of water and got a shower before going to bed.  The dogs were so happy to see me.  I was wearing a mask when I came in and they both growled at me until I pulled it down.  Then they licked me until I went upstairs.  It was a great trip but it was nice to be home.


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