Ciao Europe
Orvieto was the last hill town on our Umbria sojourn. It’s a natural fortress perched on top of a rock cliff dating back to 1200’s overlooking expansive views of the bucolic Umbrian valley. Orvieto’s attraction is a truly magnificent cathedral featuring one of the most fantastic facades of any I’ve seen in Europe — incredible bas-reliefs on the exterior and a cadre of impressive marble statues inside including an inspiring pieta, the scene of Mary holding a crucified Christ. The chapel of frescos depicting life and death, hell and resurrection were jaw-dropping. We’ve certainly had our fill of Duomos, churches, abbeys, Gothic ruins and cathedrals on this trip, but this one was my favorite — really impressive. The village is picturesque, with a main pedestrian street flanked by shops for pottery, olive wood handicrafts, leather goods and of course regional wines, which are excellent. I’m so glad we got to Orvieto on the winding Italian backroads replete with numerous round-abouts and single-lane roads that somehow squeeze in two vehicles at times. Getting around by auto in Italy is somewhat easier thanks to GPS, but can still be confusing and argument-inducing. The International Driving license Jerry got in Colorado seems pointless, and we shall see if there are speeding tickets mailed to us at a later date. Superhighway speed radars are announced and your speed is electronically measured — no traffic cop stops on the highways.
Heading home involved a short drive to Florence where we expected to board a British Air hop to London and our connecting non-stop to Denver. That was the well-laid plan. Alas, upon getting checking in for our flight, bags checked to Denver, and sauntering toward security, we were informed in Italian that we were diverted to Pisa. “No, we’re going to London”, we protested to no avail. After retrieving our checked luggage we climbed aboard the shuttle bus, eventually flew to London from Pisa knowing we had missed our connection and wondering how BA would rectify the situation. Fortunately we had engaged a greeter to guide us through the intricacies of Heathrow who met our flight and marched us to to the BA rebooking desk. There we were politely informed that we have been reassigned to the next day’s flight, would be given overnight accommodation and meals. Oh boy! The Aurora Park hotel nondescript, modest at best, but clean sheets and a shower made up for the lack of any toiletries which were safely stowed in our checked luggage in an undisclosed location. We dropped our carry-on bags, decamped to a local shabby-looking “Punch Bowl’ pub with a bar and passable Thai food. We sought comfort with double gin and tonics. Misery loves company and we soon had a friendly chat with a honey-mooning couple from Seattle. We think the Aurora Park’s breakfast buffet was inspired by the German occupation of parts England, so we hightailed it back to Heathrow and found our way to the BA business class lounge. Imagine our great relief and delight to find ourselves in a luxurious airport lounge unlike any we’ve ever experienced after a little duty-free shopping.
The BA website invites feedback and I will be providing plenty. I fancy myself a bit of an expert in communication and that is perhaps the area of greatest need for this huge airline. Generally BA personnel have been polite and helpful if you can find them but the passenger communication is often confusing or lacking. The scheduling snafus may be due to over-selling flights, understaffing, inept corporate leadership, government malfeasance — maybe all the above. Do adverse weather conditions offer a convenient excuse? But, I must say the BA lounge made up for a lot of aggravation and the direct flight to Denver was smooth, pleasant and on time.
The happy ending is that our checked luggage arrived, the truffles and wine were intact, and we sauntered through customs in Denver without missing a beat. As always, sleeping in your own bed is a double pleasure after a trip. Great to be home in Denver planning our next adventures! Thanks for following our Europe vacation!