We are back from Italy, hello everybody...

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

Oh no, that doesn't sound like fun. All that trouble on the flight over, and then no suitcases, for 4 days. Did you at least get to buy a bunch of new cloths?

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

I know it takes a while to get acclimated and catch up on things at home but I am waiting for the next installment.

I'm hoping you didn't have to spend too much on clothing waiting for your bags to catch up to you.

I almost booked our London trip on AirFrance thru Paris but the replies to that post made me think better of it.

Glad you are back and I do hope you enjoyed this trip as you put so much planning into it!

I am glad you didn't book thru Paris....I would never willingly go to that airport after the horrendous experience there...and their security is practically non-existent...it is frightening to know how easy it was to walk in and out of secure areas with no consequence.

Actually, with regard to the clothing....I had packed a couple day supply of unmentionables and pj's and toothbrushes in our carryon bags, which came in handy when we arrived at our cousin's home. He lives near Lake Maggiore, and has a business, and was unavailable to take us shopping....and there was no way we could get into town without him, so we managed in the clothing we had, for 4 days! UGH! Oh, one day he did take us to town, and I spotted an open market and raced to a table and bought a new blouse for 5 euro.

Also, I was just too exhausted to go thru the hassle of trying to find a store in Laveno to do clothing shopping....we just decided it just didn't matter as long as we could handwash a few things and if the bags did arrive, we would be okay. They finally did arrive, so we "began" the trip all over again when they did.

We did get to take a tour on Lake Maggiore, and visited Isola Bella....which was lovely, but my DH, distracted by the many sights and sounds, suddenly discovered when we were back on the lake heading to Stressa that he left his camera bag on the grounds of the castle. Our cousin explained the situation to the ferry drivers, and when they returned to the Isle, we raced off to the castle, only to find it had closed. TBC....

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

Oh no, that doesn't sound like fun. All that trouble on the flight over, and then no suitcases, for 4 days. Did you at least get to buy a bunch of new cloths?

No, no new clothes, but to keep the trip totally symmetrical....here is how we made the trip back home from Catania, Sicily.....

We arrived at Catania airport early, and awaited check in....what a system! We were flying Air Nostrum, on an Iberian regional flight.....

Catania airport has an airport authority who does the check in for most of the regionals....Iberia had no reps on the premises. The agent took our itinerary (which was Catania to Madrid, Madrid to London Gatwick, London Gatwick to Raleigh, Raleigh to Dallas, and Dallas to Phoenix) and stared at it, and then looked up and said "I can only give you boarding passes to Madrid" and "check your bags either to Madrid or to London".

After discussing it with him, and his supervisor, they insisted that was all they could do for us, even though AA said they should be able to give us all passes and check the bags thru to PHX. We were stuck.

We told them to give us the boarding passes and to send the bags thru to LGW, we knew we had to get passes when we arrived in Madrid, and we figured the 2 hour layover in Madrid would allow for this, even tho we were sure the guy just was lazy and could have issued the BP.

Okay, so we head to gate, wait and wait, no announcement, no agent, no plane. It is near 7:00 PM, and our plane still shows "on time", we are to leave at 7:05.

I call American Airlines to explain the situation, asking what to do since there are only gov't people, no Iberian folks to assist. We are told, "Iberia is to make it right, if you miss your flight or your connection in Madrid." Suddenly, my husband yells, "we are being bussed out to a plane"....I hang up with AA and race to the gate, only to be bussed to a small CR jet, and board and wait another half hour on the tarmac.

Finally we take off at 8:08 PM. Our connecting flight leaves Madrid at 11:45 PM. It is a two hour flight to Madrid..... TBC

[bigeyes1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bigeyes1]

A belated Welcome Back to You!!

Wow!! My DH has been wanting to go to Italy for the longest time, but now....After reading your "adventure" and experiences, I may have to tell him he can forget about ever going to Italy. Whew!

Can't wait to hear more.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

I am looking forward to the continuation of your story of your trip, Katiemack.

You started out with a few bad hurdles but I hope the trip was worth it at the end. I assume that you lost your camera equipment too. What a pity.

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

A belated Welcome Back to You!!

Wow!! My DH has been wanting to go to Italy for the longest time, but now....After reading your "adventure" and experiences, I may have to tell him he can forget about ever going to Italy. Whew!

Can't wait to hear more.

Oh, no, don't let my tales of airports and lost bags discourage you from going to Italy, Trish....once the snags were ironed out, there is so much to enjoy in the country, and we only got to small parts of it, compared to what is possible! Your luggage can get lost in the USA, it is just the wearying part of dealing with airlines....please, you would miss out on an enchanting opportunity!

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

I am looking forward to the continuation of your story of your trip, Katiemack.

You started out with a few bad hurdles but I hope the trip was worth it at the end. I assume that you lost your camera equipment too. What a pity.

Well, there was a lot of stress when we realized the camera bag was gone....luckily, DH had the camera on his neck, but the camera bag had his battery charger, 2 spare batteries, a 4G High Density smart card, a 1G smart card and his camera instruction book.

We headed back to the Isle, and when we found the castle was closed, I stayed at the port to inspect any tourists who wandered by to see if they may have had the bag on their shoulder.

My DH and his cugino went to the castle and began seeking assistance from anyone they could find.

While I waited, there were some vendors nearby. A woman got onto the line to the ferry and she had a camera bag hanging on her shoulder....it looked so much like my DH's....I was embarrassed but felt I must catch her attention and ask her if that was her bag.....well, you can imagine what happened. Speaking hesitantly to her, with a broken fragmented Italian, I asked if that bag was her own....Her eyes opened wide and she stood up tall and in perfect English said "This is my camera! This is my bag." I apologized and explained the situation, and she told me, "yes, I saw that bag, it was on the ground near the cement chair in the garden....and I even looked at it twice as it does resemble my bag."

So, there was hope.

Suddenly, a young woman, carrying a small boy, briskly walked past me, and dangling from the boy's arms was the camera bag...I raced after her....and asked her if she knew where he had gotten the bag....she didn't understand me, and in fast Italian she seemed to be telling me that she was racing to the castle to bring it to her husband who worked there.

A moment later, my DH and his cousin turned the corner. They had found the custodian, who was this woman's husband, and he explained that she had the bag....as we all were talking, two other Italian women walked past us, and the woman with the boy called out to them.....it seems that they were the women who found the bag and turned it over to the custodian.

Needless to say, from that day on, my DH kept good track of all his belongings. It was a happy ending, and renewed our faith in people yet again!