My 11-Day Holiday

Linda Prout

Description

After planning and preparing this vacation for over a year, it was finally time to catch our first flight. My daughter, Heather, and I were leaving the United States. We planned to go where we'd never gone before. We would first fly to Rome, Italy; then to Athens, Greece; and last but not least, we'd fly to Paris, France. Join us as we venture out into the unknown and back home again.

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 30 septembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528960823
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

My 11-Day Holiday
Linda Prout
Austin Macauley Publishers
2019-09-30
My 11-Day Holiday About the Author About the Book Copyright Information © Day 1 To Italy Day 2 Italy Day 3 Italy Day 4 Italy Day 5 Greece Day 6 Greece Day 7 Greece Day 8 To France Day 9 France Day 11 Home
About the Author
The author is an American woman who grew up in the U.S.A., resides in Springfield, Missouri, and went to college at MSU. She is a mother of three children and grandmother of two. She wrote this book when she was touring in Europe with her daughter Heather Evans.
About the Book
After planning and preparing this vacation for over a year, it was finally time to catch our first flight. My daughter, Heather, and I were leaving the United States. We planned to go where we'd never gone before. We would first fly to Rome, Italy; then to Athens, Greece; and last but not least, we'd fly to Paris, France. Join us as we venture out into the unknown and back home again.
Copyright Information ©
Linda Prout (2019)
The right of Linda Prout to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528960823 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2019)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
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Canary Wharf
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Day 1

To Italy
I rolled up the last pair of pants and stuffed them in the bag. I am amazed at how much I can get into this 20" suitcase. It’s a little hard to zip, but there is nothing that I plan to remove. Heather (my daughter) bought me this bag because it is the acceptable size to carry on the plane, and she felt we could save a little bit by not paying for baggage. But what she really meant is, we can spend the money elsewhere.
Heather’s been planning this trip for over a year now. She has put a lot of work and planning into it, and now it is time to go. I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet. That we are actually going on a trip to Europe. So, “What am I feeling?” I guess the answer is, “Privileged to be a part of it.”
I hear some shuffling in the living room. I grab my suitcase and my bag. I have a purse in the bag and even smaller purse in that bag. Heather told me that thieves could take a person’s bag from their shoulder, and I needed to keep it in mind. I also have things like a toothbrush, hair products, cigarettes, etc., in the large bag. I can carry it on the plane as well.
Heather and Daniel are in the living room. Daniel is one of Heather’s kids and is driving us to the airport. He’s a tall, lanky boy who can’t seem to go anywhere without his girlfriend, who was waiting patiently in the car. I had to ask him to help me get the suitcase in the back and felt he should have done so without my asking. We drove to the airport and said our goodbyes. Heather got her paperwork out and checked us in. We were flying Delta. Our first stop would be Atlanta, Georgia. From there we would fly to Rome, Italy.
We were an hour early, so Heather went to get coffee. Heather is about 6 feet tall, with sandy blond hair, and an authoritative attitude. I’m only 5ʹ6ʺ with graying hair, but can still pull rank as, “Mom.” We drank our coffee and chit chatted until it was time to go. We then rolled our suitcases down to gate 6. We didn’t have to wait long, for it was time to board. We followed the crowd onto the plane and found our seats. Heather threw the suitcases in the cabinet up above. I had the window seat and sat down first. It would be a good three-hour flight.
We landed in Atlanta and hustled over to our next gate. This would be our flight to Rome. We still had a little over an hour to wait. I found a place to smoke, and Heather went for sandwiches. She bought me a Ruben from Arby’s, knowing how much I like them. The next thing I knew I had gas that just wouldn’t quit, and we were about to board a nine-hour flight to Rome.
We boarded, repeating the same routine as before. Again, I had the window seat. I hoped to fall asleep and wake up in Rome, but that didn’t happen. I couldn’t sleep. I watched a movie, got up a couple times and walked around. We were fed twice and a snack. After seven hours I saw land below the plane. On the monitor in front of me was a picture of a plane over the Italian boot. It was showing where we were. I brought it up on my monitor because I was sure we were getting close to landing. Wrong, it was still a good hour before we would land, and it was going to be the longest hour in history.
Heather said we were flying over the Nile River and I made the remark, “Oh Cleopatra came down the Nile to see Julius Caesar.”
“Cleopatra didn’t know Julius Caesar,” Heather mumbled.
“Yes, she did,” defending my remark. “Look it up on your phone.”
“I can’t use my phone right now.”
“Well, she did know Julius Caesar. She had a thing for Mark Anthony but she knew Julius Caesar.”
As we began to descend I saw some tall, dark green trees that were rounded at the top. They seemed so perfect that I just knew they had to be pruned, but Heather said “No, there are too many of them to be pruned.”
We landed and made our way off the plane and into the airport. My first thought was we are in Rome. Now I’m excited! We walked around the airport looking for transportation to the hotel. Our choices were; metro, bus, cab, shuttle, or limo, Heather chose the bus. We exited the airport and went outside. I stopped for a cigarette, when I saw where the buses were stopping. Heather and I started that direction when a man stopped us and offered his service to the hotel at a reasonable price. We took it. He walked us over to a Van and put our bags in the back. The man talked to the driver of the Van for a few minutes and directed Heather and I to get in. There was another couple in the Van, sitting in the back. I sat in the back with them and Heather sat in the front. As we drove out of the airport, I got a closer look at the trees I had seen earlier. They were a type of cedar tree and they had been pruned close to the top. I figured that they were probably pruned before being planted, and that’s what gave them a rounded look on top. They were all lined up in specific order enhancing the area they were in. It gave some elegance to the location.
Once we got inside Rome, our driver was showing signs of being easily irritated by other drivers.