Jen vs. the Volcano

My trip to Italy started with a bit of a hitch...my flight was canceled due to the infamous Iceland volcano, with no promise of when it would open again. It was Saturday. I had just over one week off work, and the clerk behind the check-in desk said "We don't know anything. Maybe you can fly on Tuesday or Wednesday?"

I hadn't seen Guido in three months, and had been looking forward to this day so much, that when they gave me the news, I crumpled to the ground and started crying as soon as I walked away from the desk. I was totally pathetic.

Turkish Airlines put me up in a wonderful hotel for the night, where I had a lonely poolside dinner with a bunch of other solo travelers who were looking at much longer delays than I was. I trekked out to the local computer cafe and began calling Turkish Airlines and looking at my options, banking on the hope that the "squeaky wheel gets the oil" theory. At that time, the only Europe flights going out were to Bulgaria and Greece. I found out how to take a ferry to Italy from Greece, and if a flight didn't open up for Sunday, then I was going to do it. I was desperate and up for an adventure.

Just when I was prepared to book a ferry ticket, I called Turkish Airlines again. "We have a flight to Rome tomorrow!" they said. Guido and his father helped me book a train from Rome to Milan (3 hours), just barely getting one for Sunday evening as the tickets were purchased by the second. After all the cancellations, some further travel hiccups, and seeing travelers sleeping in the Istanbul airport, I was skittish that I wouldn't actually make it. But once our flight lifted off for Rome, I was so joyful that my cheeks hurt from grinning. I was going to make it to Italy.

On the flight, I met two girls from Croatia who were trying to get home and had no idea how they'd make it. We discussed ferry options (which I'd become a recent expert at) and talked about our trips. Another guy on the train from the airport had just flown into Rome, trying to get to Austria as soon as possible. The trains to northern Europe were booked for four days out already...who knew what happened to him.

My train finally arrived in Milan at 11pm and I rushed into Guido's arms. As we held hands and dragged my luggage through the station, we saw people sleeping in alcoves on their luggage, trying to find any way possible to get home. The volcano had brought Europe to a halt. I couldn't help but feel enormously blessed. I'd somehow managed to arrive.