I figure this is as good a time as any to start sharing Larry’s Adventura d’Italia. I am currently very high off the ground on a Virgin America flight to Newark, NJ. It is Wednesday, September 6th, around 4:30AM on Kauai, but it has mysteriously become 7:30AM on the plane and no time has passed. If all goes well, I will get to Newark at 9:00AM, Kauai time, but it will be 3:00PM in NJ. Several hours later, I will fly to Frankfurt, Germany and arrive there 7:30PM, Kauai time, but it will be the next day, September 7th, 7:30AM in Germany. Time stops dancing all around me at that point and the clock confusion will end, putting Kauai 12 hours behind, in a day for night swap. I finally dared to calculate the travel time and it is something like 30 hours.
If you think the above time tale is confusing to you, try explaining this to my body. I have ordered some breakfast, but my body is convinced it is still last night and I have just been up much later than usual and forgot to have dinner
I just realized that I am actually writing to you at the very beginning of my travels, with several more flights to ahead of me. The next travel hurdle will have me looking around for my Lufthansa flight once I get to Newark. I think I will try and sleep on that long leg over the Atlantic Ocean, so this is an opportune time for a quick hello. Once I surface in Frankfurt, I have a handful of hours before the flight to Florence, Italy, followed by a bus ride to Lucca, my home for around five days.
At the moment, I am limbo living, with beautiful memories of the Labor Day weekend on Kauai. I made a point of filling myself with island before I left. I deeply inhaled her face whenever I looked in her direction. My motorcycle rides were even more special than usual. The scent of her breath was stronger than ever. Knowing that she patiently waits for me to return is incredibly comforting, especially having no idea what awaits me on the other side.
I hope I haven’t made too big a deal about my writing on the trip. I am definitely a little nervous about doing this experience justice with my words. I decided that I am not going to bore you or myself with a Wikipedia induced retelling of the history of the sights I see and the places I visit. These stories have been told and retold by people far more knowledgeable than myself. Don’t expect fabulous photographs either, because that is not a talent of mine.
OK, so we have eliminated the historical insights and spectacular visuals, which leaves us with yours truly and his stories. Honestly, while still being held prisoner in 18C, I hope I get to share some of my experiences and my feelings about them, because that’s all I got.
While most of you have been living with Google Maps and other incredible apps, designed to make travel easier, it is all new to me. What many of you take for granted, seems like a miracle. The fact that I can tap my little iPhone screen and pinpoint myself anywhere in the world is absolutely mind blowing. This phone will show and tell me where I want to go. I still confess to having a bit of a wait and see attitude about it. When I took my motorcycle adventure on the mainland a few years ago, I had handwritten directions, even though the phone would have done the work. I often ended up riding miles in the wrong direction with my archaic system. I have been terribly slow to embrace technology, but I’m trying. In addition, to removing some of the uncertainty about travel, I also have the ability to speak in English, have it translated and spoken in Italian and the response is translated and spoken back in English. Are you kidding me?
At this moment, this trip exists between my ears, waiting to be liberated when I arrive at the Florence airport and look for a bus to take me to Lucca. I will embrace the ATM machine for the first time and begin using the euro as currency. I will become the tourist. Once in Lucca, I will attempt to use my phone, which is supposed to work. I will call the Italian speaking owner of the little home I am staying in at Pisana 51. She has promised to meet me at the bus station and walk me back to where I am staying for the next 5 days, but that is several plane rides and one more day from now.
If I am lucky, I will get online at Newark, while I wait for the flight to Frankfurt and send this out to you. I’ve got four hours in Frankfurt and maybe time for another one of these, but I might give you a break and wait until I get to Lucca.
Thanks for keeping me company on this flight.