"yes, this bus is going to the Malpensa airport"

The hotel where we stayed was conveniently located only a few blocks from the central Milan train station. (except for the first evening ... when it, somehow, seemed at least 15 miles away.) :)

On the morning we left, we needed to catch a bus at this train station to get to the Malpensa airport. There was one of these buses every 20 minutes.

At 6:30ish the last morning, we toted our luggage to the station, went to the proper spot, and in tourist-fashion, asked the bus driver, "Malpensa?"

"Si, si, Malpensa" Mr. bus driver replies.

Trinka, being suspicious that this seemingly-obvious question might have been misunderstood, asked again before the bus began moving, "Malpensa?"

"Si." Mr. bus driver answers.

OK.

As we leave town, we begin to see signs for the Malpensa airport. Yippeee! All along the opposite lane, traffic is thick and barely moving, but we're sailing along. Our flight doesn't leave until 10:30, so we're going to be very early ... "good little travelers."

Hmmmm ... wasn't that exit labeled "Malpensa?"

Big airport, of course. Must be more than one exit. Yes, that's it.

Hmmmm ... still clipping right along aren't we?

Now, if you're interested in taking a glance at a map of Italy, you'll see the Malpensa airport is to the northwest of Milan. Now, what you may not notice on the map, since it's small, and, well, NOT in Milan at all, is a little town called Bergamo, which ALSO has an airport.

Obviously THIS is where the bus was going. That should have been clear by the driver's response earlier.

Of course, it did take us nearly an hour to get to this (wrong) airport. You may also recall I mentioned all the traffic we passed going in the other direction?

At the Bergamo International (!) Airport, we met an amazingly efficient taxi driver, who apparently had angels paving his way. He zipped through traffic, and somehow managed to get us there, barely, in time.

We went from one security line to another security line to the line getting on the plane, and, praise the Lord, walked ONTO the plane.

At no point since the 6:30 "my we caught a nice early bus" moment did the "getting on the plane" possibility seem particularly likely.

All in all, it was a pleasant adventure (particularly since it was possible to re-arrange schedules at home, and come home a day late, if need-be) ... but it was made all the more pleasant by being able to sink down at the end of it into a seat that was heading towards HOME. :)

Next up ... the lady who was sitting next to me on the plane. Trust me, it's more intersesting than you might think. :)

Accountability stuff ... I've been walking, but not much else. I have the promise of some racquetball lessons this weekend though. :)

Reading - I've been in Joshua at night, and Psalms in the morning.