Italy 2017

I look forward to seeing them.

 

For anyone who's ever thought about getting TSA PreCheck I highly recommend it! I registered last week and went and did the paperwork on Friday. By Monday night I had my KTN and was off to the races!

It will hopefully come in handy during my short layover in JFK since I'll have to exit and re-clear security

 

Not that it applies specifically to your travels, but my daughters school has a quarterly magazine that has an article on their Florence campus in the latest edition. Though I would post the link for any interested. Study abroad is a great thing to take advantage of if you can.

https://hunet.harding.edu/wordpress/harding/2017/02/08/florence-legacy/

 

Good read!

 

Got some travel goodies in from Amazon today, neck pillow, passport wallet, and power adapters. Was supposed to have a set of noise canceling headphones but they must have shipped separately.

Four days from departure and I'm starting to get excited!

 

Today's the day! Only one exam (and a lot of traveling) stands between me and Italy!

 

Day 1: Baton Rouge, LA to Dallas, TX

Today, after a less than stellar business law exam, it was finally time to start my trip! I could barely sleep last night due to the excitement and was able to leave Baton Rouge just after 3:00. With Mardi Gras right around the corner traffic was fairly steady but I made it down to the airport in New Orleans with almost two hours to spare. Here, you could definitely tell that it was time to party as people were arriving for this weekend’s festivities. The airport was a sea of purple, green, and gold and the bars were packed. I even saw a couple of people skateboarding through the concourse and the ramp crew had set up a makeshift basketball court on the tarmac. The gate area was the most entertaining part of the trip as the gate agent passed the time by calling passengers up to the desk only to have them start singing karaoke.

We boarded the 737-300, one of the oldest planes in the fleet and due to be retired by September, quickly and in no time were lined up on the runway. After take-off it was a slow, bumpy climb out of New Orleans and at some point the flight crew accidentally keyed the microphone which allowed the entire cabin to hear muffled cockpit conversations for 15-20 minutes. On board service was great, the only thing I have to complain about was a really rough landing, and the $15 Caesar salad at the New Orleans Airport.

Tomorrow is the trip across the pond! I’m exhausted but once again too excited to sleep!

A little basketball always helps pass the time



Double checking the safety card on this old bird



Love flying Southwest because they have my favorite coffee!



After a rough landing we made it to Dallas

 

TW turning into Tumbler but it's always nice to see something new on here. Just flew back in Monday through SW from TPA, it's always bumpy leaving Vegas, the mountains create huge drafts throughout the valley. Flew a 767-400 out to TPA, was shuffled to the last row, didn't know the seats taper smaller in the rear of the 767 compared to SW's standard 737's. I was aisle, guy in middle took up 1/4 of my seat and 1/4 of window seat too. Me being 6' 210lbs wasn't too comfy. How was the luggage transfer, SW seems to always lose my shit and or its put on another flight going to the same destination which irks me? I've had to wait for my luggage many of times because they decided to hold mine cause it didn't fit on the little bird... Also your business exam, does LSU have one of those systems that only tells you our final grade and not the test grade alone?

 

I was direct New Orleans-Dallas and didn't check a bag. Actually, now that I think of it I've never checked a bag on Southwest so I can't speak to my experience with luggage. Also, Southwest only operates 737's so I'm not sure what "little bird" you're referring to.

 

Day 2-3: Dallas TX to Florence, Italy

Day 2 started bright and early with a quick breakfast and a trip out to DFW airport. There wasn't much action at Terminal E early in the morning and security was a breeze. I got to the gate and began chatting with some of my fellow passengers and discovered that a surprising number of them were heading to Italy. I'm pretty sure Delta was running a sale because almost 40 people from my DFW-JFK flight were continuing onto Milan. Our flight from DFW-JFK took about 3h 20m which on a regional jet feels like an eternity, especially with a full plane and no room to move around. Once we arrived in JFK it was a quick taxi to the gate and my 3h 45m layover gave me the time to stretch my legs and explore the airport a little.

I decided to get some lunch in the airport and settled on a burger since I wouldn't have one in a while. I stopped at Blue Smoke on the Water next to gate B36 and was surprised at how expensive everything was. JFK made the prices at the New Orleans airport look like they were off a dollar menu! Cans of PBR were $8, Miller Lite Drafts were $10, and all other beers were $12. However, the food was good and the staff was extremely friendly. You also had a great view of the runway and since we were in the international terminal I had the opportunity to see some colorful aircraft. Around 5:30 our flight began to board and it took a while as it was a completely full flight, we managed to push back only a few minutes behind schedule and rocketed out of New York for our trip across the pond.

They started pouring drinks almost immediately and foodservice started soon after. The food was good, especially for airline food, and soon after they dimmed the lights so everyone could sleep. Since I can't sleep on planes I passed the time watching Billions on the in-flight entertainment and playing poker with other people on the plane. We landed in Milan right at 8 and it took about an hour to clear customs; 4 planes from JFK, Newark, Atlanta, and Miami had arrived minutes apart. After that it was a quick 45 minute train ride from the airport to Milano Centrale station. I ad about an hour and a half to kill before my train to Florence and spent some time walking around the station and the surrounding area. The train ride to Florence was quick and easy, and I'm pretty sure the only thing that operates on time. We spent the majority of the afternoon eating and exploring the city. After an early apertivo, I was ready for bed, having been awake for 28 hours at this point.

Flight at the gate in Dallas


Dallas Love Field from the air


Delta Economy Class meal


Milano Centrale Station


Italo train to Florence

 

I've always considered the 737 to be a smaller plane, narrow body vs wide body, that's why I called it little bird. And SouthWest hinted at expanding their fleet with a couple 767's back in 2014. I flew on Feb 17 a SouthWest run 767-400 out of LAS.

 

Day 4: Basilica di Santa Croce/Chianti Wine Tour

After going to bed early the night before we woke up early in order to explore the city. We found a local cafe right down the street on the Santa Croce Square for coffee before beginning the day's first adventure, touring the Basilica di Santa Croce. The church is home to the final resting place of many famous Italians including Galileo Galilei, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Rossini. We spent about an hour and a half inside the church viewing the monuments and wandering the garden before heading to Il Duca for lunch, a great panini place right off the square, seriously these things are the size of your head. They're also very portable and we ate them on the way to meet out tour bus near Santa Maria Novella station.

The bus met us at 1:30 as advertised and took us out into the Chianti region of Tuscany, between Florence and Siena where we made our way up into the hills to our first winery. There they had a tasting of 5-6 wines accompanied by cheeses, breads, jellies, olive oil, and balsamic vinaigrette. The vines weren't in bloom yet but the olive trees were which created some fantastic scenery. After the first winery we headed into Greve in Chianti, a local village about 15 minutes away and explored the town square. After having coffee in the square and taking a picture with the big black rooster, the symbol of the region, it was back on the bus to head to our next winery.

At the second winery we got a tour of the cellar room and their wine making process. Here we tasted 4 wines along with their house olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. The sommelier on the second tour was hilarious and telling us all stories from his recent trip to the states. The winery also had a cat that apparently had free range throughout as he walked up and down the tables while the tasting was going on. Afterwards, we got back on the bus and headed to Florence. While the wine was amazing the best part of the tour was the view out of the bus windows a=while we drove through the countryside. Every turn provided a better view than the last!

Coffee to start the day!


Galileo's Tomb


Santa Croce Chancel


Gardens



Facade of Santa Croce


First Tasting



Greve in Chianti


Tuscan Countryside


Second Winery

 

Was it a Southwest branded plane? I haven't found anything about it online

@MatthewMay1 know anything about this?

 

Fuck me, my fault. I just dug through my folder and found the seatback card, I always take it with me, someone previous left a Delta 767-400 card behind... Don't know how but whatever. Now that I remember 767 is 2x3x2 seat arrangement, this was 3x3 so it is a 737. The specific gate I was at didn't allow view of the plane so I didn't see color or size. My fault, but I swear SW has at least 2 767's running for cross country, kind of wish I did ride on one, would have helped with my seat dilemma.

 

As long as Boeing keeps building longer range 737's I can't see them flying anything else, but if they want to really compete with the big 3 they'll either need a new long range aircraft type or start code sharing with one of them.

Have you been in the Aviation thread by any chance?

 

Agreed, you said the 737's were being retired here soon, are they switching to 737 MAX's, they do look promising, especially if they swap for max 8's, I dont think the "high altitude package" is really a must for SW to get max 7's, maybe for longer flights but not justifiable. Though the passenger setup on max 7's looks more comfortable. And sorry about that before. I dont think boeing will make a new airframe anytime soon, though i've always hoped someone would work on a concord replacement.

Yes I have, Im budgeting time and money right now, dont know when but i'm going for rotor private pilot first. All these schools keep trying to pull me in telling me "9 weeks, that's it" I dont have that kind of time, its gonna be over a span of 6 months.

 

I should have been more clear, I was referring to the 737 Classic. They have the NextGen 737's already in service, 737-700's and 737-800's. They're the launch customer for the MAX 7 and MAX 8. The MAX 8 should be here this year and the MAX 7 in 2019

 

Ah ok, yea ive seen 700's and 800's in service, never road one. Didn't know that either, the MAX 8 is the great middle man so I expected them to pick it. Are they staying all 1 class or are some going 2 class?

 

I haven't heard anything about them moving to a 2 class aircraft, I guess if it's not broken don't fix it. And I fly Southwest 6-8 times a year and have yet to be on any of the newer planes. I want to see what the on-demand in flight entertainment they've introduced is like

 

Back in Louisiana after a 36 hour travel marathon!