I made it!  Departure from Toronto to Rome and then on to Lamezia Termine. The flights were all on time and smooth but the big story here is what happened to my luggage. It was brand new, purchased just for this trip, with a hard case that basically split into 2 sections. And the 2 sections came rolling on by on the conveyer belt at the Lamezia Termine airport. The border security must not have liked the brand of tea bags I packed because they broke the lock and decided to proceed to break the zipper, too. The airport staff didn’t bother tying the pieces together so, there they were, rolling separately on the conveyer belt. Luckily, I packed well and put my clothes in zippered bags or all my clothes, including my lingerie, would have been on display. I decided to just laugh it off, because I am on vacation after all, but seeing the horror on people’s faces as the luggage rolled by them was something I won’t soon forget!

The taxi driver was waiting for me, as arranged, and got me to my rental in the seaside town of Soverato in 50 minutes. This is where I will be based for the first 3 weeks of my trip. And there I was greeted by my cousin and his wife, for which I was very grateful because someone had to help me bring the broken luggage to my room. Luckily, I chose to rent an apartment in a building with an elevator, a rare thing in this part of Italy! Happily, the apartment lives up to the photos on the internet and is amazing. Also, it’s owned by a fellow Canadian! What are the odds? It’s perfectly located in the city centre, close to shops, grocery store and the beach. It’s modern, clean and the host was so welcoming (Casa Ludo – https://www.casaludo.it). It was late, already 8:30 p.m. and my cousin wanted to treat me to dinner. I had the fried seafood, but sorry, I was too tired to take a photo. Next time. We finished at 10 p.m. – I am going to have to get used to eating late because that’s how it’s done here in Italy – and then back to the apartment to unpack and then finally sleep.

I’d say it was a good start to my trip, not withstanding the luggage fiasco!