Day 15: The Best Laid Plans ...
We began our last half day in Italy feeling a little sad. Our adventure was coming to an end. We had time for mass before breakfast heading to the airport for what we thought was a 1:30 flight. It was the Solemnity of the Assumption, so we really wanted to start the day with mass. I used the MassTimes apps to find a parish with a morning daily mass. You would think mass would be easy in a city with over 300 churches, but a lot don’t have daily masses, fewer have masses during August and even fewer have morning masses. Most of the ones I found had late afternoon/early evening masses. Romans are evening people with many restaurants not opening until 730, so morning masses, I guess does not make sense. No problem, the same oratory with the remains of St Phillip Neri still showed a morning mass at 8, so our plan was to go there.
We got up and made the walk there only to find everything closed. Ok, plan B was to find another church. After three closed churches, we realized that we were out of luck. That is ok, we could find a church in London for an evening mass. What irony to think more likely to find mass in an Anglican City than in Rome.
We walked around a little more to find a spot for breakfast and to go inside at least one more church, St Agnes, with the remains of the patroness of purity. “At least we still could keep the plan of seeing something during the afternoon in London,” we thought.
We got up and made the walk there only to find everything closed. Ok, plan B was to find another church. After three closed churches, we realized that we were out of luck. That is ok, we could find a church in London for an evening mass. What irony to think more likely to find mass in an Anglican City than in Rome.
We walked around a little more to find a spot for breakfast and to go inside at least one more church, St Agnes, with the remains of the patroness of purity. “At least we still could keep the plan of seeing something during the afternoon in London,” we thought.
We finished up reorganizing all of our bags to make it easier to find our remaining clothing for our final day and piled into the car. Maria wanted to at least try and stop at the Carmelite Press just a few blocks away, so we gave that a try. Google doesn’t list an address for the place, but Maria has a book published there that does list it. Unfortunately, there was no way in, so we piled back into the car for the final drive to the airport.
Our spirits were not high, as our plans continued to not come through, but we knew everything always happens for a reason. After leaving the car at the airport, we made the long trek to check in. With a 1:30, we were cutting it close with our 12:15 check-in, but our plan was to not dilly dally through the airport. It turns out, however, that our 1:30 flight was a 12:45 flight, and we were too late. We had to pay to change to a flight at 6:25 instead. We would be rushed to make it to mass in London and wouldn’t be able to see the last sites there we had planned. But the delays continued.
First, they announced that our flight would be delayed 50 minutes. Then an hour and a half. Then the gate changed. Then the 6:25 flight became a 8, then 8:30, then 9 pm flight. There were a lot of upset people, but there were no explanations or apologies from the airline. Even after sitting in the plane, we didn’t push off from the gate until after 10.
So, after ten hours of sitting in the airport, we were finally able to say arrivadercci Roma. We would not touchdown in London until after midnight. Even with the hour we gained with the difference in time, it was still almost 1 am when we laid down in our hotel. Our flight from London was at 1030, so that means an early rise to be in the airport at 830. Fun, fun, fun. It just goes to show again, if you want to make God laugh, just show Him your plans.
Tomorrow will be a long day, with a flight from London to Las Vegas and then another from Vegas to San Jose, before the hour and a half drive to Modesto. For us, we will feel like we are getting to San Jose at 3 am, but it will be 7 pm there. It’s going to be a long travel day. Luckily we have no other plans, so hopefully those airlines cooperate.
First, they announced that our flight would be delayed 50 minutes. Then an hour and a half. Then the gate changed. Then the 6:25 flight became a 8, then 8:30, then 9 pm flight. There were a lot of upset people, but there were no explanations or apologies from the airline. Even after sitting in the plane, we didn’t push off from the gate until after 10.
So, after ten hours of sitting in the airport, we were finally able to say arrivadercci Roma. We would not touchdown in London until after midnight. Even with the hour we gained with the difference in time, it was still almost 1 am when we laid down in our hotel. Our flight from London was at 1030, so that means an early rise to be in the airport at 830. Fun, fun, fun. It just goes to show again, if you want to make God laugh, just show Him your plans.
Tomorrow will be a long day, with a flight from London to Las Vegas and then another from Vegas to San Jose, before the hour and a half drive to Modesto. For us, we will feel like we are getting to San Jose at 3 am, but it will be 7 pm there. It’s going to be a long travel day. Luckily we have no other plans, so hopefully those airlines cooperate.