First Vacation Post!!! Vancouver Airport

This is was the first leg of our adventure. We left Seattle at 4p on Monday and could not board the plan to London until 8:30p. Tristan decided that this was a great time to practice his newest skill.  

After wearing himself out, we boarded a plane to London. Overnight flight and after a little Benedryl help, Tristan did wonderfully. Mildly cranky about not walking around, but we all got some sleep. Changed airports in London and then waited around for 4 hours. Scrambled through customs & luggage in Venice to make sure that we could get our car before the rental agency closed at 11p. Gotta love Italian customer service...

My biggest stress during the trip: the Italian luggage handlers losing our stroller.  We left it in London at the gate check. Arrive in Venice, ask the luggage person when we get off the plane, she sends someone for it. Wait 10 minutes, watch all others de-board. Paolo runs for the car agency to make sure we can drive to Carsarsa. I'm left with my 30# child waiting for the stroller.... Its not coming, the luggage woman goes to find her worker.....waiting.  She comes back and says, "its not there." and then walks away.  I follow asking, "where do i go, etc" The stewardess & captains, seeing my distress and small child, ask what is missing, I tell them and the Italian woman turns to say, "you must go to the lost and found and register a complaint." I bite my lip to keep the tears in my eyes from spilling over... hello jet lag and stress.

So, I carry my exhausted 30# child through the airport with diaper bag etc in tow. I get to customs to watch the agents closing all windows.  They unlock the stamps, say Ciao! and at my "Hello" in english, stamp the books without any questions. (must have looked frazzled.) I make it to the baggage claim and find the lost and found window. I watch the woman in the window being yelled at by a man who speaks neither Italian nor English...he is working under the mistaken impression that if you just speak louder, you will somehow get through.  The woman in the window was not impressed. 

So he's done, i move to the window describe my problem and she says, "BA from London?" I affirm and she says the most beautiful thing, "its here, they found it!" Then the BA pilot and copilot show up to escort me to the oversize luggage window and track down my stroller. (Hurray for English chivalry. I must have looked really frazzled.) I then try to cram 2 suitcases and the biggest duffle bag ever filled with child crud (it takes a bunch of stuff to travel with an infant. I know now why my sister had to buy a new car...trunk space!) I bluff my way through customs, again no questions, to find Paolo & freedom waiting.

36 hours is a long time to be in transit.  More soon.