July 3

Knowing that anything can happen to this group, we got up very early in the morning. Giancarlo had called and ordered three taxis. The taxis arrived at 6:30, and we stuffed five bike cases into three taxis, along with the human occupants. Thanks to the thieves, we did not have any luggage to check, except for a cheap cloth bag we bought from a street vendor.  We put our few belongings in it.  Street vendors on the other side of town were probably selling our luggage. After a quick and very fast ride to the airport, we went to the desk.

There we were told that the Corbetts did not have a reservation. After solving that problem, we took our bike cases and loaded them onto the conveyor belt. The man at the customs office kindly told me that I could not get the tax refund for the bicycle I had purchased, because I did not have the form. That form is probably in Albania or Moscow!

After passing easily through security, we went through the duty-free shops, prayed morning prayer on our phones, and waited for departure. Once on the plane, we sat there for two hours. The pilot cheerfully told us that there was a maintenance problem. If that problem was not fixed in 45 minutes, we would have to deplane and be assigned to different flights tomorrow.

Our flight attendant was a very nice woman from St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Fort Wayne. She easily understood our problem, and was extremely kind to us.  She also teased us and suggested that we were the reason for the delay! Because the maintenance took 10 minutes longer, we had to wait for an FAA waiver to break the law and allow us to depart from Rome.

When the plane took off, we all breathed a huge sigh of relief. The nice flight attendant provided much beer and wine, and the flight to Chicago was uneventful.

We arrived two hours late, went to Tony and Kristi's house to sort things out and get something to eat, and then drove back to Granger. TJ Ahearn was very kind to come and get us. We got home at midnight, just in time to celebrate the Fourth of July.

It will take us a long time to sort all of this out. I am extremely grateful for all of the graces of the pilgrimage, and I would do it again in a minute! This is the most amazing thing I've ever done.