Why I love Swiss Air and Italian Immigration
On Friday night I rode on school transportation to the
airport with 3 other teachers and once at the airport I ran into several other
ASB people – it was a mass exodus from India J I was on the same flight to Zurich as one of
my 6th graders and her family.
I sat with them while waiting for the flight and had the seat behind
them on the plane. The mom told me how
much her daughter has improved mathematically and attitude wise in my class and
that she has heard other parents sing my praises too J good way to start the break.
The 9.5 hour flight was uneventful. Everyone on the plane slept. I watched 3 movies and took a couple 10
minutes naps – I wish I could sleep on planes!!!! I like that Swiss Air gave us a chocolate bar
after breakfast at 5am J
and they gave everyone a hot towel to wipe our faces and hands– even me in row
43 of coach!!
I had a very tight connection in Zurich and was irritated
with security. I haven’t been anywhere
but the plane since my last security screening!! They didn’t check my passport
or boarding pass while I went through security which was weird, but they
checked it later and asked why I was going to Rome – I said cruise and they let
me go.
I had a quick flight – a little over an hour to Rome. For those of you who don’t fly
internationally let me explain how it normally goes. As you get ready to land the flight crew
gives you a piece of paper to fill out – where are you from, where are you
going, why, how long, address and phone of where you are staying, how much
money you have etc. When you land you go
through customs, then immigration where they go over your piece of paper and
depending where you are – ask you a few questions or grill you a lot. Then they stamp your passport and sometimes
you have to pay for a visa then you are on your way. The immigration line can be an hour or two so
I was a little worried about time.
That is how it normally goes. This is how it went in Italy. They did not give us a piece of paper on the
flight. I walked through the door that
said – customs nothing to declare. No
one stopped me or asked me questions.
Then I was outside where the Norwegian Cruise Line people were there
with the shuttle bus. I was worried I
missed something. I told the lady I had
not gone through immigration. She said
there was no immigration. I was really
confused. There was absolutely no record
of me being in Italy with the exception of the plane manifest!! She asked where I came from and when I said
Zurich she said that is why no one checked me.
I looked at my passport and realized that Zurich stamped it. So weird.
I don’t’ have an Italian stamp, but I do have a Switzerland stamp and I
never left the airport! Getting into
Italy was a snap! It takes me far longer to get into the US where I am a
citizen and far longer to get into India where I have a residency card!!
The bus ride was over an hour to the port at
Civitavecchia. I was the only native
English speaker amid about 120 people on two busses. I don’t speak French or German so my only
hope was to make friends with the Spanish and Italian speakers. I was hoping there would be more English
speakers on the ship. An old man from
Luxemburg with limited English skills sat next to me on the bus – he was travelling
with his girl friend (cute!) and her grandson.
The ride was nice – the roads were smooth and not crowded and I didn’t
hear a single car honk! I got on the ship and took a nap.
Travelling by yourself takes some balls sometimes J You get very weird reactions sometimes. Service people are always looking for “the
rest of your party”. I went to dinner in
the main dining room and the man asked if I wanted to be alone or sit with
others. I asked to sit with others. On other cruises people sit at these huge
tables with 8-10 people and you can get to know others. NCL is
a little different and seemed to just sit groups of people with
themselves. He asked if I would be
comfortable sitting with a gentleman who was dining alone – I said sure. His name was Rej – British with two daughters
in their mid 30s. It was his first
cruise and we had a great dinner and conversation J I went to bed early to try to fight jet lag.
Sunday morning (dec 23rd) I had breakfast at the
buffet then walked on the deck for an hour. At the end of the ship there was a railing
where I could do 45 degree pushups – I did 50!
And I also did 100 walking lunges.
Not my normal workout but trying to keep some strength so I don’t have
to start over with Nilendra when I get back. We went passed Cicily – it was beautiful. I talked to one of the service people from
Delhi and we talked India for awhile. He
said he had many friends on the ship from Bombay. I am making it my duty to look at the tag of
anyone who helps me to see if they are from IndiaJ The ship has Christmas trees and gingerbread
houses up and Christmas music playing so it is a little festive. And the crew members sing out random lines
from songs J After my walk I laid in a lounge chair and
read a book. It was about 50 degrees F
and lovely. At lunch there was a couple
sitting at a table near me and another couple and their son sitting at the next
table. And I heard the first couple ask
the second couple where they were from etc and both couples are international
teachers!!! One in Belgium and one in
Italy. Both work for the DOD – one at a
US naval base and one at a NATO base. So
I told them I was an international teacher too and we all had a lovely
conversation at lunch.
After lunch I took a four hour nap!! Don’t know why I am so tired! Tomorrow is another day at sea. I’m getting a little woozy. I do ok when the ship is close to land – this
morning was fine, but the farther we get into open water the woozier I
get. It isn’t that bad – I think most
people don’t feel it. I am very
sensitive. Thankfully my room is on the
5th floor in the middle so although I can feel movement it isn’t too
bad. The buffet, the workout room, the
library are all on the 12th floor and I can’t stay up there too long
L The deck I walked on this morning is on the 7th
floor and was fine today because we were close to land. Hopefully I can walk tomorrow. Tomorrow is Christmas eve. I plan to go to a trivia thing and Caroling
activity. At 11:30 tomorrow there is a
church service so I will nap tomorrow and stay up for it J We also have Israeli immigration processing
even though we don’t get there for 4 days!!
They are the opposite of Italian immigration! We were supposed to go to two different ports
in Israel, but due to unrest, we are going to one of them for two days.
I’m enjoying my quiet time – reading, watching tv I downloaded
onto my computer, walking, and napping.
I kind of like that we have two days at seas before I have to get up
early and go sightseeing at places.
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