Flying Home (to Rome)

They had these types of things at the Calgary airport - at almost every gate!

So I know I haven’t written much about our flight TO Canada, but the flight back is more fresh on my mind, so I’ll work backwards!

Anyways, the flight from Vancouver ended up working out all right. I looked online and saw that my westjet flight allowed me 2 checked bags of 50 lbs each, but my KLM flights only allowed 1 bag of 50 lbs. I thought that I would be collecting my bags in Calgary and then checking them in with KLM, so I packed one suitcase. But I didn’t have a scale, so I brought a spare duffle bag just in case. Turned out to be a good idea, because my suitcase was 65 pounds! But then I realized if I put some stuff into the duffle, I would either NOT be able to bring it on the KLM flight at all (knowing my luck with them) or else I would have to pay. Anwyays, I asked the lady in Vancouver if my bags went straight to Rome or not, she checked and said yes! Goodie – so I could bring both bags, and I didn’t have to collect them in Calgary!

Finn slept almost the whole Van to Calgary flight – just over an hour. When we got to Calgary I had to check in with KLM, but their desk wasn’t open yet – they have a GREAT play area for kids, near the check in desks. So Finn played there for a while, and they have free wireless internet, so I went online while he played. Then they opened their desk and I checked in. Then by the time we got through that, and through the security, we grabbed some food and then didn’t have to wait very long to board. There was a nice lady sitting next to us that didn’t seem to mind Finn too much. I had asked for a basinet for the flight, but they didn’t believe me when I said Finn was 22 lbs (the limit for the basinet – and yes, he is bigger than that!) so they laid a whole bunch of blankets on the ground for a bed. He didn’t sleep much, but he did sleep down there a bit, so I got to rest…and he could also sit and play there, or sit there while I ate. It made that fight soo much more bare-able than the flight TO Canada.

There was a nice lady sitting next to us, that didn’t seem to mind Finn too much (she didn’t really play with him or anything though). But then across the aisle was a British family with a 17 month old, Marlow. They were really nice. And I think the mom took pity on me, flying alone with Finn. When it was time to eat dinner, it was quite awkward for me. Either Finn was on my lap, but he didn’t like the food, so he was just being annoying… or else I would put him on the floor at my feet and he would climb up and grab the tray and such. So she had already finished eating so she came over and distracted him.

I didn’t get too much sleep – mostly because the people behind me had their lights on, and it’s hard for me (and Finn) to sleep with a lot of light. He would sleep for a bit on the ground, but then he would roll over and be uncomfortable, so I would pick him up and he would sleep a bit on me, and then I’d put him back on the ground. I think he got at least 3 or 4 hours of sleep.

When we landed in Amsterdam, we just wandered around for a bit. I went to that same room with all the cribs, but unfortunately they were all being used. And there is a play room, but not for kids as young as Finn. Calgary had much more variety, so that kids up to age 5 had something to do! Anyways, there was a place outside of those rooms that had little tables and rubber flooring, so that was nice. I put Finn down with some toys, and there were some other people around, a Scottish family with an 11 month old, that he played with. When an older boy, maybe 3ish, came and kept taking Finn’s toys and coughing all over them, I decided it was time to go to our gate!

Once you go through security, there is NO good place for a crawler to play. To toy things set up, all hard floor, no carpet. I was a little worried, because we still had 2 hours before we were meant to board. But by the time we got to our gate, Finn was asleep in the stroller. So I had about a half hour nap (I think that made a BIG difference to help me last the final flight). Finn started fussing in the stroller so I held him and he fell back asleep and slept the whole 2 hours.

The final flight was uneventful I guess. He had slept so he didn’t want to sleep again, but he didn’t want to sit much either! He played peek-a-boo with the guy behind us. We had three seats to ourselves, so I sat him at the window, me in the middle, and then I could use the aisle seats tray to keep my drink on!

We got to Rome, I called Conor and he was outside waiting. It took FOREVER to get our bags. At one point they had THREE carousels distributing our bags – but then nothing for awhile, and finally a carousel started up again and our bag came, and then we had to wait a bit for the stroller (every other airport gives you the stroller back at your gate!)

Anyways, Finn and I were both VERY happy to see Conor! He slept the first part of the train ride, and then played for the second part. We all had a pretty good sleep that night.