Carryon

Well, the trip has actually begun. It's difficult to believe, after all the anticipation, that the whole thing is real.

I had been determined for months that I would only have one carryon. This involved a lot of plotting and planning. And here is how it evolved:

Here's the carryon, just as anticipated. But, oh wait... there is not an inch of room available in which to tuck even one bottle of Tuscan wine. Well, we can't have that. Maybe I'll just add one duffel bag with the capacity to hold four bottles (in styrofoam and cardboard, perfect for checked baggage).

And then the Crazy Voice piped up: "Well, you know, the box which would hold 6 bottles is only about 15 lbs. fully loaded... how can you pass up this opportunity to bring back Vino Nobile from Montepulciano"?? And that, my dear friends, is how I ended up carrying this:

So much for travelling light.

My friend Aliki drove me to the Airbus stop in Santa Barbara. I wish that I had a picture to share, because she was so happy and excited... and also had made the most delicous heart-shaped raw muffins (with oats, coconut, blueberries and coconut nector mainly) for me to take along! It was a wonderful beginning to the trip.

The bus actually got us to LAX in record time, a whole half hour early. The check-in counter was dark and unmanned, and so I worked on switching over to the "GMS" phone and deactivating my iPhone. (It was a process not unlike choking your beloved pet). Anyway, that kept me occupied for the hour or so that it took for the counter people to show up. And after the luggage was off-loaded (a relief), I went up to the something Grill to sit at a table overlooking the massive check-in operation to have a bottle of sparkling water and a salad.

That's blackened salmon on a bed of Ceasar salad, for the curious. And it would have been a delight at one third the price

I had a fine time people-watching.

The Security Gauntlet was not as bad as I had imagined, though it did include a pat-down because I was wearing a skirt, and who knows what evils could be hiding beneath it. Hopefully they weren't too chagrined to discover that it was largely cellulite.

And then I hiked to the gate for some more waiting, and spent the time continuing my attempt to tame the new phone.

Here's the plane that will be "home" for the next 12 hours or so.

We actually took off right on the dot of 7:30pm. This type of efficiency is seldom seen in the States, but is apparently common for the Swiss.

Since takeoff, I've had a little bag of pretzels, a small bottle of pretty terrible white wine, two bottles of water and vegetarian tortellini for dinner (with salad, a roll, cheese, and a brownie too sweet to eat, believe it or not).

And now I am ready for the long night of sleep (I hope), with visions of what's to come in Venice!