We had an absolutely amazing time in Italy, but it was sadly time to head home. Since we knew we would be sleeping on the plane for 9 hours, we stayed up way too late on our last night in Milan sipping cocktails and talking about our favorite parts of the trip. And then we had all sorts of packing to do. I’m not sure Nisheet even went to bed. But, I got a couple hours of shut eye before we were up bright and early to head to the airport. 

We had to take the metro to the main train station and then catch a train to the airport. It wasn’t a short trip, and the train was running late, so I was starting to get a little worried about making our flight. We made it though! 

Shortly after getting to our gate, I was one of the lucky ones to be escorted to a separate area for additional screening. They went through every single item in my bag and were scrutinizing everything. They were so thorough they even took the case off my cell phone and turned it on to make sure it was actually indeed a cell phone. And then as a “reward”, they let us board the plane first.

We got loaded onto a bus on the tarmac which was supposed to take us to the plane, and then we sat there. And sat there. And sat there some more. No one told us anything. I couldn’t get any wifi where we were at so I couldn’t message Nisheet. An hour went by and they finally told us to go back inside. We sat around some more at the gate area. Every 15 minutes, the gate agents would say “we will let you know more information in 15 minutes.” And then…after 2 hours of waiting…they announced “your flight is cancelled, please go back through immigration.” Oh boy! They had no real information and couldn’t tell us what to do. Everyone was frustrated and confused. And, in fact, there wasn’t another flight going to Miami that day! 

We stood in the immigration line for at least another 30 minutes, and then were left without direction again. We heard rumors of a bus picking us up and taking us back to Milan. Other rumors of lunch and a hotel. But where? We wandered around the airport. Eventually we found a line forming outside the airport and buses were starting to pull in. I don’t know what percentage of our plane passengers actually found the buses, but I’m glad we did! They were taking us to a hotel! And which one? We didn’t have a clue!! 

On the ride to the hotel (which took about an hour), Nisheet called the airline, and they were able to rebook us on another flight, TWO DAYS LATER! I was frustrated and annoyed. Nisheet, on the other hand, was all smiles. 

When we arrived at the hotel it was utter chaos. They put us in lines depending on how many people were in our group. I guess they did that so they could quickly see what size room we needed. But it didn’t work out so well because people got in the wrong lines and then just kept complaining. 

I have to say, the hotel they put us up in was very modern and very nice, and the staff was friendly. The only complaint I had was that it wasn’t very close to downtown. But it was free, so I really couldn’t complain that much. 

After dumping our luggage in our room, we wandered back down to the lobby in search of lunch. And what a lunch they had arranged for us! There were buffets set up everywhere. Pastas, breads, salads, fruit, desserts, meats, and drinks. And the food was surprisingly fresh and good! We ate like we hadn’t eaten in days!  

Then it was nap time. And then it was time for more food. We kind of felt like we were wasting the day at the hotel, but we were too tired to venture into Milan. Plus, I was still stressed and annoyed from the situation. So, we went back down to the lobby later in the evening for dinner.

It was basically the same as lunch, but this time we were seated with others. We were all discussing our plans for the next few days. Some people were catching earlier flights. Others were trying to figure out what to do with their extended vacations. We struck up a conversation with an older German gentleman that now lives in Bahamas and found out that he had spent quite a bit of time building condos in the beach community we live in. How cool and random is that? He was an avid traveler and after he found out that it was our honeymoon, he convinced us that we must head to Venice the next day as it’s “one of the most romantic places you’ll ever go to.” 

With that in mind, we went back up to our room and started planning the unexpected next chapter of our honeymoon. Venice!