Long first day

The journey began in Brisbane on 30 June. Jane, Lea, Joel & Sam were there to see us off, along with Russell & Carol, and Vince & Dulcie.

Emirates flight EK433 departed at 8:05 pm and, around 7.5 hours later put down for an hour in Singapore before heading off for another 7.5 hour flight to Dubai. We arrived there at 5:57 am when the temperature was already 30 C. Around 2 hours later we were back on a plane and headed for Rome where, after another 6 hour flight, we arrived at 12:15 pm local time, a little more than 24 hours after leaving Brisbane.

Our plan had been to collect our rental car and be out of Rome on our way to Bologna within the hour. Instead we waited about 2 hours in the line at Europcar. We had intended to call Jane using my telecard shortly after arrival but had rushed to collect the car, thinking we could call once we had it. When it was obvious that we would not be out and about quickly, Emily used my mobile to send a text message to let Jane know we had arrived safely. We eventually managed to get on the road at about 3:00 pm. A little more than the estimated 4 hours found us checking in at the Holiday Inn Bologna Fiera.

We slipped across the road for a quick dinner at Mangia Pizza – pizza margherita (and birra alla spina for me). Majella and Emily couldn’t resist the chance to visit the Chiccolandia shop but couldn’t find anything among the baby gear that was both interesting enough and easily packed for the return trip. We left the store as it was closing at 9:00 pm and went back to the hotel to sleep.