Will My Luggage Ever Arrive?

When we last tuned in, our hero was still awaiting his luggage...

Monday morning I still did not have my luggage, so rather than go visit my business partner in the jeans and tee shirt that I wore on the plane the previous day I decided to try an early morning shopping trip around the streets of Turin.

Evidently Turin is slow to get started, as nothing was open until 10:00, and even then it was only a handful of the stores.

I was able to find pants and a shirt at one store, though the pants were too long so I had to roll the cuffs up, the shirt fit fine. I found some shoes that I loved at this shoe store, and even went back on Wednesday night and grabbed a casual pair as well. Do I sound like a girl saying I loved the shoes? Then came probably my least wise purchase, but I was in a hurry, as I grabbed both a black and brown belt that were a little too expensive, but did not look so bad in Euros...

I met with Fiat that day at their factory and ate in their cantina for lunch. I then drove around with one of my contacts at Fiat while we tested the SOS features of the car. I nearly fell asleep a couple times as jet lag it seemed was catching up. Shortly after this ride I ended up back at the hotel and I took a quick nap.... still my luggage had not arrived (sigh).

My other Fiat contact, Claudio, picked me up and took me to dinner at a nice little restaurant up on the hill. During the course of the night I determined that I could understand part of the Italian language, and people could understand me better if I just tried to speak my broken Spanish. I.e. Bana for bathroom, Carne for meat, etc...

Claudio read the menu to me... and most of the items did not strike me so well. I was expecting caesar salads, and balsamic vinegar and olive oil for my bread. I found out the balsamic is something only used very specially for salads...

Dinner was good, and the wine was good too. Claudio dropped me off shortly after midnight. Though I was tired, I figured I needed to try and see a bit of Turin's nightlife, so I walked to a nearby pub for a beer. The pub was pretty dead... so I sat and text messaged my beautiful wife back home as I drank my beer.

I returned to the hotel, with the idea that since Fiat did not want me until 2 the next afternoon, that I would sleep in a bit, and then do a little shopping so that I did not have to wear the same outfit two days in a row.... where is my luggage?

5:00 am I wake up with a splitting headache over my eye... as I try and sleep through it I start to think that this would be a crappy time to get an aneurism... finally after tossing and turning I call down for some aspirin. They brought me some promptly, and was kind of put off that it came like alka seltzer... I drank it down quickly, waiting for this incessant pain to go away. I tried to go back to bed, but continued to toss and turn and then... my stomach had other plans. net net, I ended up not falling asleep until around 7:30 in the morning.

I wake up, and lay there for a few minutes, so thankful the pain, and my worries of aneurism are gone. I look at my phone to see what time it is... 1:00 PM!!! Wow, I jump out of bed, shower and get dressed, and then run downstairs to the lobby.

"Has my luggage arrived?" I asked again hopefully. "No, Sorry" was the all too familiar reply.

So I set out to do some quick shopping in the hopes of doubling my current wardrobe. Evidently, in Turin, shops close from 1:00 - 3:00 for lunch, or at least on Wednesdays they do. After walking around for 20 minutes, I realize that I am kind of out of luck in that department, so I settle down for a quick bite, adn then head back off to Fiat.

I arrive back at the hotel from Fiat, and once again ask begrudgingly... "Any chance you have my luggage?" "Yes, it is in your room" came the reply to my joy!!! I ran upstairs like a kid at Christmas, and yes, there it was!! I chose not to rummage through too much since I would be leaving very early the next morning for Naples.

Claudio and his wife picked me up for dinner again that night, and then drove me around Turin for a late nigh tour of some of the places. The architecture is magnificent, I only wish I could stay and enjoy some of it, and of course wish Kim were with me to enjoy it too.

Now it is nearly 5:00 am on Thursday morning, and I could not sleep... must be too used to not sleeping with the babies, so I am checking my e-mail and updating my blog.

Next stop Naples...