Heathrow to Milan/Linate was delayed. 3:55pm left about 5pm and arrived (after a 1 hr time change) at 8pm.
After the flight got on the wrong bus (#923 instead of 973) to the hotel, then ended up on 2 deadends trying to walk back to the airport. Had just missed the next bus when Kathi insisted we take a taxi at that point. It was getting late and she wanted to settle down before bedtime.
After arriving at our hotel, Hotel Victoria about 9:45pm, we dropped off our bags in our room and walked out in the great evening weather stopping at Pam, a local mini market for snacks and drinks, then to Pom Natura Mercato del Suffragio, which was recommended by the desk clerk, for an arrosticini griglia meal at one of the shops in the market called "Joe Cipolla" at 10:20pm.
Got back to the hotel and fortunately we both were able to get
some sleep. Chris felt he had transitioned to CET almost immediately
though it would actually take about 4 days before he stopped
randomly falling asleep. (CET-PDT = 9 hours)
I tried buying a ticket for Daniel (Cash) from Ghana to join me and Armando for the Scooter Cannonball.
Turns out this is super complicated.
I cannot buy his ticket with my credit card because you have to present the payment method to check in for the flight (!?)
Also, he needs a visa which requires an appointment at the US Embassy for an interview which is scheduled over a year in advance(!)
Unless.... unless you pay a GHC 5000 ($488) bribe / extortion fee.
We did pay that, about 6 weeks later, we have an apointment for November (5 months too late) and are still waiting to get that rescheduled. What a mess!