Day 16: Arrivederci Italia

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, "sad" is an adjective meaning affected with or expressive of grief or unhappiness. Yep, it was a sad day. Day 16. Our final day in Italy. Lori and I had a 12:40 p.m. flight out of Rome while Ron and April would follow suit later that night. But at least it started off in a good note. Out the door I went to a bakery where I purchased six goodies for breakfast.  

Already packed and ready to go, we said goodbyes to Ron and April and awaited Francesco's arrival down on the street. Unfortunately, it wasn't him who pulled up. Instead, it was his sister-in-law, Grazia (Grace). Still, like Francesco, she was very friendly. We chatted it up on the drive to the airport. Among other things, we talked about music - both American, which we heard a lot of during our trip, and Italian. When I was a missionary, I bought a cassette of Italian pop tunes that I listened to on and off over the years from Sanremo, an annual music festival held up north in a city by the same name. So I asked her if she had ever heard one of the songs I remembered, Lasciatemi Cantare, as I sang the chorus: Lasciatemi cantare. Con la chitarra in mano. Lasciatemi cantare. Sono un italiano. Or in other words, "Let me sing. With the guitar in hand. Let me sing. I am an Italian."

Grazia immediately said, "That's a classic," and before we knew it, we were singing it together.

The final drive out of Rome

I asked Grazia about one of my favorite Italian bands, I Pooh, if they were still around. She said Stefano D'Orazio, one of its historic members, passed away from coronavirus in 2020. (As a sidenote, I have always loved their song Bunoa Fortuna.) The bottom line is it was a most unexpected and yet way, way fun drive. Once at the airport, I emptied my wallet of my remaining euros. I was a little shy so I threw in an American 10-dollar bill and said arrivederci to my new friend, Grazia. 

The airport was a bit of a mad house. I went to the front desk and asked if we could get a wheelchair and here came that personal quality Italian service again. Once Lori had a seat, the attendant motioned us to the front of the line bypassing scores of people, she made a call and we again got an escort away from everyone else. 

The only bummer was in checking our backpacks through security, I somehow lost my sweet Sicilia-Italia hat.😢 I grabbed a flatbread sandwich and my final Fanta aranciata to pass some time. Before we knew it, we were seated on the plane to begin our 19-hour back-in-time flight.

 

As we lifted off and I stared out the window, I had a lump in my throat. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to get Lori home as quick as we could so she could get her foot attended to, but as we ascended higher and higher I felt a distinct sadness. Here I was leaving this country and people (and food) that I loved so much. And I was leaving it 16 days after never really thinking I'd get to visit it again in the first place.

The rest of the flight was, well, like any other flight. We landed in Amsterdam to switch planes. Unlike Italy, we didn't get the same hands-on attention that Lori needed. The attendant had us off to the side but never gave us the go ahead to board. As regular folks were getting on, I just said "let's go" and off we went. We definitely knew we weren't in Italy anymore when an appreciated but predictably bland boxed dinner was served.  

We watched movies and tried to sleep but basically endured the rest of our flight. One thing I had confirmed, since we flew over it, is Greenland is anything but that.

And so it was over. Not even seven hours after landing in the wee hours in Montana, I was back at work in my office. Perhaps a good way for me to sum up my feelings is to cue up Arrivederci Roma, a golden oldie from Dean Martin. I'd just change the title to Arrivederci Italia!

Arrivederci, Roma
Goodbye, goodbye to Rome

City of a million moon lit faces

City of a million warm embraces

Where I found the one of all the faces

Far from home.

Arrivederci, Roma

It's time for us to part

Save the wedding bells for my returning

Keep my lover's arms outstretched and yearning

Please be sure the flame of love keeps burning

In her heart

Arrivederci, Roma

It's time for us to part

Save the wedding bells for my returning

Keep my lover's arms outstretched and yearning

Please be sure the flame of love keeps burning

In her heart