Return to Chicago (via Munich)

On Sunday, January 4, we had an 8:30 departure from Capodichino Airport to Munich, with a connecting flight to Frankfurt, where we would return to Chicago. Bless him, Mr. Benvenuto was waiting outside at 6:00 am (with a smile) to carry us to the airport.

Early morning is NOT the best of times to sit around an airport. But finally it was time to board the plane. With little fanfare, our full Lufthansa flight took off and winged us over the Alps into Munich—and a big snowstorm.

Much to our dismay, after two hours of delay in Munich, we discovered our flight to Frankfurt had been cancelled due to snow. At least Lufthansa was able to arrange with American Airlines to transfer our tickets to a Lufthansa Munich-to-Chicago flight for Monday. Too bad they wouldn't put us up in a hotel, but they claimed the cancelleation wasn't the airline's fault!

So, we found our way to the very nice, modern airport's hotel-booking booth, where we immediately connected with a very pleasant woman from Hotel Regent.

Her shuttle service quickly carried us to a modern, colorful hotel in the Munich suburb of Hallbergmoos. Given that we were both fighting colds, Tom and I were relieved to get a comfortable, warm room with a hotel restaurant in an adjacent building.

While killing time, I decided to take a walk around this little burg. There wasn't a whole lot to see, but it definitely made me realize I still wasn't in Italy! The Bavarian flavor was about as far removed from the mezzo giorno as you could possibly get!

The buildings dispelled any sense of still being in Campania. Even the Christmas decorations had a distinctively different feel!

For dinner, we walked across the yard to the hotel's local restaurant, where we had soup and pasta. Of course, this was German soup and German pasta! Tom had a very brothy soup; mine tested like thick gravy! The pasta was served with schnitzel, not Reggio parmesan! But it was delicious and filling, and the beer soothed my scratchy throat.

In the morning, our shuttle was ready at 8:00 to take us back to the airport for the long flight back to Chicago, and the frigid cold and snow of Greenwood Avenue (right).

Overall, it was a breath-taking trip. As most fun trips do, it went by much too fast, and I cannot wait for an opportunity to go back again. Next time, we must stay longer. We've already discussed renting a car and getting into those mountains that encircle the city and then into places south. And, definitely, next time, we'll spend MORE time in Naples itself.

Ciao!

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