11:30 a.m. Here we sit in Fiumicino @ the gate next to the one we are scheduled to leave from; our gate has a lousy view but here we can see the long row of planes on this side of the terminal plus planes taking off beyond -- about 50-75 yards away. I'm between small jets of Middle East Airlines & Turkish Airlines. our gate has a bigger Delta flight at it right now. Catching up -- the breakfast buffet this morning was stupendous: huge, lots of choices & full of interesting people, staff & guests. It was also €18. So, yeah.

(Kenya Airways small jet taxiing past right now.)

Anyway, we got up about 7:45 & showered before heading downstairs. Ate, giggled @ people's behavior; Beast was girding himself for a fight w/ Alitalia staff about the weight of our bags, etc., so he wasn't sparkling fun. Back to the room for final packing & we headed out. our lunch + bar + dinner bill for one night was €170+ (OMG). Still have not heard from Sparky, or A. in London.

(Air Uzbekistan just took off.)

The coach bus to the airport was fine and we got checked in with absolutely no problem; the desk clerk was like "it's over weight, but if you NEED it..." (shrug), so that was weird. Our big bag was way over too, but she said nothing. Security took 15 min. max. Way more organized than TSA. lol

(British Air taxiing past.)

Then we found our gate, which involved taking an airport shuttle out to a satellite place. Beast went & got us Coke Lights and here we sit. American Airlines just took off, there's a loud baby behind us, and we're a little nervous because we're a little worried about the fact that when Beast booked our seats the plane looked almost empty. Hope they don't cancel.

12:33 [p.m.] Still waiting but @ a different gate now. more people here, so less concern over cancellation. I did some shopping -- the guy @ the till looked JUST like Pete! So we're abt 30 min till boarding.

Maybe I'll just list airlines I've seen since we arrived:

Turkish Air ("Official Air Partner of Manchester United")
Middle East Air
Alitalia of course
Aeroflot!!
SAS
Kon Tiki Air
Egypt Air
Kenya Airways
British Air
Delta
American
Cathay Air

Seems like I'm missing something, but I left room. We're now watching landings instead of takeoffs. (Beast says he saw Aer Lingus & Norwegian Air too.)

1:25 [p.m.] Haven't boarded "cattle call" in awhile. But we are here.

5:40 [p.m.] Finally on the coach to Leics. It was late from Gatwick, so we are running about 1/2 hour late. Beast talked to Reg & he says the hotel is a good mile from the bus station which is NOT what it looks like on the map! So Reg's coming to get us to take us to the hotel then to the house. I can't write well on here & I don't want to get carsick, so I'll finish up the day @ bedtime. P.S. EVERYONE HERE SPEAKS ENGLISH! :)

11:07 p.m. We are in a huge room @ the Belmont in Leicester, getting ready to sleep. Beast snuck in the bar downstairs as it was closing & brought up a nightcap for each of us.

Anyway. Upon our bus's arr @ Milton Keynes, the driver was asked to stop & wait for the same route bus coming south -- they had a car key to give to our driver to bring back to Leics. for someone who had left it on his bus. Between that and roadworks, this put us an hour behind. Then, it turned out that someone had boarded our bus instead of the Heathrow-bound one, so we stopped @ the rest area outside Leics. to sort that out ... and change drivers, putting us 10 more minutes behind. But we thought the first driver was great: Jimmy Spencer on bus #YB10.

Reg & Jesse met us @ the bus & brought us to the hotel to check in. No probs -- dropped our things & headed right back down to go to Reg's house to see Jan & Marie and eat leftover lamb & veg. Delish! I was HUNGRY! Chatted for a bit, sorted out tomorrow a bit, & Reg brought us back here. I wasn't tired till I sat down here, but now I am wiped out. It is after midnight in Italy, after all! More tomorrow.