The Thursday Ramble: Farewells and Firsts of Travel

I said farewell to a loyal and faithful travel companion in Rome. As Shakespeare wrote "parting is such bittersweet sorrow." Big Grey my 24 inch Delsey roller bag had been with me for dozens of trips. We first went to Europe in 2007, so 19 years. It was a four wheel design, the first of that style that I had owned. It was not huge, but large and oversized for a 24 inch design. If I was careful I could pack for two weeks of travel in it. Over the years I have owned larger and smaller bags, but Big Grey was a constant for many-many trips. 

When we arrived in Italy, we took a local train from the port into Rome. The train parked at the far end of the tracks at Termini, a good 20 minutes of walking, and rolling bags to the front of the station and the taxi stand. Big Grey was heavily loaded, and had my smaller carry on on top, and one the wheels overheated and the rubber on one of the wheels failed. I have had this happen before, on less well made bags that were much newer. 

Big Grey had been a faithful travel companion on many-many trips. It was one bag I knew I could grab, pack for a week or two, and go.  When the wheels go, the bag goes from being rolled, to being dragged, at least in part. We made it to the hotel, and I thought about it overnight, probably losing sleep over the thought of dragging Big Grey through train stations and airports. On the way back from lunch the next day, I wandered into one of the dozens shops along the Borgo Pio, and they had luggage for sale. Cheap luggage is always a crapshoot, but I knew it was time to part with Big Grey, so Big Yellow entered my life. I repacked, took the old bag down to the front desk, they assured me they would find a dignified way to dispose of him. The memories live on, but Big Grey is no longer a part of my life. Eternity in Rome, there are worse places to end up for my old traveling companion. 

We flew Austrian Airlines from Milan to Vienna and Vienna to Paris. I checked us in on the App for both flights. In Milan we checked in at the counter and checked bags, and the nice lady printed out boarding passes. When we were leaving Vienna, we checked bags a the kiosk, and did the bad drop electronically. There was no option to print boarding passes. We used the electronic boarding passes to enter security and to board the flight. A first for me. I have always printed boarding passes at home, or at the airport, but never traveled completely paperless.  It worked. I am no luddite, but paper never fails, I have had phones fail. Still it was a first for me, and it worked.  The Austrian Airlines flight from Vienna to Paris was operated by Air Baltic, the service was wonderful, the flight comfortable and easy, and we landed at the Terminal 1 at Charles De Gaulle. It is the one with the moving sidewalks in the glass tubes in the middle. I had been through that terminal back in 1991 on my first arrival in Paris. It is a unique architectural experience. Sweet Bear had seen photos but never experienced it.   A couple of nice firsts.