usvi-on-line
Travel day
Travel day
From Pisa to JFK today - I will be out of touch for most of the day.
Anthony for Virgin Islands On Line
Safe travels.
Well - I don't like to complain about travel. I think most of the time it is pretty amazing that you can get in a plane and be somewhere thousands of miles away in day, and sometimes it all doesn't go to plan. But yesterday was a bit of a bummer. Seedy, dirty bus from Florence to Pisa. Then friends who were on the same flight as us had a real disaster on their hands when a 13 year old friend traveling with them was not allowed to board (huge mess that I won't detail here).
The flight was a little late leaving, but we got in early (yea!). What? No gate because we were early?? Long story short - landed at 4, didn't get the family into the rental car until 7 - (which is already 1 AM for us coming from Italy). 3 hours from landing to getting back to the terminal with a rental car. That is crazy. JFK Delta terminal 3 - a complete disaster. Traffic inside the airport from the rental car area back to the terminals, a disaster. Given wrong/misleading information from staff, a disaster. Traffic on the Belt Parkway leaving the airport, a disaster. We took the Delta flight from Pisa to JFK since it was non-stop and spent a little more for it - but it definitely wasn't worth it.
I have traveled more than usual the last couple of years, and frankly coming "home" to JFK was an awful experience. I have been in better, more modern, much cleaner, and way more efficient airports all over Europe, in Japan, and China. For an international terminal, if I was a foreigner landing at Delta's terminal 3 I would be completely in shock! Anyway - my .02 cents.
The flight was a little late leaving, but we got in early (yea!). What? No gate because we were early?? Long story short - landed at 4, didn't get the family into the rental car until 7 - (which is already 1 AM for us coming from Italy). 3 hours from landing to getting back to the terminal with a rental car. That is crazy. JFK Delta terminal 3 - a complete disaster. Traffic inside the airport from the rental car area back to the terminals, a disaster. Given wrong/misleading information from staff, a disaster. Traffic on the Belt Parkway leaving the airport, a disaster. We took the Delta flight from Pisa to JFK since it was non-stop and spent a little more for it - but it definitely wasn't worth it.
I have traveled more than usual the last couple of years, and frankly coming "home" to JFK was an awful experience. I have been in better, more modern, much cleaner, and way more efficient airports all over Europe, in Japan, and China. For an international terminal, if I was a foreigner landing at Delta's terminal 3 I would be completely in shock! Anyway - my .02 cents.
Anthony for Virgin Islands On Line
What is this word "vacation" you speak of??? 
(I did have one this year though - a week in Budapest with the whole family and my brother).
I am hoping to make it to the VI - but just not sure yet. We have a lot of stuff to wrap up here in NJ this summer...
BTW Budapest is a highly recommended place - still great bargains to be had with the US $, great, different, and international food (as well of course Hungarian food), the Opera, the spas, architecture, museums, cheap public transportation, etc. It can be a little challenge with the language as it is not based on latin or the romance languages and there are so many accents, etc. but it is worth it.
(I did have one this year though - a week in Budapest with the whole family and my brother).I am hoping to make it to the VI - but just not sure yet. We have a lot of stuff to wrap up here in NJ this summer...
BTW Budapest is a highly recommended place - still great bargains to be had with the US $, great, different, and international food (as well of course Hungarian food), the Opera, the spas, architecture, museums, cheap public transportation, etc. It can be a little challenge with the language as it is not based on latin or the romance languages and there are so many accents, etc. but it is worth it.
Anthony for Virgin Islands On Line
