Okay, so Italy is like a picture postcard of what you would THINK Italy would look like. Getting my glider, car, phone and money was an adventure, but accomplishing all of that was akin to jumping out of an airplane for me. It made me feel INVINCIBLE!!!! And driving through Rome at rush hour cemented the experience. I did have the aid of part of the Rome police force (head of the sniper team!) to secure my glider and put me on an express train to the Vatican to get the car. Once I hit the countryside, it got a little less chaotic, but driving and navigating while nursing my aching back and fighting to stay awake kept it interesting. I found the town of Torgiano and my friend's wife greeted me with my money and a cell phone. She also led me to the road to Sigillo, and seeing how tired I was at 9pm, she continued driving right into town so I could follow. The road was liek Jacob's ladder and the full moon lit the way. Very cool. Very nice of Vittoria to take the drive for me. Lisa called as she boarded a plane in Utah to say she would be in Rome at 8:30 am, just as I headed to Sigillo behind Vittoria. So turning back in the early hours was way too much for me to think about just then; I checked into the hotel and passed out at midnight, only to awaken at 2am stressed out about how to get Lisa from Rome to Sigillo. Flavio (meet organiser) had no suggestions, but Nicole saved the day and took my car and headed to Rome at around 11am Saturady to get Lisa. I hooked up with Brian Porter and Manfred Ruhmer and after much dicking around at lunch eating, we headed up the mountain. By the time we made the last switchback in the road to launch, I was laughing like a maniac at the fact that I HAD ARRIVED!!!! My glider was in perfect condition thanks to my Nene Rotor travel bag, and Davide helped me assemble the glider from it's short-packed condition when I expressed frustration at completing the task. It took a long time and conditions OD'd in the meantime. But I got a good launch and scratched around and even had a low save that took me above launch so it wasn't a wasted flight. I also has a great landing but notived afterwards that I had VG more than half on... hmmm. So I am all registered and all my things are centrally located now- car, glider, phone, driver... so I am ready to fly again. Too bad it looks like a lot of wind today but we will go up anyhow.
More later. Hopefully with pictures.
Dana I will try to call you tonight. Go see your siblings this week....