Well, it’s 5 months before we leave so we are posting our plans… little by little.
We will depart Healdsburg on 1 August, 2009; we will drive to SFO and spend the night at an airport hotel. Most hotels near the airport have “Park & Fly” programs that allow you to leave your car while you are away when you book a room the night of departure. The parking allowance ranges from a week to 15 days. As we would be booking two rooms I asked if they would make an exception and allow us 28 days of free parking. They agreed and we saved a substantial amount. Most charge $10. per extra day.
On 2 August we will catch the airport shuttle from the hotel to our terminal. We have a pretty busy series of flight to get to Rome. As is my M.O., I will interject information I find interesting along the way. We will fly first to Chicago O’Hare [4hrs and 4mins]. O'Hare International Airport [ORD], also known simply as O'Hare Airport or O'Hare, is located in the northwestern-most corner of Chicago, Illinois, 17 miles (27 km) northwest of the Chicago Loop. It is the largest hub of United Airlines (whose headquarters are in downtown Chicago). Prior to 2005, O'Hare was the world's busiest airport, in terms of takeoffs and landings. That year, mainly due to limits imposed by the federal government to reduce flight delays at O'Hare, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport became the busiest by that metric. O'Hare currently accounts for over a sixth of the nation's total flight cancellations. [Oh, Dear!] O'Hare International Airport is the second busiest airport in both the United States and the world, behind Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport with 76,248,911 passengers passing through the airport in 2006. O'Hare also has a strong international presence, with flights to more than 60 foreign destinations. O'Hare was ranked fourth in 2005 of the United States' international gateways, with only John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, Los Angeles International Airport and Miami International Airport, serving more foreign destinations. O’Hare International Airport was voted the "Best Airport in North America for 10 years, by readers of the U.S. Edition of Business Traveler Magazine and Global Traveler Magazine. Although O'Hare is Chicago's primary airport, Chicago Midway International Airport, the city's second airport, is about 6 miles (10 km) closer to the Loop, the main business and financial district. Chicago O'Hare International Airport's Terminal 1 serves Lufthansa (departures only), Ted, United Airlines, and United Express. Also located in this terminal is the renowned underground tunnel of lights and music, which connects Concourses B and C.
We have about a 2 hour layover and then fly to Frankfurt [8hrs. 33mins] where we will have a whopping 7.5 hours layover. Frankfurt does have very comfortable lounges with showers and even beds. We may opt to taxi into Frankfurt if there is anything worth seeing. We then fly to Zurich [1 hr.]; we have approximately 1.5 hours before departure.
Zurich Airport has free Wi-Fi in the lounge. We should have an opportunity for another blog post. Zürich Airport [ZRH] also called Kloten Airport, is located in Kloten, canton of Zürich, Switzerland. It is Switzerland's largest international flight gateway and hub to Swiss International Air Lines. Zürich International lost traffic when Swissair shut down its operations. When Lufthansa took over its successor Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS), traffic grew again. Zürich airport railway station (Zürich Flughafen) is located underneath the terminal. There are trains to many parts of Switzerland; frequent S-Bahn services, plus direct InterRegio and InterCity services to Winterthur, Berne, Basel and Lucerne (German: Luzern). By changing trains most other places in Switzerland can be reached in a few hours. Zürich Airport handled 22.1 million passengers in 2008. There are banks, which also provide bureau de change services, a post office and nine FASTpoint terminals providing telephone, fax and photocopying facilities. Wireless Internet hotspots are available at several locations throughout the terminal. Restaurants, coffee shops, snack bars and take-away facilities are available. There is an Airport Shopping Centre, one level above check-in area 3. The airport has a medical and dental centre, pharmacies, prayer rooms and nurseries. Unfortunately we will not have time to avail ourselves of much of this.
We then fly to Rome [1hr. 30mins.]. We will arrive at Fiumicino Airport in Roma at 10PM. We may have a shuttle arranged for our ride to Il Gattopardo Relais… or we will hire a taxi.
