Italy- Vino, Views & Vacation Vibes: Day 1 and 2

Wednesday, August 27th, 2025

We left with good friends for a vacation in Italy! Our first flight was from Columbus to JFK International Airport. We had several hours before our overnight flight to Naples. We spent that time relaxing in the Delta One lounge. It was well worth it!

We took off from JFK a little late due to the backup of planes waiting to take off.

Thursday, August 28th, 2025

The pilots made up our lost time and we arrived in Naples a little early.

The plane was too big to pull up to a gate so we got off on the tarmac and took a bus to the terminal. We went through customs and then had quite a wait for our luggage.

A driver met us at the exit of the airport and he drove us to our hotel. He was quite the aggressive driver! We made it safely to the hotel and we checked our baggage because our rooms weren’t ready. It was only 10:00 AM.

Off exploring Sorrento we went!

Our lunch was at the Ristorante S. Antonino. We had a delicious gluten free pizza!

After our lunch we walked back to our hotel. It was around 2:00 PM and our rooms were ready. We grabbed our luggage, freshened up and went for a glass of wine!

Iconic Iceland, Greenland & Canada Day 1 & 2

Wednesday, August 14th, 2024

We left Columbus on time and flew to JFK airport in New York City. Our airline was Delta and we were bumped up to first class for this flight. The layover was about three hours in New York before we boarded our overnight flight to Iceland.

Our flight from New York to Reykjavik and the welcome sign in the Iceland airport.

Iceland is four hours ahead of EST. We landed around 9:30 AM and went through Customs. Our luggage was delayed due to a technical issue with the baggage carousel. We waited for about 45 minutes but we finally received our luggage! We have no complaints because our bags arrived!

After going through Customs we met our Viking representative. Six of us rode together to get to our hotel, the Grand Hotel Reykjavik.

We left our luggage in a secured room and went exploring. The weather was overcast and chilly. We walked into town and enjoyed all the scenery as we headed to Hallgrimskirkja, an Evangelical Lutheran church. It was dedicated to the most renowned sacred poet of Iceland, Hallgrimur Pétursson. It was the largest church in Iceland and was built between 1945 and 1986.

It also housed the largest organ in the country. An organist was playing the organ when we arrived.

Wednesday, August

We purchased tickets to take the elevator up the tower in the church to see views of the city. The tower was 73 meters or 239 1/2 feet high. Below are a few panoramic pictures from the tower.

Some pictures from our walk around the city.

We had lunch at Reykjavik Kitchen. We used the “Find Me Gluten Free” app and found this restaurant. It had great ambiance. Our soup and salad was delicious.

After walking around the city, touring the church, and having lunch, we were exhausted when we got back to the hotel. We went to our room and finally had a chance to shower and put on fresh clothes. It was amazing how much a shower can rejuvenate you when you’d been awake for 36 hours!

We had our lunch late in the afternoon so we skipped dinner and just got a snack from the hotel and we were ready for some sleep by 9:00 PM! We will be ready for more adventures tomorrow after a good night’s sleep!

The Magnificent Mekong Day 1 and Day 2

Thursday, August 24, 2023 & Friday, August 25, 2023

Our Uber driver picked us up a little before 8:00 AM (after the first driver canceled on us) to take us to the airport. It was raining heavily with thunder and lightning!

We flew from Columbus to Minneapolis, Minnesota on Delta Airlines and it was on time! We thought this was good for us because we had 10 minutes before boarding began for our second flight! But when we got off the plane we found out the gates weren’t even in the same terminal, from C 11 to F 14 and boarding had begun. We probably would have missed our flight to Seoul, S. Korea if Dave hadn’t asked a passenger cart driver to take us to our gate. It was so worth it. We tipped the driver well.

We left Minnesota and bound for Seoul at 1:00 PM on Thursday. When we landed in S. Korea it was Friday around 4:30 PM because we crossed the International Date Line. Our layover was a couple of hours and then we boarded for our third flight of the day that would take us to our final destination, Bangkok Thailand!

Going through Customs in Thailand went smoothly. Our baggage claim was at the other end of where we went through Customs! It was now after 10:00 PM. We retrieved our luggage quickly and walked 3/4 of the way down the exit before we saw our sign for our transfer! The airport was very busy and it took a while for the driver to get from the cell lot to pick us up. We waited outside the airport in the hot and humid weather.

Waiting for our driver outside the terminal.

It was about a 50 minute drive from the airport to our hotel. It was almost 1 AM by the time we checked in our room, got our luggage and got ready for bed! It was a long day and we would need to be up early for a tour of Bangkok!

Our hotel in Bangkok was gorgeous and our room was exceptional at The Peninsula Bangkok.