Entries about strike

A train, a plane, a limo and a ship. We must be in Italy!!! First of all the sleep was great. We had a tier or three beds. Tracy had the top, Roger the middle and I volunteered for the bottom. It was a bit hot, but with the door closed it stayed a bit cooler. As 10am rolled round and nothing looked likea a city like Rome we finally heard that we were running a couple of hours late. Rumors of strike circulated, but nothing confirmed. A quick call to Roma cabs assured us a ride when we arrived.
On the way to the airport we learn that Joyce and Doris' first flight is late and their second one has been changed. We divert for our first real Italian Pizza. Roger had a vegetable thing that looked like Swiss chard and had a bit of heat. Tracy and I had a Margarita Pizza and it was good.
On to the airport, but they take forever to show and no luggage when they do. We send them back and wait, wait, wait. Joyce returns to tell us they almost have their luggage. We sent her back. Time kept passing. You are supposed to board 1 hour prior to sailing, it takes an hour to drive to the port and it is passed three o'clock for a five o'clock sail. Out they come. We gather up the luggage and load them in the taxi for a wild ride to the port. At times she was going 140 to 150 kph. However we do arrive in one piece. We are the last on the ship and they are packing everything up, in 5 minutes they would have been closed we passed many of port staff leaving as we came up the dock. We have the passes get on board and when we board they take our photos and they crack open a bottle of champagne. It goes without saying we tipped well.
Our luggage arrives quickly and we are unpacked and settled. We pick up the seniors and head to dinner. Ahhhhhh. A little table for six and the one seat is empty. They don't tend to have the big round tables. Lots of tables for four that can be pushed together. Our waiter is Adrian, the assistant is Paolo and our sommelier is Carlos. I have the Spanish white fish, which is tasty. We split up after dinner and Tracy and I check out the library before we join the others at the show. The first night is always a taste of the entertainment coming up for the cruise. Then we hit the dance floor and stayed until the band called it a night. A black fellow came onto the dance floor and danced working his way closer to Tracy, however when he asked who she was traveling with and she says my parents, he quietly said, oh and fairly quickly went to find another dance partner. LOL.