Am I in Italy this morning???

SOOOOOO....I don't have a lot of time to write so I am going to write as much as I can as quick as I can.

The plane yesterday was supposed to leave around 5 from Birmingham to go to Atlanta and then we were supposed to have the longest layover ever in Atlanta to catch our 1055 plane to Paris and then switch again and go from there to Venice and arrive in Venice at around 6 or 7 pm local time. However, a monsoon in Birmingham and around the southeast backed up Atlanta more than you would believe.

We knew that our plane from Birmingham was going to be delayed about an hour and a half and we were able to check that when we were at my apartment. We got to the airport and got checked in and they even gave Kristie a pass to go back to the gate with us and wait which was good because this was just the beginning of our waiting.

They finally came on the loud speaker when we were at the gate and said instead of the 6 something departure it would be about 730 before we got on the plane but they would get us on the plane and get us out of there as quick as possible. Well the plane did not arrive to the gate until 745 and then we didn't get on the plane until close to 8. We got on the the plane and seated and around 815 the pilot got on the speaker and said that things in Atlanta were backed up bad and that we were going to take off at 9 and get there as quick as we could. Well 905 came and he got back on the loudspeaker and said, "Well obviously we are not going to leave right now. But we are going to wait for an UPDATE (not takeoff) at 920, but for now we are going to have everyone deplane."

So we got off the plane and I immediately opened my computer and opened Delta's website and AirFrance's website and the FAA and they had not updated the flight information for our flight leaving Birmingham and the flight leaving Atlanta to Paris still said On Time. I also opened up Facebook and was talking to Kristie and she was letting me know that she was constantly checking on the flights as well. We were to the point now that if the plane from Atlanta to Paris was not delayed then there was no physical way that we could get to the plane on time.

Mom and I went through the dilemma of whether we should stay in Birmingham for the night and try again in the morning because more than likely when we got to Atlanta we knew that we would have to spend the night at a hotel. We decided to just go ahead and get on the plane and just react and go with anything that happened. It was better to do everything that WE were supposed to do that way they couldn't hold US accountable for anything that had happened just in case the plane from Atlanta to Paris was also delayed.

The plane flight was quick from Birmingham to Atlanta and we tookoff around 10 pm. We landed in Atlanta around 1145 which is an hour ahead of Birmingham. I immediately got on AirFrance's website to check and see what the status of the flight was, and the flight had left at 1123. Sad, we missed it barely.

We went to the front desk immediately by the gate and they directed us to either go to AirFrance's desk in Terminal E or go to some other Delta desk somewhere else. They were not very clear. So we tried to go to Delta's desk because they would help us take care of hotel as well, but we went to two separate terminals and we could not find anything. We just decided to call it quits with the Delta and try Air France. So we took our third tram trip and headed for a 15 minute ride to the other end of this huge airport.

We found a desk and were helped and they got us booked on a flight leaving Atlanta at 1235 ET on Flight 166 to JFK New York which is a Delta flight still. Then we will leave at 635 PM ET on Delta 186 from JFK in New York to Venice. The flight will arrive in Venice around 940 AM local time on Saturday morning. At least we will not miss much time in Venice since we were going to get to Venice on Friday night.

They gave us a voucher to stay in a Ramada in for like $50. I guess they cant give us a total voucher because it is a weather related delay. And they said our bags would be fine and would be on the same plane we were in the morning. On our way out of the hotel we stopped by Wendy's which was the only place open in the airport to get some food since we both had not eaten in forever.

We headed to the shuttles and then we ended up waiting 45 minutes to no avail for a shuttle to a hotel that was 5 minutes away. It made no sense. We eventually ended up getting a ride from another hotel driver that dropped us off. We finally got checked into our room around 200 AM ET.

So here I am and its 915 in the morning and we are going to go ahead and try and make it to the airport early and maybe I can get some of my seats changed to exit row seats for my poor knees. =) And also we need to leave here quick because of the crazy shuttle drivers that love to take so much time haha. Hopefully everything will go smooth the rest of the trip, but you just have to deal with situations like these the best you can, because it's not our fault, but there's nothing really to do about it.

It is really funny how quickly people's hearts show in a situation like this. When the pilot said in Birmingham that instead of flying out at 815 that we were going to be delayed at least until 9, people flipped out. And it wasn't just comments. Some people got up out of their seats and got off the plane and were giving the flight attendant the business. It's not her fault. She's just doing her job. It's kinda interesting that now on top of being upset that your plane is delayed, you have now made yourself look foolish in front of the entire plane by complaining to the flight attendant.

But we are here in Atlanta and we are being taken care of. I am going to take the world's quickest shower now and get out of this hotel. Hopefully I will write soon. More stories to come about crazy people on Atlanta interterminal trams at 1 am.