Monday (Rome to SFO)...

A too-early wake up call got the ball rolling this morning. Shower. Breakfast. Time to fly home. The military and its marching band was reassembling on the closed road in front of the hotel...today is a national holiday...La Festa della Repubblica. Bonus...an easy 30min drive to the airport...FCO...Leonardo da Vinci International.

Quick check in through Lufthansa. Confirmed our upgrade from Frankfurt to SFO...both of us.

Time to kill.

Left Rome in the light rain. A couple of hour later, descended through scattered puffy clouds into Frankfurt...by one measure a very predictable, efficient airport...marred by inexplicable irritants.

Boarded our on-time 747 bound for San Francisco. Champagne for Jeff and red wine for me. I do love business class.

Followed a familiar route over Iceland and Greenland and down over Canada. The US leg involved wonderful views of Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Shasta. The San Francisco Bay was beautifully lit...a welcome sight.