DAY 1/2: Travel

30 June & 1 July

On 30 June 2022, we began a trip to Europe that the Covid pandemic had delayed since 2020. The primary feature of the trip was a Disney cruise that would start in Rome, go to Greece, then return to Italy, followed by France, and end in Spain. It was, by almost any definition, a trip of a lifetime.

Image credit: Paul Kiser — **Leaving Reno**

Technically, the trip began on the last day in June; however, the first day was all travel. We left Reno, Nevada, and flew to Denver, Colorado to catch a connecting flight to Frankfurt, Germany. After arriving in Frankfurt on the morning of 1 July, we would take one last flight to Rome, Italy. At the time, flights had been expected to have issues due to staffing problems, overbooking, and a flood of holiday travelers. We were fortunate to have no travel or baggage issues. Unfortunately, others on the cruise were not as lucky with several people dealing with canceled flights and lost baggage.

Fortunately, most of the Covid restrictions had been rescinded, but there was one restriction that loomed over the trip. If any person tested positive for Covid on the day we departed on the voyage, their entire party would not be allowed to board the ship.

None of our party had experienced Covid and we were all fully vaccinated and boosted. We also masked in public and took appropriate precautions in a world that seemed dominated by careless people. That offered no guarantees but it was the best hope we had of boarding the ship.

Our flights were relatively uneventful with a few delays and no lost baggage. We arrived in Rome in the early afternoon and checked into the Hotel Lancelot, a few blocks from the Coliseum.