…….it wasn’t easy getting out of “the bridge” as Jim likes to call it!   He went swimming early on Thursday morning, not in the Northhumberland Strait, but at the warmer waters of the YMCA and I decided to do laundry, run the dishwasher, have a workout on the treadmill/weights, walk O’Reilly, tidy up, etc. as I had a great deal of anxious energy(which I always have before a trip) and it was good for us to separate for a few hours.  So off we went on our merry way doing what we had to do and by the time he got home all I had left to do was have a shower, return a few emails and place a few phone calls so we could be on our way.   Guess what happened next???   The power went off which in the country means you don’t have internet, running water, telephone or flushing toilets!!!      We didn’t think the weather was that bad for the power to be off that long but just in case we used the cell phone to call NS Power who informed us there was a very large outage so not to expect the power to be on for a few hours……..and that’s all we had before we were off to the airport.   Waited a while and then thought  I should get a quick shower as Jim had his at the Y and he informed me I had a very limited amount of time before the water that was in the system would flow freely from the showerhead……..or something like that!   So I planned it perfectly with shampoo and soap in hand, towel on the rack and turned it on, lathered up my hair and ten seconds in…. nothing!!!!!   Nothing but a lathered head and body(because I was so fast) and not a drip from the tap!   So I screamed at Jim who came running thinking there was a catastrophe but all he found was this lathered beauty, or so I claimed, and I quickly told him to go into the basement to find containers of water we were saving for an emergency in case the power was off and we had to flush the toilets……..it was at least two years old. So up he comes with the very stale, and might I add cold, water to throw over me so I could get the suds out enough so I could dry off……by now you realize it was not a pretty picture!   However it worked…….in so much that I could dry off with a towel and let the hair dry and finish the packing so we could get to the airport with Roz who so kindly offered to take us.    We were glad to leave the Bridge behind and I figured I would have to wait to arrive in Italy for a proper rinse, and so we did.  Flight was on time, met Marilyn in Montreal and onto Rome hoping to get a few hours sleep on the eight hour flight but temporarily forgot how this cannot be a planned event.  All going smoothly until a lovely family with three little kids sat just to the left of us and one seat ahead.  Once the plane departed the youngest child, about three years old, started to cry and everyone else just looked at each other hoping that it would be a very brief episode…….not the case!   It continued on and off for hours while most of us were dozing in and out and at one point I was obviously asleep as I had a nightmare I was the only adult on the plane with all these screaming children…….when I woke up it was dead silent for a few minutes before it started again……..poor little thing was having major challenges and I kept assuming it must be her ears so I felt bad for her.   The last 45 minutes before we landed in Rome, however, were unbearable as she was screaming and I thought someone was going to muzzle the poor little bugger…….but I managed to contain myself!   Once we landed it was all over and her parents were avoiding eye contact with everyone, but the truth is everyone with grey hair understood as many of us had all been there……..Andrea is too young to remember how she challenged us on our similar trip to France when she was 18 months.   We, however, never forgot and I suspect Kathleen might even still remember!   We happily, but wearily, deplaned in Rome and off we went to get the car and head out of the city………and hoping Jim got enough shut eye to navigate his way to……..well we’re not sure where!   Stay tuned as I need a night, or two, to catch up on my sleep so my fingers can do the necessary work.