Not The Fun Part

Packing, of course, was horrendous.  Although I did buy a few things, we were limited to 50 lbs. per suitcase with a 2 suitcase per person limit (or so I thought).  We were careful not to go over the weight limit and had borrowed a portable scale to be sure.  Some people had between 5-12 pieces of luggage so, I guess, we were pretty compact.  We were exactly the right weight and only had to leave behind a few bottles/cans.  We would be on the first bus which left at 6:45 in the morning.  And so the nightmare began when I awoke at 5:00 am. It took about 1 hour to get to the airport from the port, our flight was at 11:30.  We went through 3 checkpoints before finally reaching our gate which, by the way, was a bus ride away. When checking our luggage, we were told that we were only allowed 1 suitcase each.  What a shock!  Apparently, on international flights, they now only allow one unless you fly first class.  We had to pay $100 to take the other 2 bags.  Our flight took 10 hours but at least it was direct to Chicago.