Chapter 1: Leaving, on a Jet Plane
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The ride to John F. Kennedy International AirPort only took two hours by train, to the Howard Beach/JFK Airport train station on the A Train. But it begins with a midnight walk to the local train station where she would switch to a late A-Train downtown. She thinks on what to do once she gets to Italy, though the eight-hour plane ride would give the rest and sleep she needs.
From the train to a free transfer on an airport bound bus, Tammy makes her way to the Air Italia Terminal. There was an airport monorail but at double the subway price, she decides to save money on the expense of time instead. She still has time to board her 3:40AM Flight.
Once at the terminal, she stops by a kiosk to verify her flight and print out her tickets. She also goes to a currency exchange center to convert her cash to Italian Euros. Her next stop would be the ticket counter where she turns in her ticket and has her passport checked. The counter person requested for her to put her bag on the scale for weigh-in.
She takes back her bag to carry on the plane and waits at the lobby area by the gate. Another half hour before the boarding gate is open and an hour before take off; she waits patiently, thinking how things could have been better if she did not pawn her Sony Play Station Portable or iPod Touch. But instead she has to deal with planning what she was going to do in a country far away past the other side of the Atlantic Ocean and in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.
The lobby's loud speakers lets but a loud message, "Air Italia Flight 477 is boarding on Gate 14-L! Line up at Gate 14-L for Air Italia Flight 477! And have your boarding passes ready!"
Tammy manages to get on the line before it gets filled with some 200 passengers boarding the early morning flight. She gets on the rear of the plane, a 747-L series, used for long distance and high passenger count. In less than a few minutes she manages to get her bag in the overhead compartment bin and into her seat as the other passengers were still boarding. She was lucky to get a window seat; she is able to look out the window to see the ground crew loading the aircraft cargo and connecting a fuel hose to the wing. Other fuel hoses were connected to the other wing and center part of the aircraft but Tammy could not see them.
In half an hour the plane was being towed to the tarmac by a tow vehicle as the pilot and crew check on their flight manifest and prepares the aircraft for the long flight to Italy. Once the tow vehicle parks the plane on runway 51-L, the jet engines are turned on. A panel at the front of the cabin section is turned on saying "Please Fasten Your Safety Belt", as the pilot repeats the message over the loud speaker. The stewardesses check on the passengers and head to the rear of the plane to the stewardess' galley when all the passengers are belted in. Unseen by the passengers is the head stewardess of each section calling the pilot that everyone was belted in before the plane starts its roll down the runway. Once it picks up over a hundred miles per hour, the front of the plane lifts up off the ground first before the rest of the planes wheels do. Without friction of the tarmac below, the 747 starts to increase its speed, allowing its wings to gain more lift and increase its altitude from the ground.
Soon it clears the runway and makes its way across Jamaica Bay and towards the waters of the Atlantic. It will be another eight hours before it lands.