Book Crossing

I think I need to create another blog because I keep on wanting to write about non-walk related experiences... It was so easy to leave Italy despite all the warnings. I decided we would do the crazy thing and just head down to Rome the night before, check into an airport hotel (the Garden Hilton), walk over to the airport at 5 in the morning and calmly present our shabby scribbled-all-over e-tickets.

At 5.10 am , when we showed up at the ticketing desk, the KLM rep took a walk, came back a few minutes later and said 'You are on a ten o'clock flight.' It was as simple as that. A bubbly Polish waitress took it upon herself to supply the girls with chunks of white chocolate and almonds while we waited and slept in the soft leather chairs of the SKY BAR. I remind myself that it's always better to wait it out - and try to enjoy yourself - in a crisis until the way forward is clear.

Back in Amsterdam, we found a pile of books left by the previous guests who had been in town for a 'book crossing' convention. On the bottom left hand corner of the books, a sticker was pasted with a little icon of a book with legs and the words:
'I'm not lost! I am travelling. Please read & release me!'
Have you heard of 'Book Crossing?' I hadn't but I picked up 'Canal Dreams' by Iain Rankin and went online to register it at www.BookCrossing.com. Here is my first entry on their website:

I am leaning over the marble sink in the far corner of the kitchen in the tower of a medieval castle in Val d'Orcia, Italy, my iPhone clamped to my ear:
'Who is it?'
'It's S.., Josephine, are you coming back tomorrow?, Josephine, can you hear? the people who've been staying here can't get out of Schipol.'

A body-length away, six people are sitting around a table drinking Brunello di Montalcino and discussing the Pope who is on the television screen in front of them. We had been looking for news on the volcano...
'Speak up, its hard to hear,' I say to the owner of the apartment in Amsterdam.
'If you're not coming back, the other guests can stay on here. They can't fly back to London. Are you coming back?' he asked.
'No, No, We can't come back either. My plane's not listed for departure. I don't think we'll be back tomorrow.'

Two days later, we arrive back in Amsterdam to find a pile of four or five paperbacks next to the black quarto Guest Book. I think about selling them on Queen's Day next Friday but my upstairs neighbour explains that they are Book Crossing books and that I should look on the website. I pick up Iain Banks because I've been wanting to read his writing for a while (even though I doubt that I'll enjoy his work as much as Ian Rankin's...at least they both live in Scotland). Luna is excited to find an Alexander McCall Smith detective story.

In one week, the 1st of May, we leave Amsterdam to start our walk. We have some great news and I'll write about that tomorrow. In the meantime, we want to thank all those who have made donations to Our Walk For Felipe - they are rolling in and it's fantastic to support MS Research in this way.