Sarajevo Airport keeps its record

Maybe it's happened, but I can never remember a time when I got to the Sarajevo Airport and flew out, just like that, on schedule, without a hitch.

Wednesday 5/17 I thought this could really be the one time -- the skies were clear, I wasn't running late, all my tickets and paperwork were in order, the board at the front of the airport listed not a single flight cancellation. I had it licked.

I stepped up to the Alitalia flight desk, handed over my passport and hoisted my two heavy suitcases, all 66 kilograms of them, onto the conveyor belt. I had it licked.

"Ah, Mrs. Aramo," the clerk said, "you have to go to the Alitalia office."

I did not have it licked.

In short, I was booked on a morning flight from Sarajevo to Milan than Alitalia had decided not to operate during the summer season, this according to a poster in the Alitalia office.

To get TO this office I had to haul my suitcases, all 145 pounds of stuff, up to the second floor.

Alitalia got me onto a Croatian Air flight to Zagreb to connect to a Lufthansa flight to Frankfort to connect to another flight to Algiers. They also gave me a 5 KM voucher, enough for a cappuchino and a bottle of water in the airport bar to compensate for the inconvenience and gather strength for what was to be a very long travel day.

I hauled and pulled the suitcases back down to the check-in gates as the departure time for the Zagreb flight approached. "Will passenger Rosemary Armao please come to the Alitalia office," I heard over the loudspeaker. What fresh hell is this, I wonder as I began pulling on those damn suitcase again.

Alitalia had forgotten to give me replacement tickets for the flight back. Me and my suitcases went back down to check in for Zagreb. Again I handed over my documents and lifted the suitcases onto the conveyor.

And again, trouble.

The suitcases weighed too much. My choice was to lose 16 kilos of clothes, books and cosmetics or take the suitcases back upstairs, this time to the Croatia Air office, and pay a heavy load charge.

So we made the by-now familiar long haul again. After that I did get on the first of three planes that got me to Algeria.

I arrived after 1 a.m. I still cannot move my arms above waist level without pain!