Plan…Travel…Repeat

We decided we probably shouldn’t do Assisi on Good Friday so we headed off today. First we had a delicious breakfast in our hotel. We had been kind of snacking for breakfast at the apartment but here we had all sorts of options. Hotel Fortuna puts out a good spread. I went with the croissant with ham and cheese. Clark chose to stuff his croissant with fruit filling. They provided several options in these handy little injection bottles. I think Clark plans to find one to use at home. Faye caught a cold and shared it with Bob so they decided to stay in for the day. Since it was cold and damp it was likely the right call.

After breakfast we headed back down to the main part of Perugia on the bus. We felt very local. The bus picked up in the piazza looking over the lower town so we got some good pictures but it was windy and cold so we didn’t make it long.

The bus ride went smoothly and are train was a little delayed but not bad. It was only a few stops to Assisi so it wasn’t long until we arrived. I didn’t remember the train station being so far from the historical center but we easily caught a cab up to the church.

The church is amazing. It has a very peaceful feel to it. It is big but it somehow feels intimate. You don’t get that cavernous feel when you walk in. the ceiling is painted blue with gold stars and the walls are pretty much frescoed. Sadly they don’t allow pictures but I bought some postcards and scanned them so that I could remember how it looked.

Last time I was here there was a recording on repeat Silenco/Silence. They were more discrete this time around. The staff would just come up and hush you if you were talking too loud.

We went down to see the tomb of St Francis which was moved here from the Church of St Clair once the st Francis was completed. There was a priest at a table handing out blessing cards and it almost looked like someone waiting to read your horoscope with taro cards. I know that was completely wrong but that is where my mind went with him sitting there with various saint cards to hand out.

They currently have a museum of 12-1400 church pieces on display at the church. they had some nice things but nothing extravagant. Most was a collection from an American who liv d and dies in Assisi and donated his collection to the church.

We took a few pictures outside before starting the track up to Santa Chiara to is Americans – Saint Claire. She was a contemporary of Francis of Assisi and also devoted to poverty and started a convent for women disciples. She is often. Displayed in1300 art work right along with St Francis but as a women she has fallen out of favor.

Her church was similar to St Francis but much smaller. It had a similar blue ceiling and similar frescoes but only in the alter and precept areas. Her wax body was prominently displayed. They say that when they exhumed her after centuries the body was uncorrupted but since that time it has deteriorated and now display her in was as she looked when first exhumed. They also claim to have some of her hair which is quite blond. I am glad it is not really her body but not sure why they need to lay her out is wax.

We found a nice spot to stop for a late lunch and they graciously fed us even though we were pushing their afternoon closing time. It was really good and I really needed a break, some food and a drink. I had a lovely truffle cream sauce with sausage and it was one of the best things I have eaten in the trip.

From lunch we headed back down but made an unexpected stop at Santa Maria Maggiore. There were a several people around so we thought we would stop in. It is a rather small church and once you enter you are in the line to view one of the newest saints, Carlos Acutis. He had died in 2006 at like 15 years of leukemia. He used social media to display the e miracles of Christ to bring young people back to the church. Anyway once in line there was nothing to do but walk by his body. Not exactly what I had planned for the day and it just seemed sad. I had seen things around town with his picture and now I know why. All a little creepy for my taste but not being catholic I guess I don’t understand.

We got really lucky has we walked back down looking for a cab and caught a bus heading back to the train station. Arrived with enough time to have a beer and a cannoli before heading back in the 20 minute trip to Perugia.

Once back in Perugia we met up with Faye and Bob for some drinks then headed back to the pizza place to try it again. It was equally as good second time around

It was cold and wet so we called it a night and headed to bed.

Sadly our stay in Florence has come to an end. I am excited about moving on to Perugia but I always hate to leave Florence. It is one of my favorite places and even though I know I will be back it is hard to pack up and go.

The apartment has been amazing. it was a bit of a splurge but in my opinion well worth it. It is not everyday you have your wine sitting on a couch checking out 1637 frescos. Hopefully are other two Airbnbs will be as nice. They won’t have the frescos but hopefully the ocean view will but equally as fascinating.

But first train to Perugia where we are staying in a hotel. The train station is not horribly far from the apartment but no one other than Jeff wants to lug our suitcases through the city so we ordered cabs. The other night it took forever for us to get cabs this morning they pulled right up so we got to the train station super early and we had to stand around and wait about an hour. When they finally gave our train a platform number it seemed like everyone there was headed out in our direction. Somehow we got separated and Faye, Bob and I went one way to get out of the crowd and everyone stayed in the mix of it. We found plenty of seats in our car but I think they weee a little crammed. Wasn’t a long ride so not a big deal.

It was cold and wet when we arrived in Perugia so we caught a cab up to the hotel. Perugia is a lovely hilltop town. Which I loved on my first visit several years ago. I remembered a funicular from my last trip and either dreamed that or they have taken it out. They had something called the mini train which might be it but it seemed different.

Our rooms were all ready so we dropped off our bags and headed out for lunch, snacks or whatever you have at 3:30 when you haven’t really eaten all day. Most places were either closed for their mid afternoon break or didn’t have seats. We finally found something. It wasn’t very Italian looking but turned out they had a full bar and the food was fine. We also got to watch two old Italians play cards which was entertaining.

Having been fortified we tried to walk around but it was super cold and everyone gave up. Except me I made it a bit longer just wandering the back streets. I caught the tail end of a kids Easter performance before heading in myself.

We decided on pizza for dinner since we were all tired and it was cold and wet and the pizza place was close. Turns out it was a good choice the pizza was delicious. They had probably 30 options with all sorts of toppings. I had sausage and truffles. Margaret had pumpkin, blue cheese and ham hers was way more interesting than mine and I was a bit jealous.

It was too cold to do anything but come back to the hotel so a relatively early night in Perugia. Tomorrow we are heading off to Assisi so hopefully the sun will come out.

I had nothing planned for our last full day in Florence. There were a few things I wanted to do but no schedule. Started off wandering with Margaret, Clark, Kelle and Jeff. I wanted to hit the old pharmacy for some skin products, Kelle wanted to find particular bracelet charms and Margaret was looking for something for the grandkids. We wandered for a bit together but eventually broke off and I spent the day with Kelle and Jeff.

We went back to the sandwich place we went to on the first day but got a table inside so we had a bottle of wine. The sandwiches were just as good the second go around. From there we went back to get gelato at Vivaldi’s. Still the best I’ve eaten. We stumbled around for a while and came across and opened wine window so we got afternoon drink.

We weren’t far from our place so we thought we would go to another wine store but it turned out to be a bust. It did have the Sarti but I had found the bottle earlier and had decided it wasn’t worth the valuable space in my luggage. The wine selection was sad so Jeff didn’t take much time at all.

We headed back to a place that had spritz and bruschetta for 6€ to have a few more cocktails. They were good so we had 2 before heading back to the apartment to meet up with everyone for dinner.

We had seen a place on our rambles that wasn’t too far so we went back there. I tried a chicken dish which was good but not my favorite. I finished it off with vin santo and biscotti and discovered I don’t really like vin santo. Really don’t like biscotti crumbs in my drink glass. Kelle helped me finish it and it was back to the apartment for one last night.

We finished off a little red wine had a huge accident with the last bottle of Prosecco which we had left chilling in the freezer before we left for dinner. Never open a frozen bottle of sparkling wine. It spewed out for days and what was left was too flat to enjoy. The red wine was delicious though.

We had a great time in Florence and it will be hard to leave our fancy digs but the adventure continues and we are off to Perugia in the morning.

We headed out relatively early to catch the train to Bologna. It was only about a 45 minute train ride so we arrived before lunch. First stop was for coffee and pastries. Bob’s niece had lived in Bologna and provided several recommendations. The Impero Bar and Pasticceria was quite popular but those with drinks were able to find seats. I just had a lovely slice of sacer chocolate cake so I stood outside.

Bologna is a much bigger city than I expected. It has more of a city feel like Rome. There isn’t really a historic center or area. The sites are just intermixed with commercial space like a US downtown city.

I wanted to get some cheese to take home (vacuum sealed) so we headed out to a cheese shop. First one was small with huge wheels of parmesan but more local and no sealed cheese. Second one was more promising but all the cheese was in huge chunks. Not that I wouldn’t have loved that much cheese my suitcase space is limited. so the hunt continued.

We had a second recommendation for a meat platter at one of the oldest butchers in Bologna so we sat down for lunch. I wish I had taken a photo of the meat platter that came out. It was a lazy Susan covered in prosciutto, mortadella, salami and some kind of pork sausage we had never seen before. There was a little cheese but the main focus was meat. I also enjoyed a Lambrusco spritz which was pretty good. More like sangria but nice.

After lunch we headed to the library to see the Roman ruins in the basement. The library and the main church share the same piazza and both closed for lunch. We had a bit of time to kill before either reopened so we just hung out in the square enjoying the sun. I tried to get information or maybe a map at the tourist office but they were not helpful at all. I asked if there was a charge for the library and he was like why do you want to go there it is a modern building. Except for the Roman ruins in the basement but I guess those don’t count.

The square had a very large and unusual fountain of Neptune. Neptune was fine but the sprays of water came from all the mermaids on the next tier. It was wild to see water squirting from their boobs.

We waited for it to open with several other people but we were the only ones going to see the ruins. Turns out they were free. Just had to climb the stairs. Basically saw portions of the road, an aqueduct and several wells. Makes you wonder what was under all the other buildings in the area.

We still had a bit of time before the church reopened so we wandered the streets around the square which were full of butchers, cheese shops and small restaurants. I found a gelato and window shopped for a while. Still not picked out any cheese. The options were a bit overwhelming.

The church was really nice. Sadly the facade was never finished but that does show you how it originally looked back in the day. It was much bigger inside than I expected. The chapels were pretty ornate and there was of course a few reliquaries. It needed a bit more out in the center of the church to make it feel less cavernous but overall I really nice church.

After the church I let Margaret talk me into doing the little train around the historic sites. We had missed the hop on and off bus so the train was our option. It was slightly bigger than a kiddie train but not much. Only Margaret, Clark and I suffered through it. Everyone else went and had a drink. We however had 45 minutes of torture. We got on a row with the wheel beds and didn’t have room for our feet unless we basically hugged our knees. Surprisingly the little train went right out with traffic. Nothing like looking up to a bus when you are in a toy. We survived and we did learn a bit about Bologna so all in all not horrid but I wouldn’t do it again.

We met back up with everyone else to find a place to eat. There were several to choose from but for a table for 7 our options were a little slim. We did find a good place and I tried the bologna style lasagna. I was going to do the tortellini but didn’t really want it in the meat broth and then couldn’t decide. Margaret and Clark had the forty in the meat sauce and ate it all so it must have been good. It looked more like a soup than a pasta dish. The lasagna was good with the spinach pasta and béchamel sauce and I thoroughly enjoyed it. After dinner I finally decided on some cheese. It wasn’t the just gunk that I wanted because those were all too big but it worked. The price is so much cheaper than what we can do at home for even Kraft Parmesan.

We got back to the train station a little early but were able to find our track without any problems so all went well. The train ride home went smoothly and soon we were back at the apartment. We had a few drinks and then headed to bed. A great day of eating meat through Bologna.

Kelle and I got up early to catch the first bus out to the designer outlet mall. I had been before and had great success so was looking forward to a return trip.

We were a little early so we stopped to have coffee (tea for me) and a pastry before arriving and getting on the bus. It is about a 45 minute drive which seems like half of it was circling around Florence. I am pretty sure we backtracked some. But no matter we arrived right as the stores were opening.

First stop Gucci where I quickly found a cute pair of loafers. Then I found a nice tan leather cross body bag. I am pretty sure it was on the men’s side but I liked it so I bought it.

Kelle wanted silver hardware and Gucci was all gold so she didn’t see anything she had to have. She wanted a fendi bag but they didn’t have what she was looking for either.

We hit up Burberry and I again found a bag. I also found a quilted raincoat. Everything in Burberry was 50% off the outlet price so I got both items for a steal. Very excited about them both.

Kelle was still looking for a purse and she had seen several that she liked but she hadn’t pulled the trigger. Finally in Prada she found her purse. A tan crossbody that also came with a leather strap if you wanted to dress it up. Had I not already bought two purses I would have bought a super cute black Prada bag. Next trip Prada will be my first stop.

We made it home with no problems this time. Which was good because my purchases were heavy. Had to clean up and get ready for our fancy dinner in Fisole, which is the hillside town overlooking Florence. The restaurant was La Reggia degli Etruschi. Our reservations were for 8 but we went a little early to catch the sunset.

Getting the cabs was a bit difficult. We were able to get one but the second one just never went through. We did however catch one on the street so we were just a few minutes behind the others.

We heard about the restaurant on Instagram. A sports guy said it was the best place he had ever eaten and that the views were incredible. He however played down the long walk up to the restaurant. The cabs let you off in the square and point you up a driveway. You can only see a short portion of the climb so it doesn’t look that bad. But then you turn and by then your legs are burning and you’re breathing heavy. Kelle tried to blame it on the altitude but it was just us. It was worth it though the view of Florence was spectacular.

The restaurant was fantastic. We had the Florentine steak, risotto, potatoes and Tuscan beans. It was a whole lot of meat. Delicious but rich. I had always wanted to do it nd gd that we did.

The cab ride home was a speed demon race but we made it safely home. Tomorrow off to Bologna.

Today got off to an early start. Our tour started at 8:45 and we weee told not to be late. We headed off extra early in case we couldn’t find it. Walked right to the right place but they weren’t set up yet. The bus was there and they told us to go over to the table by the arch. There was an arch but then that led to a tunnel under the highway and then to the train station. So that wasn’t it then we walked back and now there was table set up by the “arch”. It was right across the street from the bus I am not sure why he didn’t just say it wasn’t there yet. Would have saved us some frustration.

All was good and we were the first on the bus and took the back seats. There was only 16 on the tour so plenty of rom to spread out.

The driver was fun and things got off to a good start. The first vineyard, Viticcio, was about 45 minutes out of town so not too bad on the bus. This was my favorite of the tour. The place was beautiful and the wines really tasty.

The tour is all taking place in the Chianti region so most of the wines are Chianti Classico but all three through in a rose or sparkling to lighten it up.

We learned quite a bit about the region the grapes and the growing season. There are many rules to be able to claim the DOC or DOCG label. They basically cannot do much to help the grapes along. They cannot water, which is why some years are better than others. They don’t use pesticides only natural insect repellants. The grape vines of the newer varieties ( not the Sangiovese which is native to the area and can produce for more than 50 years) last about 15-20 years and new ones take 5 years to begin producing grapes so they rotate and always have some of various ages in the fields. The older plants produce less grapes but they have the most flavor. So they say it is a balancing act of deciding when to take out a plant and start with a new one. As long as they are not using the plant to make wine they can water so the new plants get to drink while the others do not. It was all very fascinating and I am surprised they are able to produce wine every year. Some years they say they don’t have enough really good grapes to do the Reserve bottles but can usually make everything else.

From Viticccio we headed into Greve for a short stop. Kelle and Jeff had stayed in Greve on there last trip so they knew the area pretty well. Greve has a great butcher shop that was really fun. Prosciutto and sausages hanging from the ceiling, cheese resting in the cheese cave. A very Italian experience. I picked up some prosciutto and salami for back at our apartment and wish I would have gotten more. (Next trip)

We had lunch at the second vineyard Casa Emma. Lunch was simple but tasty. They had a nice sparkling rose that Faye and I had shipped home. We don’t really get a tour here just explanations of the wines we tasted. Casa Emma was a smaller producer than the other two stops on the tour but still nice.

The last stop of the day was San Michele a Torri. We toured more of the production spaces at this stop. They were a pretty good sized vineyard. They had several outside tanks and then the wine could either go into barrels or concrete holding tanks. The concrete tanks were quite large and lined a hallway with a lovely red tile work. The wine tasting was lovely but a little heavier reds than I like so i didn’t buy any from there.

The walk back to the apartment didn’t go as planned. I think we were on the car route and we ended up somewhere we have never been and weren’t sure how to get home. Google Maps was letting us down with various routes that we couldn’t all agree on. Several people were dying for a bathroom break and the only thing in the area was the Four Seasons hotel. They almost didn’t let us in but I think they took pity on us and led us to the bar. We had several drinks and everyone took a turn in the bathroom before we asked directions and headed off again for our Florence home.

After that misadventure we just stayed in and ate snacks and had wine. It was another great day in Tuscany.

Woke up to a pretty but still a little chilly day and decided to go wandered town before everyone else was awake. It was nice to see Florence without the crowds.

We had tickets for the Accademia at 1 so the plan was to head out to find a lunch spot before getting to the museum. Looking in the area around the museum I noticed a second All’ Antico sandwich shop. This is where we tried to eat the first day but the line was crazy long. I didn’t know there was a second location and by the crowd at this one not too many other people know it either. The sandwich selection were overwhelming and I just went with the safe bet of prosciutto, mozzarella and pesto. It was delicious but I wish I had been more adventurous. Several of us got it and we laughed that the name was the Italian and thought it should have been the American since it was the safe option.

Eating our sandwich on the street with all the pigeons was not the best experience. One did help me clean the crumbs off my shirt so at least they were helpful pigeons. They were also very picky and only wanted the bread crumbs. Bob dropped some prosciutto and several of them tried it but they didn’t eat it and soon were flocking for more bread. There were plenty of crumbs to go around so they were all well fed.

We had an older lady in her housecoat come and beg for money. When we refused she got very animated in her Italian. We of course didn’t understand a word of it but I feel certain she cursed us and all our families.

The line for the Accademia was very well orchestrated. You bought timed entrances that were every 15 minutes. They had it timed to the second. At 12:30 on the dot that line started moving into the museum and about 12:40 the 12:45 line moved into position and at 12:45 the new 1:00 line was started. We were well positioned to be the first group in at 1.

As always the desire to see David makes me rush through the first few rooms on the museum. There are some lovely things in there but I hardly notice them.

But David never disappoints. It is always something to turn that corner and see David at the end of the hall.

It was a bit crowded but not horribly so. We were able to get some good pictures. And Margaret said it was the first time she was able to make it to the backside and see his butt. It is still as amazing to see him as it was on my first trip almost 30 years ago.

I can’t write about the Accademia without talking about the Alessandro Allori paintings that I love.

We only thought we were finished with the Accademia but they have added a new upstairs exhibit room. Only Kelle, Jeff and I ventured up the 3 flights of stairs but it was worth the climb. We saw more alter pieces and one really nice tapestry.

Once we were finished with our cultural experience for the day we began the drinking portion. The first stop was a bar for Kelle and Margaret to continue their Negroni tour. They even picked up a few more converts as Bob and Clark tried them as well. Faye and I split a bottle of prosecco and Jeff had red wine as usual.

After bar one we headed to bar 2 where we had seen a sign that said happy drinks 3-6. We thought we needed some happy drinks and were ever hopeful happy meant cheap or at least cheaper. We were correct on both counts. They had my new Sarti Spritz which I thoroughly enjoyed the Negroni team lost a member when Bob ordered a Long Island ice tea. Jeff again with red wine. We thought e needed a snack and ordered a couple of pizzas and a cheese board. All were good and we enjoyed our break.

We did another grocery run on the way back to the apartment because of course we needed more wine, cheese and snacks.

We picked another close place for dinner and we were not as lucky as the first night. It was fine but not great.

We had an early morning time for our wine tour so we had an early evening. All in all a good day.

Woke up to a rainy and cold day. Everyone was moving pretty slow either still from jet lag or just the excessive amounts of cool we have been having. Either way not much movement in the mornings.

We also couldn’t decide what to do. We considered the Uffizi but then thought everyone would be doing it to stay inside. We couldn’t get into the Accademia until tomorrow so really didn’t have any plans for the day.

We decided to try the food market and headed out in the rain to Centrale Mercarto for lunch and some shopping. We thought we would be early enough but the place was a mad house. We were able to get a table upstairs so we decided to stay. We all got different things. I ended up with gnocchi. It was good but not great. Nothing like the sandwich we had the day before so a little disappointing. The sandwich line was long so I had passed on that. Had I gone downstairs I would have found lots of sandwich and better food options. So if you want to go there definitely eat at one of the shops downstairs. The upstairs is more mall food court and the atmosphere is very frantic.

There was some good shopping on the first floor. I found the Sarti alcohol I was looking for to make pink spritzes. Also got some melon cello which was tasty, the orange not so much. We got a few other snacks things but were ready to move on. Most didn’t want to deal with the cold and rain and headed back to the apartment, Kelle, Jeff and I went to the Medici Chapel.

The chapel was much bigger than I expected and not quite as elaborate. It did have some nice pieces. Donatello’s pulpits (which look more like chests) were amazing and the Lippi Annunciation was really nice. Probably the neatest thing was the astrological dome. It depicts the Florence sky on July 6, 1439 which was the closing day of the council.

The church was also full of relics. There were multiple bone relics and one full body under a shroud wearing a crown. They also had a crazy amount of silver.

From here we walked through town and down to the duomo. The line wasn’t too long so we went in for a quick view. Mainly to see the frescoes dome. I do love the depictions of demons and hell.

From the church we just wandered around for a while and then headed to an Enoteca Jeff wanted to check out. Kelle and I had a glass of wine while Jeff shopped.

Tonight was the dinner party that I had planned with the owner of the apartment. She also has a vineyard so it was a wine and food night. Surprisingly she was from Massachusetts. She had married an Italian and had lived in Italy since college.

The wine was very good. She is a very small vineyard and does it mostly by hand. She produces about 4000 bottles a year. She named the vineyard after her daughters Fanciulle, which translates to young girls or maidens. It was interesting to hear how she got started and how it has evolved over the years. The food was delicious and we had a great time talking with her. The house was her ex husband’s great grandparents. It was someone’s palace built in 1617 and the frescoed walls and ceiling were done in 1637. It is crazy that we are staying in a place with paintings that old. A fabulous night

Recuperating from the travel day seems to be getting harder and harder so today got off to a slow start. Clark got coffee going for everyone and we all seemed to lounge around for a while. Margaret, Clark and I went back to the grocery store to get some paper product and ended up with more bread,cheese and meat. I bought the prosciutto from the deli counter and he just sliced me about 8 pieces and packed it up. Not sure if that was the usual amount but didn’t question it. The price was 26 euro per kilo so I knew it wouldn’t be too much. Turns out it wasn’t even 1 euro. Had I known that I would have asked for way more.

We did put out a little bread and cheese for a breakfast snack but didn’t eat too much because our first stop of the day was an Italian panini. We headed out to the popular one that everyone talks about and is all over instagram. It was about 11:15 when we arrived and the line was already too long. We decided not to wait and went down the street a little ways to another option. Kelle and Jeff had eaten there before so we knew it was good. The sandwiches were delicious. The bread was crunchy but not hard, mine had a truffle spread which went well with the prosciutto and cheese. I am glad we didn’t wait.

After the sandwiches we headed for gelato. We were in the Santa Croce area so my favorite from my solo trip was around the corner. It did not disappoint. The chocolate was fabulous. It was dark but not too dark and so creamy. I will definitely be back for another before we leave Florence.

There was a small little church we hopped into after we finished our gelato that was worth the quick view. The ceiling reminded me of the Tudor ceilings I see in England. It was built about the same time so I guess ideas and styles crossed the seas.

From this church we headed to Santa Croce. It is not big enough to be overwhelming but has a few things that make it worth the entrance fee. Both Michelangelo and Dante are buried there. They claim to have a piece of the cross and Francis of Assisi’s robe. Also among their relics is Saint Umiliana. Most of her bones are there but her skull is somewhere else. Among the art they have a Donatello plaque monument and the glazed terra cottas in the chapel. The courtyard is very peaceful and we had beautiful weather while we were there which really showed it off to its best.

From the church we headed across the Arno to a wine shop. However we paused for a cocktail at a rooftop bar long the way too windy to sit outside but the view through the picture windows was still lovely.

We crossed the Arno by way of the Ponto Vechio shopping all the way. I bought a David charm but otherwise we did not invest in Italian gold.

Surprisingly or not the wine store also had some seats so we had another couple of bottles while Jeff perused the store. By this time we were all a bit tipsy and ended up buying several additional bottles. One because it was a pretty pink color and some prosecco that was on sale. Margaret also got a bottle of limoncello so that we could make spritzes.

The long walk back to the place with the bottles was almost enough to do us in but we passed several restaurants so we knew we could get food without much effort. We ended up picking the closest option and it was delicious and the waiter was very fun so we had a great time. Everyone loved their selection and we passed around so most of us tried others and were happy enough to do it again if we needed to.

A good day that ended with more wine and stories at the apartment.

Many of you know I planned to retire in January but that that didn’t happen, for reasons I am still trying to figure out. Anyway I didn’t change my Italy vacation plans. So I have 3 full weeks in Italy with Kelle, Jeff, Margaret, Clark, Faye and Bob and this is day one.

Or really this is day 2, day one was nothing but flights so I am not really counting that. However, the media had us all believing that the airports were a nightmare so we all got to the airport hours early but there were no lines so it was nothing but waiting around. We did get to wait in the admirals lounges so it wasnt actually too bad.

I started the day with Faye and Bob at the Austin airport. Two mimosas and a few hours later I headed off to DFW and they went to Philly. At DFW I met up with Kelle and Jeff in the very fancy flagship lounge. We had a bite to eat a glass of champagne and an Aperol spritz to kick off our Italian vacation.

The whole group met up in London before flying on to Florence. Sadly only Faye and Bob figured out how to use the lounge so the rest of us just mingled with the masses waiting for our flight gate number. Heathrow is an odd airport. It has some good shopping, food leaves a lot to be desired and everyone waits in one central area before heading to a gate right before boarding. I don’t know why they cram everyone into one area and leave multiple floors pretty vacant. But we eventually all met up at the gate and headed off on the last leg together.

The Florence airport is tiny. The pilot warned us that the runway was short and it would be a fast break event but I was not prepared for exactly what that meant. One minute you are in the air and the next you are at a dead stop, pulling on your seatbelt and shocked that it was over. We had to wait on stairs then to get on a bus that drove us no more than 50 yards to the airport door. The plane beside us got to walk but we had to pile into the bus then wait to only exit to get in customs line. This was basically my first line of the trip and it was long and slow. They had 4 agents and only 2 working the main line. They were testing a new system and if you guinea pigged that you got to move ahead in line. But that was slow and unreliable and eventually got as many people as the other line so we just waited in the sure bet line. We finally made it through, our luggage already waiting on us so we headed out.

The tram from the airport was super easy. Very crowded but easy. For less than 2 euros you can get into town in 15 minutes. The walk to our Airbnb not so much. No matter how well I want to pack, my suitcase is still always heavy. As I sit here in my new pajamas and robe I really shouldn’t be surprised that my luggage is heavy but I am. Anyway we had to lug our luggage through the center of Florence past the Duomo to our place. The sun was out, it was hot and we were all tired but we made it.

The place is as good as its pictures. There is plenty of room to spread out. The living spaces are huge the bedrooms are good size and all but one of the bathrooms are good. Sadly one little bathroom is tiny but then that room has a tub right by the bed so you do have options. Kelle and Jeff graciously took the tub room but will likely share the shower in my luxurious master bath.

After regrouping we headed out for dinner and a few groceries. We ended up just buying snacks and wine at the grocery store and heading back to the place for a light dinner and an early night.

We didn’t see much of Florence but our trip is off to a good start and we are ready for the adventure to begin.