Buon Giorno Firenze!

The Duomo - Florence, Italy

The adventure to Italy begins. Our morning alarm was set for 3:00 a.m. We mostly slept soundly, but were both awake at 2:45 a.m. rarin’ to go. We breezed through TSA as “Pre-Check” travelers into Sky Harbor's terminal three. We were among the first to arrive for the 6:00 a.m. flight to New York City’s JFK. After a three and a half hour layover in New York, our journey continued to Paris where we landed at 7:00 a.m. local time.

Our seats on the plane to Paris were in the last row of the economy section. This put us next to the restrooms, a good thing, but we were dismayed to discover that our seats did not recline. Sleep eluded us during the flight, but we did watch a couple of good movies: Hidden Figures and La La Land. I won’t describe or critique these here, but Christine and I both considered them worthy viewing.

Our trans-Atlantic view

Because we were seated in the middle section there was no way to see out the windows. Our only view for the entire flight was the interior of the plane. Fortunately, the seat-back video monitors worked well and the audio was fantastic due to the inexpensive ears buds I bought at Walmart.

Two meals were served on this flight. Dinner came about two hours in and then breakfast about two hours before landing. The food was tasty and filling.

When we landed in Paris it was the next day – Friday. We went through Customs/Passport Control (now we have a French stamp in our US passport) and then navigated to our gate for Florence, switching from Delta Airlines to its French partner, Air France. We found the gate and then went for a walk around the terminal to stretch our legs after the long trans-Atlantic crossing. We were both a little fuzzy in our thinking as we were approaching the mile stone of no sleep for twenty-four hours.

The  ninety-minute flight from Paris to Florence traveled over the French and Italian Alps. This plane was smaller than the Boeing 777 and this time we could see out the window. There were clouds hugging the mountains, with their peaks jutting up through the cover. The scene was breathtaking in the early morning light.

The Florence Airport terminal

Twenty minutes before landing the pilot came on with the usual pre-landing instructions and added that the Florence runway was shorter than most so a quick stop was required. "OK," I thought, "Thank you for telling us." We put our stuff away and made certain our seat belts were secure. We touched down and I believe it was the hardest landing I have experienced. The wheels touched the pavement and the engines were thrust into full reverse. What a jolt and racket! It was also the quickest airplane stop I have experienced. I reminded myself, “He warned us.” We touched down in Italy at about noon local time.

Since we carried-on our luggage, we did not have to go to baggage claim. We proceeded directly to the exit. We had no items to declare, so we went out into the lobby without any further passport checks. We had arranged a car and driver to meet us and take us to the hotel. They were to be holding a sign with our name. There were several drivers there, but no one with a sign for us. We called the local agency responsible and they called the driver who materialized, it seems, from thin air. He was apologetic, but it all worked out fine. Fortunately, we had purchased an international calling plan for one of our iPhones before leaving the US. The ability to call from our mobile phone – just like being at home – was a great help.

The drive from the airport to our hotel was nothing short of wild. Vehicles were weaving in and out, lanes merging suddenly. It looked like utter chaos. Lane lines appeared to be mere suggestion. There was a little bit of horn tooting, but mostly the traffic moved right along. Our driver took it all in stride. Welcome to Italy!

The lovely Christine in front of our hotel

After about twenty-six hours of travel we were delivered to the front desk of the beautiful Santa Maria Novella Hotel in Florence, Italy. It was a sunny, warm, and humid afternoon. Our room would not be ready until 2:00 p.m. The concierge said they would hold our bags for us until then, so off we went to explore Florence on foot - our first time in Europe on our own. With thanks to our friends the Berscheids and the Shoops for sharing their Italy travel insights and books with us, I had a good general idea of how to navigate through the historic part of the city.

Italian security forces in the

Florence train terminal 

This was Friday afternoon and happened to be the next to last day of Florence Fashion Week. There were shoulder-to-shoulder crowds everywhere: fashion designers, buyers, models, photographers, limousines and chauffeurs - also Policia, Carabinieri, and Army soldiers in battle gear on nearly every corner. The pace was frenetic.

After taking in the sights and smells, we found a set of stairs on a piazza in the shade to eat the goodies we had gleaned on our flights. Then it was time to find our way back to the hotel, get our room, and take a nap - we were exhausted. Three hours later our bodies and spirits were revived so we headed out again to engage in what would become our daily ritual - the enjoyment of gelato.

Gelato!

The historic Ponte Vecchio Bridge

We had a fantastic start to our Italy adventure. Once we caught our breath, we'd be ready to explore in depth.