Ciao mi famiglia from Firenze!!! I arrived yesterday, Thursday, March 27th after a day of travel. Note to all...don't fly US Airways unless you are an anorexic midget jonesing for a bladder infection...the back of the seat in front of me was less than 10 inches from the tip of my nose and even my short legs were cramping from the less than commodious leg room...add to which, it was such a hassel to try & get in and out of the seats that I risked busting my bladder rather than climb over the poor sod who had the aisle seat.
Anyway...we got into Rome 30 minutes ahead of schedule due to some stellar tailwinds, then my luggage gave me a scare by managing to be practically the last one off the plane. I thought I'd have to run around Florence NAKED! After dragging the thing to the express train into Rome's Termini station, I caught the EuroStar express train to Firenze and here I am! I love my hotel here. A tiny place by our standards, but a little gem. The Hotel Alba (aka Hotel Alba Palace) is great. I got a tiny, but cute little room with it's own bathroom and mini-shower; it even has a flat-screen TV! Okay, they don't have US shows and the only channels in English that I've seen so far is CNN Europe and BBC, but hey...I'm not here to watch TV!! After testing out the shower as soon as I got here, I changed into walking shoes and took a 3 hour walking tour to the Duomo, the Arno and back to my hotel. Along the way, I managed to sample a gelato or 2 from some awesome gelaterias. There is a bar (coffee bar...they serve food, coffee and yes, wine and the occasional cockail) on practically every corner. For those of you that travel the world looking to achieve your shopping fantasies, this is your city. On my walk to the Duomo I managed to run into the stores for Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo, Gianfranco Ferre and of course, everyone's favorite Frenchman, Louis Vuitton. It rained later in the afternoon and evening, but it didn't stop me from really enjoying my 1st day as a Florentine tourist. Had a terrific dinner at the pub/restaurant about 1/2 block down from my hotel...mmmm...Florentine beef...it's every bit as good as they tell you it is! Finally put myself to bed just before midnight. Woke up feeling like someone beat me with a baseball bat from all the walking, but it was worth it. Got my fat fanny out of bed early so that I could get a full day in...and I did. I had a quick breakfast at the hotel then walked to the Ponte Vecchio and managed to spend my whole paycheck in about an hour in the gold shops along the bridge. Then went to the Uffizi Gallery and immersed myself in Italian Baroque, Byzantine and Renaissance art until the culture was just poring out of my skin. I then found the joys of the Mercato Nuovo (New Market) aka Porcellino (Piglet) due to the bronze statue of a wild boar that stands next to it. Those vendors could sell ice cream to Eskimos! What a great little market. Dragged my happy but down to the Accademia Gallery, too. Saw the original statue of Michaelangeloàs "David" that is housed there...boy, could that man sculpt! I got back from the Accademia and realized that I needed a plan to get all my shopping home...so off to the Piazza Santa Maria Novella to try to find a cheap bag to drag all this crap home with me! Now it's Friday night and I only have 1 more full day here...my muscles are killing me, but I intend to make the best of tomorrow. It has been as terrific as I expected it, and much much more. I'm glad I did this part by myself. It would have been great to have a friend to come enjoy this with me, but then again, doing things at my own pace really does have its merits. I'm off to pop some Advil, hit the hay and do this all over again tomorrow. Everyone take care!!!!
