October 11 & 12: Caught the shuttle to the airport, proceeded through check-in, security, and found our departure gate without any problems. We didn't even set off the metal detector and they didn't dispute any of our liquids. We boarded our flight to Amsterdam and found out that each seat has it's own T.V. with remote! Score! They had regular T.V. shows, video games, movies, and radio stations. So glad Jay and I didn't have to watch the same things. Jay's list: Transformers 3, Terminator and who knows what else. Sara's list: Ice Age 3, Monsters vs. Aliens and the cave man video game. The only thing to make the flight better would have been first class seats.
We arrived in Amsterdam and had to get help getting our boarding passes for the next flight, but the people were so nice. Right next to us was an older gentleman traveling to New York. He didn't speak a word of English, but had a green card. The Dutch man helping him couldn't believe he didn't speak English and was given a green card and allowed to live in the U.S. Apparently Holland will not allow immigrants unless they at least speak basic Dutch. Makes sense, maybe we could learn a few things. Should I write a letter to the president?
The flight to Florence: let's just say I NEVER EVER want to do that again. The plane was old. Not crowded, but there were three ladies in front of us who talked THIS LOUD in Dutch the entire two hour flight. We were tired and hungry and not very thrilled. Then about 45 minutes before we landed:4 worst. turbulance. ever. I am not a huge fan of flying anyway, but have gotten to the point where I don't mind your everyday turbulance. This, however, was not ordinary. I am pretty sure we flew right through a thunderstorm. If we had not been buckled in we would have been in the aisle. I thought the plane was going to fall apart or fall out of the sky. Almost got sick. The poor girl across the aisle did. I had a death grip on Jay's leg. If I remembered my Hail Mary's I would have been saying them. We landed and the pilot had to slam on the brakes because the runway is too short and they run out of room. I could not get off that plane fast enough let me tell you.
I wanted to take a taxi to the hotel because I was tired and feeling lazy. Jay, though, had the true traveler's spirit and convinced me to take the bus into the Florence train station and then catch the train to Pontassieve where we were staying. We did this without a hitch! Good job Jay. It was pouring, and I mean pouring in Florence and in Pontassieve. I had a map...sort of, but the directions weren't great. However, Jay has an excellent sense of direction and after about 20 minutes of me trying to tell him where it was he walked us right to it. Thank Goodness! It was about 2:00 in the afternoon so of course everything was closed. We had a granola bar and took a 3 hour nap. I know, I know, not what you are supposed to do, but we literally could not keep our eyes open. Around 7:00 we walked to the grocery store and picked up what would come to be our usual fare for the trip while feeding ourselves: bread; wine; cheese; salami, biscuits, yogurt, and not to forget the WINE. :-) One word: YUM.
*Sorry no pictures yet, we are working on it. And stay tuned as I continue to relate stories of our adventure. *
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