Travel Day!
Mike, Walter, and Jeff traveled from Syracuse which means we have an extra leg to fly to a hub. In this case it was Dulles. VBT arranged the flights - it is part of the trip fee which makes it a much better deal than having to find our own flights, but it means we connect where they want us to connect. In this case it was Frankfurt.
We're finally on our way! Here's Mike and Walter at the Syracuse airport.
We got to Dulles and Lufthansa confirmed what we saw on line - that our flight from Frankfort to Florence had been cancelled because of an airline workers' strike. Here's Mike and Walter working with the Spanish-speaking Lufthansa gate agent who eventually got us rebooked on a Eurowings flight to Brussels and then to Florence.
Because it's the EU, we had to clear customs in Brussels rather than in Florence. Here were are standing in line and hoping we'll still catch of flight to Florence (we did).
There was ONE customs agent working. Eventually, a second one arrived and his job apparently was to chat with the first one.
We made our flight and because we were booked en-route, we got whatever open seats were available. I sat next to Walter again and Mike sat behind us.
Here is Mike's view.
Ironically, with all the travel anxiety, we actually arrived in Florence earlier than our expected arrival tine. The only hiccup was that Mike's checked bag was missing.
It's always a moment of relief when we emerge from the airport since airports look so similar. This is what I saw when I walked out the door.
VBT picked us up at the airport, despite arriving before we were scheduled to arrive and drove us to our hotel in downtown Florence. I took this picture, not knowing what it was.
(It was the Ponte Vecchio, a bridge we would later walk across.)
This is the hotel, Hotel de la Ville.
This is the view across the street from the hotel.
Mike, Walter, and I wandered around and not two blocks from the hotel stumbled into the Piazza San Giovanni.
Stu arrived on different flights a couple of hours later and here we are doing we what do best: sitting around eating, drinking, and watching a different world go by.
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