Sunday, November 24, 2013

Friday, Nov 22 Lax Parigi Firenze

Friday was a travel day with only one small issue which wasn't a problem because I had chosen the 4.55 flight connection from Paris to Firenze.

At the checkin counter at LAX I asked for map of CDG and the agent showed me I would be departing frm 3F in Paris. He even drew on the map, showing how easy my connection would be:  arrive at 3E, depart from 3F.  When I asked if departure for Firenze had been changed from terminal 2G, he told me yes. 

When traveling I've learned to arrive early, know where I'm going and then double check before boarding. This includes planes, trains and busses. 

Checking the screens at 3F I saw nothing departing for Firenze. I looked my paper itinerary and there it was in small print:  2G

His mistake cost me 30 minutes, but since I had time to spare, it gave me a chance to walk around after the 9 hr flight from LA. 

On this flight, I used those pressure stockings again and they really save your legs. 

The afternoon AirFrance flight uses the larger two decker plane. It's a nice quiet ride but the distance from my window seat to the window is a much larger gap than on the smaller plane.  I was finally able to build a nice sleeping nest and slept almost 6 hours after watching an Indian movie. I look forward to those movies. I'll watch one on the return flight too. 

I had plenty of time at CGD to change clothes, eat a yummy grilled whole wheat olive bread (mozzarella and tomato) sandwich, with rice pudding for dessert. I bought a large Evian water to last through the evening and then napped for an hour. 



On the plane, I fell asleep before takeoff to Firenze. The flight lasts about 1.5 hours. 

Although it had been raining during the day, I noticed the streets were dry during the taxi ride to the hotel. cost 23 €. Hurray, the taxi driver understood me the first time when I gave him my destination address:  Borgo Santi Apostoli, 25

Alessio and Asumi greeted me like an old friend. So nice that we have become friends. I apologized that I had to leave their tortillas and cheese behind. When I discovered the tortillas were broken all the way through, that decided it. My bag was slightly overweight, so back they went into the refrigerator. (Final official bag weight: 22.9 k)

But they were ecstatic to get something different:  Thanksgiving treats:  cranberry relish, pecans, Ghiradelli chocolate chips and a new Trader Joe's canvas shopper. I choose well, because Alessio told me they cannot get either cranberries or pecans here. After living in San Diego for five years, they miss certain foods.

In my room, I found a container of chocolate covered cherries and walnuts and a welcome back note.


I washed up, took the night keys and went walking. It was 6pm

I love it here. I walked first to see if a new bookstore had opened to replace my favorite Edison. The building is still deserted after one year. I headed toward the Duomo and took pictures. 


Then toward Feltrinelli bookstore, but I entered IBIS bookstore instead.  I was so glad because right near the entrance I found a stack of Fabio Volo's new book. 



They have a better cookbook selection than Feltrinelli. I choose a very very heavy Cooking School book by Alice magazine. Fabulous pictures and great instructions for real Italian food. With one more Valentina book, I was ready to go back to the hotel to read and relax.  



I wasn't hungry enough for dinner, but Italian yogurt sounded so good. I was disappointed to just miss getting into Conad, by Ponte Vecchio. 8.30 and they were closed. Heading back to my street, I smelled the waffles. 6€ was too expensive, but I bought one anyhow. She gave me two, when I inquired why they were so expensive. Smothered in Nutella, it was just right for a late night snack. I ate the second plain one for breakfast on Saturday



I was asleep by 10 and slept 11 whole hours. It was a good idea to bring my hot water bottle!

Sent from my iPhone. Corrections will follow later! 

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