The plane left on time, and headed West, giving a spectacular view of Lake St. Louis reminiscent of the Carribean.
We connected in Philadelphia, and flew back up the coast, over Cape Cod, then over the Bay of Fundy on our left, and Nova Scotia on our right, before heading off across the Atlantic.
After supper and movie, I tried unsuccessfully to sleep, while Hera watched a second movie. The idea is to try and nap heading East, then forcefully stay awake the next day to quickly get our bodies habituated to the time change.
We had a brief stop over in Frankfurt, enough to watch the sun rise, then a quick flight to Florence. The Alps were a sight to see, which soon gave wave to the hills of Tuscany.
Hopping into a taxi, with broken Italian, we arrived to our apartment. The real richness of life, are the contacts we make in our journey, and one such person had given me the name of the owner of this apartment. While the original apartment was no longer available, this apartment was a wonder to behold. Thank you Francesco & Umberto.
A charming historic building, the apartment has lovely artwork on the walls, a comfortable bedroom, and an additional loft with two separate twin beds. A family of four would live very comfortably here.
Tired, exhausted, but resolute to acclimate to the new time zone, we left the apartment for a quick stroll of our new neighborhood. We soon found out that our street is a major tourist walkway between Santa Croce Church and the Duomo, with the Palazzo e Casino Burghezie across our street.
An essential early visit to any new city, is the tourist information place. Getting a map of the city, and any helpful hints, is always appreciated. The next essential, is to find some local markets. We found a wine shop across the street, but had to walk a bit to find a super market. We picked up coffee and sugar, along with some wine. The bare essentials, as we planned to go to the Mercato Centrale the next day for some real shopping.
Although tired, we still managed to cover a significant portion of the tourist areas of Florence. We past the Duomo, and meandered about, coming across several street stalls selling various items of leather. At every turn, art afronts the eyes. At one point, Hera seemed to be suffering a bit from Stendhal syndrome, as she felt a wave of emotions over take her.
Our feet tired, we spied a charming restaurant called Mangiafuoco at 24/R Via Guelfa. We started our meal with a mixed salad. Hera had their truffle ravioli, a delicate mushroom filling with a simple buttered and sage sauce, while I had their creamed porcinini pasta plate, more robust in its earthy flavours. The half liter house wine we ordered had a full nose of scents, with soft peppery flavours that complemented our meals wonderfully.
Getting back home, we settled into our new home. Opened the chilled bottle of Villa Rasina Soave Classico. A refreshing, clear white aromatic white wine with subtle fruity notes. We ensured our WiFi internet connection, enjoyed our glass of wine, and though still relatively early, we were glad we manged to stay awake until 7 pm.
Snuggling in bed, we closed our eyes. Our home for the next few weeks...
Photographer's note: Throughout this trip I will use my Panasonic Lumic G1. Mostly with it's kit lens (14mm-45mm). I like to travel light. I will shoot hand held on manual mode or sometimes on Custom mode (exept night shots). So far all my shots are done in Vibrant film mode. All my images are only slightly edited. To shoot my architectural shots I use Live View to get my compositioal lines right in the camera.
Cheers,
Anthony & Hera
