We left our apartment around 1 yesterday afternoon. We said goodbye to a lovely place we had called home for a month.  Blue skies, sandy beaches, old and new architecture, shared laughter and meals, our beautiful flat and the good people we met, will all be memories, now saved here to read and reread. We stopped and said goodbye to Phillip and his wife, our greengrocers, who were always happy to see us.  We made one final trek to the metro station, pulling all of our, now very much heavier, luggage behind us over the uneven sidewalks.  Adios, Valencia!

We had an uneventful flight to Pisa. Why Pisa? While booking our flights to Florence, I came across a really cheap flight if we would go one day early, which was no problem, so I booked it.  Upon looking at my ticket once printed, I noticed under “arriving at” it said, Pisa/Florence.  WHAT?  I had booked a flight to Pisa instead.  No problem, though.  I looked up all kinds of info about getting from Pisa to Florence and all we had to do was pick up our luggage at the airport, go to the Information booth and buy a ticket for the train which included the PeopleMover Bus to the train station, an 8-minute ride, and then onward to Florence.  I checked the train schedule and there was one leaving an hour after getting to the airport so it was all good.  A little inconvenience for less than half the price and a ride through some beautiful countryside.  What is the saying?  The best laid plans of mice and men?  Our luggage arrived safely and we found the information booth quickly and that’s where the plan ended.  We were told at information that there was a train strike and the only way to get to Florence was, are you ready for this?, on a BUS!  We are doomed to ride the bus forever.  Are you finished laughing yet, Jocelyn?  We were told to go outside and get on the white bus in the centre lane.  Uh huh. There were 2 lanes of buses, hence no centre lane and ALL the buses were white.   We asked the first driver in the first lane who told us to put our luggage in the hold under the bus and get on as we were leaving in 10 minutes.  I double checked to make sure it was going to Florence as we didn’t want to end up in Milan or Bologna or somewhere else and she assured me we were getting on the right bus.  We rode the whole way in a hot bus with no air conditioning and I thought I’d pass out.  We  arrived in Florence  an hour and a half later, in the dark, but at the train station that I knew so well from five years ago when I was here.  Only one problem…I knew it from the front and the bus driver left us at the back end of the station on the side of a busy road.  We had to dig our own luggage out from under the bus where people pushed and shoved as traffic sped by us leaving little room for a misstep and I was afraid I’d get pushed into traffic.  Total chaos! People were even crawling inside the belly of the bus to dig out their luggage.  I finally retrieved mine, found a frightened looking Joey with her luggage and followed the crowds, hoping they knew where to go because nothing was familiar.  Up a long ramp took us inside the train station and I was finally on familiar ground.  I had my bearings.

Once outside the train station, I found our way easily through the streets to our apartment and met our host coming down the stairs as we were going up.  He told us we were on the 5th floor!!!!  “OMG, I  can’t do this again”, I said in a much too loud voice. He told me it was OK that there was a lift and I’m sure the look of relief showed up on both of our faces. The three of us crammed ourselves and our luggage into the tiny elevator for the slow ascent to the 5th floor. He showed us around the flat, gave us instructions on how to use everything and was out the door.

Our flat is lovely.  I love my bedroom and bathroom up in the loft that overlooks a large living room. The old wooden rafters and  antique furnishings give the flat its charm.  I love the old narrow, double door windows framed by heavy drapes. The whole main floor throughout is orange tile, cold but charming. The upper floor is gleaming hardwood. I have to climb a very narrow, winding staircase but I’m learning to navigate it.  Going up is already easy – coming down, not so much. I am so excited to be here. I don’t think Joey shares my enthusiasm. She noticed that there were no towels for the bathrooms or kitchen and the tiny kitchen was not well equipped.  There is no toaster or frying pan, only a small amount of toilet paper, no garbage bags or dish soap and a few other things I can’t remember.  I simply wrote to Gianni and was told that towels would be outside our door first thing in the morning and she was sorry – apparently, you have to request things like that.  Who knew?  The towels were there this morning as promised.  I told Joey we’d buy a frying pan and dish towels and whatever else we need.  I think we had just been spoiled by Josep at our last place.  We’ll do just fine.

I will write about today’s adventures later as Joey is making us dinner and the smells coming from the kitchen call me.  We did have a great day though.