They have this debarkation ‘thing’ down to a science. We had our time slot (7:20-7:40am) and at 7:25 they announced our turn to leave. Our luggage was lined up right outside where they said… and we only waited a few minutes for our “limo” ride to the train station in Rome. After dropping off our “large luggage” at the Rome hotel for storage, we made it to the train station where DH and I had the girls in one cabin and DH's parents had the boys in a different car altogether (and where DH and FIL dealt with their third pickpoocket attempt of the trip). 2-1/2 hours later were in Florence. A big step for the day which began with us somewhere east of Corsica… but standing there with 4 children & 7 bags… and no easy way to FIND our apartment for the week it loomed a rather daunting idea to make it TO the apartment. MIL wanted a taxi (easiest, but easily 100 Euro), DH wanted to walk it (free and good exercise, but somewhat complicated)… we opted for trying to find a bus. Most grabbed a piece of luggage (or 2) and we began walking … and walking. The Florentine bus system isn’t as well laid out, or mapped out as the other 3 Italian cities we’ve utilized. Finding the stops, figuring out which bus goes where… and where our apt actually IS proved to be complicated. Poor dh had to map it out, figure it out, find the bus stop, help carry the luggage down stairs for an “under track subway” (that had no cars running on it). I felt even worse when he had to load all the pieces on a crowded bus with 8 people… and about 2.34 seconds to spare… only to find that we were going to exit at the next stop and he had to do it all in reverse. Thankfully the apt. was right around the corner and across the street from a rather modern looking supermarket :D.
The apartment is in the “basement” area of the building and has 3 bedrooms (2 Q and 1 with 4 twins) 1-1/2 bath, and a LARGE kitchen/eat-in area. The washing machine is outside, along with the clothesline. The MOST interesting thing, though is the metal front door. It’s large and has a lock system similar to that of a bank vault (I’m not kidding… DH and I have both worked in branches where the vault door was only slightly more imposing). You insert a key the length of my hand and wider than my thumb and once it actually engages you have to turn it at LEAST 4 times around and that unlocks the 5 “prong” lock to open the door. NOTHING is coming in unannounced – ROFL!
We checked around, DH & MIL crossed the street again to find groceries, and then we ventured out to see Florence. A bus or two later and we were at the Duomo listening to the bells chime. We set off for the Ponte Vecchio in hopes that we could get a good “sunset” photo. Well, we missed sunset by a little bit, but still made a couple of pics, journeyed across to see the gold shops, and on the way back realized that dinner at home was going to happen tomorrow… not today. The IL’s took the kids and began heading towards the bus, DH and I took a walk across the rest of the shops to see if we could find something memorable. Prices are up ALL OVER Italy, though, and while much of it was nice, none of it was worth the price they were asking (interesting to know that our taste hasn’t changed much… the pieces that we found the most appealing were virtually identical to the ones we bought ten years ago)… so we headed off in the direction of the IL’s just knowing we were going to overtake them before they made it to the bus stop.
Well, we made it, but mainly b/c they decided to stop at a pizzeria. It turned out to be a good thing b/c while we made it to the right bus to get to the “main station” to make the switch, the bus routes changed on the previous Sunday and we were told they weren’t changing until NEXT Sunday… resulting is us getting on the right bus… but heading in the WRONG direction… for quite a few stops. Everyone is generally amiable and good natured on the bus… but when you know you’re headed in the wrong direction… at nearly 7:45pm… it’s not a good feeling. We exited and, as Providence would have it, the bus we NEEDED was literally pulling up behind the bus we were getting off… and so we hopped on the new bus… and made it home. Woo HOO!
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