flight to Florence!

Our much-anticipated, eagerly awaited vacation to Italy has begun! We have arrived in Florence!

 

We finished packing and running errands yesterday, and on Sunday morning did the final house-cleaning. We have a lovely PSU student house- and dog-sitting for us, and so we wanted to leave the place in reasonable shape for her and for our return. The kids took Jasper for a long run/walk, probably 3-4 miles along the neighborhood trails, which was terrific for both him and them.

The first flight, direct from PDX to Amsterdam, was delightful in the beginning and hard at the end -- the kids are always happy with the unlimited screen time and multiple movie, tv, and video game options on board. But no one slept much, if at all. Liesl became ill towards the end of the flight and then threw up immediately after deplaning in Amsterdam. She continued to throw up into a baggie while walking (at a forced march pace because we had only an hour-long connection) through the airport, while waiting to clear customs, and then on the next flight. It was really sad and we are a little worried, but I have to say she was an amazing trooper and kept going. 

It was beautiful to fly over the Alps and northern Italy - Steve and I were thrilled to see the landscape below us. We took a taxi to our VRBO and unpacked a little, and then everyone fell asleep. The place is old and a little spartan, but it should be fine for a few days as long as the faint smoke smell dissipates. We slept a few hours, and then went out to find some food and explore a little of the city.

 Very cool door locks with giant keys, and knobs in the middle of the door!

We hopped on the tram which runs a few blocks from here and it took us across the Arno river and to the train station in the center of touristy Florence. We wandered a bit, confused by the masses of tourists and absence of charm, and then decided to eat our first gelato of the trip... it was a necessary sop and bribe to tired and droopy children! And their tired mama. Refreshed, we headed back across the Arno to the Oltrarno neighborhood, and there found the narrow cobble-stoned streets and tiny restaurants we were expecting. We ate some very tasty pizzas for dinner at a place called Fermento 1889 and then strolled along Via Pisarna all the way back to our apartment.