I woke up with a headache. Yes, I know what you are thinking, but no, it wasn’t a hangover. I had just slept with my neck at a funny angle and it hurt. Lana got up and took a shower while I took an Advil and laid in bed. I got up as she was finishing breakfast, and she packed us up as I was showering. What a girl!
We headed to the bus station about 9:30, and bought a ticket for the 10:10 bus to Florence.
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Walking to the bus station, I considered the numbers of scooters all over Italy. I am not sure of Italian fuel prices, but during this trip, low-grade unleaded in the UK hit the equivalent of $10 USD per US gallon. That, combined with tight and expensive parking in European cites, explains the popularity of small-displacement scooters. The US may look like this in a few years.
The trip to Florence was uneventful, but hot. The bus drivers don’t really seem to care much for running the AC, and those busses get pretty hot with the sun beaming into those big windows. It felt really good to get off the bus and into the cool air at the bus station. We walked a block and picked up a taxi. I had the address of the hotel programmed into the GPS, and noticed that the taxi driver was driving away from my waypoint. I remembered reading about the taxi drivers in Naples taking people all over creation to pad their fares, and almost said something to him, but decided to hold my peace and see what happened. It was a good decision…the waypoint I had in was wrong. The taxi fare was less than 8E.
| Our 4 night stay in
Florence had been the first
reservation we had made for this trip, when AMEX had been running some travel
deals. At that time, we really didn’t know if we were getting a good deal or
not, but now we were sure…Lana had stolen this hotel. The
Bernini Palace was 5-star, beautiful,
great service, and had a killer location…all for $650 US for 4 nights. That
worked out to about 105E per night, WAY less than we had paid for anything yet
(with the exception of the basic B&B in Siena), and this was by far the best
hotel yet. Lana did good. Funny, this hotel wasn't in any of the guidebooks. |
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Lap 'o Luxury, Baby!
| There was only one problem with this hotel. When Lana and I married, she kept her maiden name, Williams. So when we registered, we (correctly) gave them separate last names. Later, when we got back to the room after the bed had been turned down, we found this. As you can see, I was not pleased. |
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We checked in and hit the streets, just wandering around to get our bearings. We were a block from the Uffizi museum, 3 blocks from the Duomo, and about 3 blocks from the river.
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We walked to the Duomo and climbed to the top for some great views over the city.
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Across from the Duomo is the 11th century Baptistry, Florence's' oldest building, with it's famous bronze doors by Ghiberti. The doors took 27 years to complete, and Michelangelo said that they were fit to be the gates of Paradise. |
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We walked back to the hotel to relax for a bit. While we were there, we took the computer down to the lobby to check e-mail. Lana received an email from the husband of clients who had become very good friends of hers. As she started to read, streams of tears ran down her cheeks, she turned the laptop towards me so I could read. After we returned home, Lana asked me to add the email to our journal so that she will always remember the date of this sad news.
The email was titled: Cupcake is in Heaven
At 0433 today, 12 Nov 07, 29 days after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, Sandy passed away in my arms. She knew the end was coming and was at peace. At the end she took two deep breaths and opened her eyes. I held her and told her I loved her and that everything was OK, that I knew she had to go and that I would love her forever. She relaxed, closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. She had a slight smile on her face and was very peaceful and then passed. I held her and cried for awhile then made the necessary calls.
About a week – 10 days ago, Sandy took me to the funeral home she wanted me to use. She spoke with them and made her decisions on how things would be done. She did this to help make things easier for me as well as making sure her wishes were followed. Sandy chose a direct cremation with no service. I will scatter most of her ashes at a place she loved called Shell Island and I will keep some ashes with me. There is no need for flowers or donations – spend any money you might have spent on flowers for Sandy on flowers or a meal for someone you love. She would like that.
I’m very sorry to send you this news. On the bright side though, we all have a happy laughing Guardian Angel watching over us. Remember her laugh, remember her smile and remember she loved you.
lc
Dear Sandy, I love and miss you and will Never forget your infectious laugh, Lana
| Then we walked down to the river and to Ponte Vecchio to see the old bridge that had stood since Roman times. |
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Dinner was at a place called Nella, which we found in the guidebook. We had a great dinner, probably the second best so far, but noticed that most of the clients were Americans. I guess when Rick Steves writes about a place, it immediately becomes an American hangout. We sat by a couple from Sacremento and had a wonderful time chatting with them.
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On the way home we walked past Uffizi and heard music wafting down the street. There we met Ken Mercer, a Brit who had toured with Art Garfunkle and now made his living singing on the streets of Florence. He was excellent, a great singer, and Lana bought one of his CD’s. He said he would be back tomorrow night as long as the temperature was above 5C, and we told him that we would try to be back. In bed about 11. |
