Finalmente

Well, we made it to Florence- after a grueling 33 hours of travel! It usually takes at most 20 hours to get here from Tucson- but yesterday- or was it the day before?- we flew into Frankfurt right when they were getting hit with another snow/freezing rain storm.
Needless to say, the airport was in chaos- it had already shut down a few days before from another epic storm, and they were still scrambling to get passengers on planes since that shutdown...
In fact, we met one family of 4 that had flown in from San Francisco 3 days previous- and they were scheduled to return to Frankfurt in 2 days (after what should have been 5 days in Florence). It's a trip they will always remember- and hopefully they are able to have some good memories too.

Porta San Niccolo' from the banks of the Arno. December 2006

So- We are here now, in our funky Apartment in Florence- it's in a bit of chaos from now being lived in, so we've got some work to do- but I'm sure it'll be in better condition in a few weeks...Our tenant was a bit of a pack rat, so there's lots of stuff to sift through.
I've also discovered that my USB plug is on the fritz so I can't download any images today. I'm going to buy a new one hopefully tomorrow- and then I'll post some of the images I took on our walk tonight.
(Florence is all decorated with Christmas lights, and it is raining, so there are lots of beautiful reflections framed by Renaissance architecture)
OK- I'm off to go eat pasta-
arrivederci- Maureen