Breakfast in Oregon, dinner in Italy
Portland to Florence:
Somewhere over the Polar Cap - Hello from Lufthansa #469 a few hours out
from Portland! Yes, this flight has internet and I was able to access it
free for this flight! Isn't technology grand? I bet the next generation will
laugh at my amazement!
The sun rising under the clouds
We
had an uneventful ride to the airport with a town car
service and found no lines at PDX. We had to remove our
shoes to pass through security and I relaxed in the
Lufthansa lounge while DT made a conference call pre-flight.
After boarding, we settled into the newly remodeled lounge
chairs on board. Our seats are like La-Z-Boys in that they
have pop-up footrests and can recline into a sleeping
position. They also massage! Each seat has a personal video
(entertainment) screen with over 30 movies and 20 television
programs to enjoy. We were served lunch (they called it
dinner, but it was at 1 o'clock in the afternoon...) and
champagne. I checked in with Lisa at her office via AOL
Messenger, chatted on-line with my cruise buddies and will
send a few emails before signing off. DT is watching The Da
Vinci Code while I "work".
Added later: Hello from Florence! It is still
amazing to me (as a woman who can surf the internet on a jet
plane) that you can wake up in Portland and in just hours
you are in Italy!
The massive Frankfurt airport makes PDX look like a train
station, which must make the Florence airport a bus station.
Two baggage carousels, four toilets and a bar. Our flight
from Frankfurt was only about 90 minutes, but we flew over
the Alps and saw splendid villages tucked into green valleys
- so pretty! The pilot would tip the wings to give us a
better view of alpine lakes and mountain ridges. We flew in
a vintage craft and exited the plane via a portable
staircase - right out of the 50's. They herded us into
a bus and the bus then drove 100 feet to the terminal - I
guess it was too far to walk? The plane was so small all the
passengers fit in one bus!
We hopped in a mini-van taxi. Our driver - a man of about 50
years - drove like a mad man... or maybe just an Italian? He
was talking on his cell phone, reading the email on his
phone and driving at the same time through streets no wider
than our driveway at home. What a rush! In no time we had
crossed the River Arno and were checking into our lovely
hotel,
The Hotel de la Ville, at the top of Via Tournabuoni
(the main shopping street in Florence). No, I did not choose
the Hotel de la Ville because of the shopping - I reserved a
room here because of the location to the wine
shop/restaurant of DT's favorite vineyard in the world -
Antinori.
Our home in Florence
Hotel de la Ville in Florence, Italy
The hotel is very elegant, a quiet and cool
refuge from the noisy Florence streets. We have a nice room
- quite large - with a great bathroom. The promised
high-speed wireless internet does not seem to exist, but
luckily someone living behind the hotel has a wireless
network. There is a button on the wall that brings down
metal grates to block out all the noise from the street and
another that brings up black-out screens! Not that I think
sleeping with be a problem.
Added even later: Okay. We have left the
building! Thinking we would have a little rest before
heading out for our latest adventure, as soon as our heads
hit the pillow we were both asleep. If the Hollywood Home
Depot hadn't phoned my mobile phone to reschedule Lisa's
washer/dryer delivery, we may have been gone for the night.
Marzipan "fruits" in a candy shop window
The Duomo, at night
We felt better after a shower and went for a
walk around the neighborhood, looking at restaurant menus
and window shopping along the narrow, winding streets of
Florence.
After walking around for about an hour, we settled on the
Antinori Wine Bar,
Cantinetta Antinori, next to our hotel. We may as well
have been at home - they have the same wine list that DT
keeps in the cellar. The food was quite good, the restaurant
was lively and they found a table for us though we were the
only people without reservations. I cannot be sure, but I
think the building (an old villa) is the
Antinori corporate headquarters, because they have a
small sort of museum showing their wines and miniature
dioramas of each vineyard in the open courtyard of the
villa. They even own a vineyard in Washington State.
Antinori also presses olives and sells an organic olive oil.
The restaurant is small and smart. They have a small balcony
which holds several tables, but most of the diners are
seated on the main floor. We shared a bottle of Chianti
Classico and simple appetizers. DT had a bruschetta pomodoro
and I ordered a zucchini and parmesan salad. The combination
was simply delicious - very similar to the asparagus and
parmesan salad usually offered. Maybe it was the olive oil
that made it special, or maybe it was just Italian food
served in Italy? (Note: this fabulous appetizer was the best
thing I had the entire time we were in Italy. I think it was
the cheese!) For our main course, I had ribbon pasta with a
porcini mushroom sauce and DT had a very pretty - and he
claims outstanding - shrimp risotto.
Zucchini Salad with Parmesan from Cantinetta Antinori.
(NOTE: I am so sorry this photo did not turn out...
because... after all the wonderful
food we had while on this trip - this dish turned out to be
my favorite!)
Shrimp Risotto at Antinori Cantinetta Wine Bar
It was late (we are trying to stay up as
late as possible to fight the jet lag!) and the hotel lobby
was empty, so I snapped these photos:
Entrance to the Hotel de la Ville
Hotel de la Ville lounge
While we were at dinner tonight, the hotel made arrangements
for us to see Michelangelo's David and the Uzzifi Museum on Friday. So,
tomorrow we will be on our own to wander. Hopefully, we can get a good night
sleep tonight and a little nap tomorrow and we will be "adjusted". I told DT
tonight it is a good thing Lisa is not with us - there is too much shopping
in Italy!