WOW! Finally back for a long hike! In Italy. This trip has been postponed 2X and I am so ready. Well, at least mentally but not so much physically. It was hard to train when until the minute I left I was not sure I was going to get to go.
It all started with a luncheon on the Tuesday before I left on Sunday. Remind me never to commit to anything on the week before I leave for a hike. I hosted a benefit luncheon for the Woman's Club of Louisville. A French Luncheon, no less, at my house that I worked hours on. Then on Friday, I had a meeting for the WCL Christmas Tea which I agreed to chair. Time is getting short before this big event. - a fun event for about a hundred women. From there it went rapidly down hill. On Friday after I put on my jammies, I learned that I was supposed to be at the Atlanta airport at 10:30 on Saturday night for my three-legged flight to Florence, Italy but I wasn't to fly out of Louisville until Sunday afternoon. HUH? I waited on hold for two plus hours and finally gave up and went to bed. As I went to tell Dennis what was going on, I bumped a table in the hall which has a long heavy marble top and it fell over and knocked me down...almost down the stairs. It mostly landed on my ankle and I headed downstairs, dripping blood. I was fortunate that it did not break my ankle and foot. So now I have a sore ankle. Did I mention that I was stung by a bee at lunch? I am slightly allergic to bees and I am still itching on my wrist. What a day.
Called Delta at 7:30 a m and the recording said average hold time was four hours plus and I could have them call me. The recording assured me that I wouldn't lose my place in line. About eight hours later...after checking my phone every ten seconds...much to my surprise...a call back. Got it all worked out. Whew! But when I checked my ticket, it was for a day later. Aaaaarrrrgggg! That wouldn't work - I had hotel reservation and plans to hike. I didn't have an extra day. Back on hold. Numerous calls to wait on lie and I finally got the recording that said they would call me. Hours and hours later, got a call but they could only fly me to Pisa, Italy more than an hour away from Florence. Asked for a Supervisor, who said my flight from Amsterdam was cancelled and Delta was not responsible for what their partner, KLM did. Now, mind you that I made my reservation through Delta. Buyer beware! I finally agreed to fly to Pisa. Rented a driver through GetTransport (great European company) at my own expense. When I got to the Louisville Airport, the ticket Agent said I might not be able to fly because I had not filled out this certain form (WTF?) what form? Spent my time at the airport furiously filling out the most confusing form ever created but Amsterdam required it. Long layover in Atlanta but we finally left. Whew, Amsterdam let me in. After a long layover in Amsterdam, I got to the Pisa Airport an hour late and my GetTransport driver was mad because I was late. OOPS!
Talk about tired but my hotel is lovely. I took a quick shower and raced out to get some dinner and supplies. In all the mess that transpired, I forgot several key items like a shower cap, my water bladder for my backpack, my snack bars and on and on and on. I got so lost! But if you are going to be lost Florence is the place. It is a beautiful city. Several really nice Italian Vendors figured out where my hotel was (tiny street) and directed me back. I had walked almost six miles. After I got back close to the hotel, I had a glass of wine and ordered a Margarita Pizza to go. As I was sitting inside, the owner asked me for my green papers (Huh?) It turns out that they are proof of the COVID vaccinations for Italians and of course I didn't have green papers so they made me sit outside to wait for my Pizza. No problem...it was a beautiful night. In spite of all of this nothing can dim the excitement of another long hike.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) is my free day in Florence!
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