9/6/08: We've arrived in Florence!

DAY ONE:
The girls were wonderful on the flights. Isabella didn't cry once, and slept most of the time in the bassinet, which was great for us! I actually got a short nap in! Felicia LOVED flying, but had a melt-down at one point during the flight. I was nursing Isabella, so Lucio took her off near the bathrooms to calm her down, which was not successful, until some nice lady came and distracted her - had Felicia sing some songs, you know how that works! So she calmed down and the rest was great. Lufthansa was great, their bassinets for the babies are REALLY nice, but they didn't have the individual TVs that we've flown with lately. They showed one movie, that one about the man maid-of-honor, then some hypnotic Discovery Channel show about this humpbacked whale's life, that REALLY put everyone to sleep (including the entire Famularo family).

We had a 3-hour layover in Frankfort which was perfect to relax and not rush through security, etc. We enjoyed a cappuccino for 2.69 euro in McCafe - an upscale version on McDonald's... incredible!

It was probably our best trip yet, as far as being calm and not to chaotic... until we arrived in Florence. We had a bunch of suitcases (6 to be precise), and the cabbies didn't want to take us in one cab.. they are such thieves. Lucio said "si guardano il cuolo fra di loro"... they watch each other's a**es! Now, I knew we fit the whole family (with two car seats and my dad driving) in his Toyota four-runner to get to the airport, and these are VAN cabs. So, I'm frustrated that they won't even try. And to top it off, they are total jerks. They stood like 20 feet away and went on and on about us (as if we weren't there), and how we'd need a giant truck, all this nonsense. Then Lucio has to call the landlord to meet us, but our phones need to be recharged, then he goes to charge his, and his doesn't work (it expires after 12 months if you don't use it regularly), but somehow mine does, so he goes back and buys a 50-euro card (the only one they sell at the airport, and calls our landlord. At least that scheda will last a while! Then, of course, Felicia has to go to the bathroom, so I go back inside with her to deal with that, then finally we beg a women taxista to try, so she does, and everything easily fits, and we're off to the apartment... finally! Talk about a woman in a man's world, she totally had to go along with the other guys and couldn't drive us until they all left, which she explained to us later.

So, we meet our landlords, Nicole teaches at NYU here in Florence, and her husband Antonio who is from southern Italy. They are so nice, and the apartments is gorgeous and quiet! AND HAS AIR CONDITIONING (which in Florence is almost never!) There's a lovely terrazo with a view of the cupola del Duomo and an herb garden too! There is a king bed in the master, a queen bed in the second bedroom, plus a divano letto (sofa bed) and a cot (if anyone wants to visit!). There are two bathrooms as well! In addition to the A/C, we have screens on all the windows, so no problems with zanzare (mosquitoes).

Our address is Van San Zanobi, 38, which is a short walk from Piazza San Marco and Piazza dell' Indipendenza. You can see it on a map HERE. We live on the third floor (secondo piano) in the back of the building, so its very quiet!

We were really tired and hungry, so Felicia asked for a snack. I had brought a big back of American snacks in the backpack that Lucio was wearing the entire time of the journey. But we couldn't find it anywhere... finally came to the conclusion that it was lost/stolen at the Florence Airport. So we frantically called the taxi company, the airport Lost & Found, then Lucio went all the way to the airport again... but nothing. The backpack was gone. It had Isabella's yellow blanket, the snacks, our portable Ionic Breeze, and a new hard drive that I was bringing for the video project (argh). But nothing else valuable, Thank God (we hope). Oh well, we couldn't have had everything perfect!

So Lucio picked up two pizzas and we ate them late. Felicia LOVED the Italian pizza. Then we all went to bed in our new, temporary home :)