Day 1-2 - October 1-2, 2004
We flew from Pittsburgh to Atlanta (very nice airport) and from Atlanta to Paris. By the time we got on the plane to Paris, it was about 9:30 p.m. This was nice because it meant we would be flying overnight. Dave didn't sleep but I managed to take a nap in there. In Paris we flew into Charles DeGaul airport (HUGE) and found our way from our arrival gate/terminal to our departure gate/terminal. From there we flew into the Florence airport. It was very small (upon leaving the next week, we discovered that it only had 6 departure gate--yes, it is that small.)
We arrived in Florence where a tour person met our flight and showed us to our driver who took us to the hotel. The hotel, UNA Vittoria, had to be the strangest hotel we have ever stayed in. Maybe the first hint would have been the black hallways? They pride themselves on being contemporary but this was kind of scary. The blue fiber optic lights between the black wall tiles in the bedroom were a little out there also, and we won't even get into the glass wall on the shower--which was the first thing you saw when you opened the door to the room and directly across from floor-to-ceiling mirrors.
Anyway, we had the rest of the day to sightsee and find a bank machine to get money from. One problem--in Florence, asking for the ATM gets you the public transportation and bus station. The clerk at the desk couldn't figure out what we were asking for. We found out later that you have to ask for the "bankomat." We wandered around for about 3 hours and finally found a "bankomat" in the supermarket. From there it was easy--and we could finally buy dinner!
Surprisingly, we didn't have any trouble with jetlag going there.
We flew from Pittsburgh to Atlanta (very nice airport) and from Atlanta to Paris. By the time we got on the plane to Paris, it was about 9:30 p.m. This was nice because it meant we would be flying overnight. Dave didn't sleep but I managed to take a nap in there. In Paris we flew into Charles DeGaul airport (HUGE) and found our way from our arrival gate/terminal to our departure gate/terminal. From there we flew into the Florence airport. It was very small (upon leaving the next week, we discovered that it only had 6 departure gate--yes, it is that small.)
We arrived in Florence where a tour person met our flight and showed us to our driver who took us to the hotel. The hotel, UNA Vittoria, had to be the strangest hotel we have ever stayed in. Maybe the first hint would have been the black hallways? They pride themselves on being contemporary but this was kind of scary. The blue fiber optic lights between the black wall tiles in the bedroom were a little out there also, and we won't even get into the glass wall on the shower--which was the first thing you saw when you opened the door to the room and directly across from floor-to-ceiling mirrors.
Anyway, we had the rest of the day to sightsee and find a bank machine to get money from. One problem--in Florence, asking for the ATM gets you the public transportation and bus station. The clerk at the desk couldn't figure out what we were asking for. We found out later that you have to ask for the "bankomat." We wandered around for about 3 hours and finally found a "bankomat" in the supermarket. From there it was easy--and we could finally buy dinner!
Surprisingly, we didn't have any trouble with jetlag going there.
