And the time has come for me to place family over our company. I have been invited by my daughter, Krosbie, to come visit her while she is attending a study abroad program in Florence, Italy. I shall be journalizing my wondrous trip and sharing it with you.

Rich Leaving for Florence without his Gorgeous Wifey.

And as I settle into the luxury of Air France, leaving from Seattle, WA to Paris, with a final destination of Pisa, Italy, I must say that the menu that tickled my palate was surprisingly tasty. And, since I haven’t traveled in over 3 decades, I learned that I could have all the wine I wanted for free!

And the menu ~ Provencale-style couscous and smoked salmon, Chicken Fricassee served with a vegetable medley and mashed potatoes with chives, Cheese, French Bread, Cranberry-orange cake, and, of course, Cabernet.

Air France Dinner - So Tasty!

A view just after take-off from my window seat.

View Just After Take-off

And arriving in Paris, just prior to landing.

View Just Before Landing In Paris

And my very first step into Pisa, and doing a little something illegal (oops!).

Luggage, luggage, where is my luggage? And then, oh my gosh, I’m about to see my daughter.

And what I’ve been waiting so long for – accompanied by tears of joy . . .

Hey, didn’t Krosbie find a good-looking Italian boyfriend?!

My Daughter's Italian Love

One happy Papa!

Joy at last!

We say Florence, and they say . . .

I'm DEFINITELY not in America anymore. This is how Italians spell 'Florence'!

The original Florence is a walled-in city, for protection from enemies centuries ago. And here are the Gates to Florence. Magnificent, huh!

Gates to Florence

Get ready for a view for Lovers.

And now, some of the local nuances of Italian culture.

The Wall around Florence that protected the city against invasions (but not tourists!).

The Arno River that runs through Tuscany (the province that Florence is in). The water is a little risky for even fish to swim in.

A typical front door. Eat your heart out, Home Depot!

Scooters - Italy's main transportation for the locals. And watch out if you're a tourist walking!

My first panini (sandwich) - prosciutto, cheese, bread, but NO dressing. Italians typically eat sandwiches dry. Sorry Kraft and Heinz, you lose out!

Well, that’s plenty for the first day of arrival of my life-changing adventure in Florence, Italy.  We then decided to stop by Paolo’s house (where Krosbie lives too) for me to freshen up and drop off my luggage.

Entry to Paolo's Apartment Condominium. (Isn't she cute!)

It was then time to get ready for the evening life of Florence. I decided to defy jet lag and keep on “touristing” despite being up for the past 20-some-odd hours. I figured the night was young and so must be my attitude!

So, ciao for now, and make sure to stay tuned to see night life in Florence, Italy!

Tags: Air France, Arno River, Firenze, Florence, Gates to Florence, Italy, panini, scooter

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 at 7:49 PM and is filed under Italy Adventure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.