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Tuesday was a day of mixed emotions: nervousness , anxiousness, and excitement. Carolyn and I were up bright and early to get in some last minute studying for our final, final exam. Carolyn’s went well; mine unfortunately was more tedious and difficult than I had anticipated. However, once the clock stroke 11, I put it all behind me: TIME FOR ITALY! I practically sprinted back to Courtfield (a combination of “get me away from that classroom” and “get me on that plane”!) to do some last-minute packing and have a quick bite to eat before leaving for the airport at 1.
We opted to take a cab instead of the tube to Heathrow due to some nervousness. The European Travel Warning has shaken some students and parents up, but so far we have not noticed anything different around London (airport security didn’t even seem heightened). When we arrived at Terminal 4, we unfortunately had to wait in the Alitalia queue for about 40 minutes before we all managed to get our boarding passes; then, on to security. Every 20 feet or so, attendants holding clear Ziplocs asked if we had any liquid or gels. Carolyn and I, both having never taken liquids out of our carry-ons before, just went on our way. However, once I got to the actual machine, they insisted I take anything liquid out of my Vera Bradley bag, instead of just sticking the whole thing in a tray. I think the guy thought I was pretty high maintenance due to the amount of mini-shampoo bottles I had, but hey, what if I run out!? As I was rushing to take everything out, people waiting behind me, I hit my finger against my razor, but it didn’t hurt that much so I thought nothing of it. For some reason they wanted to send my computer through the scanner again, separate from my shoes and purse, so I obviously complied, but once I did the security woman (sounding genuinely concerned) asked, “Are you all right miss!?” I looked down to find blood dripping down my finger. She sent her supervisor to get me some band-aids, and I headed to the bathroom to wash it out. But anyone who knows me well knows this would have been too good to be true. Cue 5 minutes later to find me sitting on the floor of a Heathrow bathroom (you know I MUST have really needed to), white as a ghost. Luckily, I had brought the rest of my dark chocolate bar with me (chocolate ALWAYS saves the day) and found a water fountain, so 5 minutes later I was back to normal. Nothing like a little excitement to start off the trip!
The four of us then waited about an hour and a half for the gate number to be displayed before heading there to board just a few minutes later. We had great seats on our first leg to Rome: I had a 3-seat row all to myself, Maggie and Carolyn had one to themselves behind me, and next to them Ashley had an aisle with the middle seat free. We weren’t even in the air more than 10 minutes before Ashley was sound asleep (I wish I was able to do that!). After a few yummy snacks, we landed in Rome about 2 and a half hours later. We had about a 30 minute layover: just enough time for a quick bite to eat before boarding for Florence.
After what seemed like 20 minutes, we had landed in Firenze! We all split a cab (the driver of which was a cute little-old Italian man) and checked into our B&B, conveniently located near the train station and complete with an amazing view of the Duomo! We also had access to a rooftop terrace that gave a panoramic view of the heart of Florence. Major pluses.
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| View from our Window |
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| View from the Terrace at Night |
xo LC
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