London to Italy

To get our 9:25am flight to Florence we got up early (6am) just to make sure we got to the airport in plenty of time. It turned out to be a breeze. With our luggage down to the original suitcase and hand luggage each, we set off for the nearby bus stop at 7am. The 474 bus arrived within a couple of minutes and six minutes later we were getting off at the airport! We were actually so early that the City Jet check-in lady wasn't sure they would accept our bags more than 2 hours before the flight. A quick phone call sorted that out so we were checked in and headed off to get breakfast at a cafe,

The flight was only just over two hours but we were kept on the ground for about 25 minutes due to traffic delays over Europe. In the end the pilot made good time and we were on the ground in Florence after an uneventful flight about 1:30pm (local time). Rob was there to meet us so we had another bite to eat and a coffee before heading off to Umbria and Casa Tersalle.

It was a couple of hours drive so we just sat back and enjoyed the scenery. Quite different from rural England with small farmhouses scattered around the hills and reasonably wide (if somewhat under-maintained) rural roads. No more narrow lanes with hedges on each side so you can't see anything. We did notice on the main roads quite a few laybys with young(ish) women sitting on plastic chairs smoking or talking on their phones. Rob said they were waiting for a bus! In New Zealand we have chickens at most lay-bys, here they have prostitutes.

We then settled in for the evening in Rob and Jane's sumptuous accommodation in a very peaceful rural landscape. With a couple of bottles of Italian red wine under our belts and nice pasta and home-made pesto for dinner, we got a reasonably early night.