Honeymoon in Italy: Travel Day(s) to Europe

 

This floral display is in the Miami Airport. Even though we were leaving before the hurricane, we felt "together" with fellow Floridians now that we live in the Sunshine State!

We left for our trip the day before Hurricane Milton was scheduled to hit the west coast of Florida. While we had no idea this would be the case when we booked our flights, this was certainly serendipitous! But it also meant that we hit a lot of traffic going to Miami because so many people were trying to escape the storm. We ended up on a one-lane road (the GPS suggested not taking 75 because of a crash), and it was pretty dicey there; we thought we weren’t going to make it on time. It didn’t help that when we got to the hotel where we would leave the car, there were NO parking spots left (even though I reserved a SpotHero pass). We finally found one, but then the shuttle left without us and we had to wait even longer. I thought for sure we’d miss the flight. But we were very lucky: once at the Miami International Airport, the lines for checking bags and going through security were surprisingly short, and we made it to the gate with plenty of time. Still, I needed Steve to bring me a gin and tonic to calm my nerves; I was still so wound up!

I have only traveled across the Atlantic twice before (once with my grandma to France when I was thirteen, and once for my Birthright trip to Israel). Since I’m used to local flights on Southwest, I was happy as a clam with ITA Airways to be sitting in economy plus with plenty of leg room (first row!), a big TV screen with lots of movies to choose from, and a full dinner of pasta, salad, and a yummy tiramisu-like dessert. We took the red eye, so we slept most of the time, and when we arrived in Italy, it was already well into the morning the next day.

Quite the feast on an airplane, with wine, too!

We worked with a travel agent for this trip (I hate planning vacations, and Steve didn’t want to plan it while we were preparing for our move to Florida), and when we switched our dates on her, she forgot to mention that one of the hotels she already booked was non-refundable. Because of this snafu, after we landed at the Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Rome, we had to take another flight to Florence and spend half a day there (and stay in a tiny, rather crappy hotel) just to go back to Rome the next day. NOT the best planning, especially when we had to wait several hours on our layover at the Rome airport; it felt like a lot of wasted time. BUT we didn’t want to waste any more of it, so once we cleaned up at the hotel, we walked around Florence and had dinner outside. Even though it was breezy and a bit chilly, it was so nice to eat “al fresco” when we had been stuck in an airplane and airport all day long!

Here are a few photos from that first night in Florence:

Our hotel was very close to the Duomo. This building is magnificent! At the time it was built, this was the biggest dome in the world.

The detail is just amazing! The tiny statues, cut-outs, the use of the pink and green marble... Just incredible.

The address of the hotel was 11, and our room number was 11, and both Steve and I have an affinity for that number! He was born on November 11, and I graduated from college in 2011. Kismet!

Stay tuned for my next post: Highlights of Rome!