Florence , Italy

I had never flown across the pond . Nothing I was told prepared me for it .

It' s a long flight .

LOL .

Our flight left JFK Saturday evening , but I was up at 3am to catch the first flight out of Jacksonville Fl. Concerns about connections and bad summer weather delaying flights prompted me to go early and spend the day in Manhattan . Last year for Fall Ball 2007 , I flew to NYC all by myself . I had never been there before !! Big adventure - best time I've ever had .

Flying to Italy was another thing . I felt like a kid with no one's hand to hang onto...

It rained all day in Manhattan , hence I didn't get any shopping done . I wanted to go to the Warren Tricomi Salon and get one of those cool little straightening irons he sells...maybe this next trip . Instead I spent the day with my Sniffa friend Hice . She has a lovely condo on the upper west side , and we played with her puppy .She called her driver for me , the trip back to JFK was uneventful . The wait for the flight out : eternal !! Our group began to gather in one corner of the waiting area . I was across the room but they were making so much noise I knew it had to be Sniffa so I wandered over...YUP , SNIFFA !!There were a few delays , but we were in the air and winging our way to Italy and I was exhausted . Having hot flashes , fighting nausea , couldn't eat , sleep or get comfortable .

YIKES !!

I'm a crappy traveller or what ?

Stress , anticipation and sleeplessness disappeared when the plane landed in Pisa greeted by sunny skies , a pristine summer Sunday in Tuscany....OMIGOD I'm here . Play it cool girl , no one needs to know how inexperienced you are...

The bus was waiting for us , led by an English speaking woman with a cute sign reading :

" SNIFFAPALOOZA "

In Italian it probably looks kinda funny .

Baggage was loaded , people piled in , cameras flashed and the bus took us the hour ride into the labyrinthine streets of historic Firenze . I'm getting the heebie-jeebies by now .

I WANT TO SHOP .

All of a sudden I feel freaking fabulous !

to be continued...