Missing Everything But Enjoying All

First trip to Italy, I let a travel agency book my flight. Thought they would know better about connections , etc. Not true. They set up a connection from Atlanta to Pisa through Paris.(1 hour) If your flight was on time, you still would not have enough time to go through customs and find your next gate in a place that refused to speak English. I should have been at least a little fluent in French, i.e - How do I get to..., where is ..., etc..

Long story short, we missed our flight therefore getting into Pisa around 10:00 PM, then had to drive to Florence and find a Hotel that I had never been to before. A At midnight we called the Hotel and he asked what we were driving. He said we had passed the Hotel at least 3 times. We did not speak Italian either. Not a good choice. Found the hotel, Pitti Palace, for the first night and everyone was great. The manager the next morning got some tickets to the a few of the local art galleries so we would not have to stand in line.

To make a great ending, we found our Villa in Loro Ciuffenna the next day and wow our dreams came true. This villa is paradise in Italy. Indoor pool, waterfall at your back door and a beautiful town nearby with a great coffee shop for 6:00 Am and a greater Gelato shop for 6:00 PM. This villa has 5 bedrooms, and 5 baths with 3 suites and very large common areas for everyone to gather an socialize. It is an awesome place. Wish I could live here forever.

One more caution. Small cities do not work off of tourist schedules. We found out that most restaurants don't open for dinner until 8:00 PM, when workers get off of work in Italy. Still though the best food anywhere in the world.

Bad connection in Paris, but one of the best parts of the flight was waking up and seeing the alps almost close enough to touch. (See image 1)

For Loro Ciuffenna see images 2, 3 and 4.

Hope your trip is as much fun as ours. Even with the difficulties, it was one of greatest trips ever.

Johnny

PS. I did receive two "electronic infraction" tickets in the mail two years later. My credit card had been charged by the car rental company 50 euro each. Such is life! Watch out in Florence. (NO DRIVE ZONES)