Another Home

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Well this all started out on a Friday evening in western Germany. We had just finished work around 5pm and were heading home to get our bags. It wasn’t long until we were off to the Old Dublin for some dinner and drinks. Figured it was the best way to stay up until the 1230am departure from Karlsruhe Hauptbahnhof to Santa Maria Novella here in Florence.
The train station was surprising cold. It had been a mild fall and we had not seen any indication that snow would fall soon. After leaving the pub around 1130pm we arrived at the Bahnhof with about 30 minutes to spare. When we finally figured out which end of the platform our car would be at it was time to board. We were luck enough to have the coachette to ourselves until we were into Italy in the morning. While Jeff fell out shortly after departure I was far too excited to sleep. It had been three and a half years since I had last been to Florence and I had been looking forward to this trip since moving to Germany. Also appealing to me was the chance to see Laguno again. This is arguably the most beautiful scenery in all of Europe. I have only seen this region in the winter but the way the train wraps back and forth around the mountains and then across the lake to repeat the process is fantastic. I remained awake the entire night until we arrived in Milan. From there to Florence I was in and out while we road further and further south and the car filled up. Special note: I remained awake for the "great change" between Bologna and Florence. This is where the landscape changes drastically from the flat farm type land on the north side of this run to the steep mountainous terrain as you head further south.
Upon arrival at S.M.N. in Florence I was in awe of the familiarity of everything. It was fun pointing things out to Jeff like the pillar where Mike and I slept because we couldn’t afford a hotel room or the location of the first hotel I used here where we met some Canadian girls who were far from impressed with another friends antics. Its these small things that make for such memories. Anyway on with the first day. I had made reservations at the Calzaiuoli Hotel before leaving Friday. So first thing I was interested in was finding it and dropping our bags. Luckily it was easy to find and being just one night in the hotel our bags were small and light. So on the way I made sure were walked through the market between the station and the Duomo. The check in experience was very simple. This allowed us to get out and about very quickly.
The plan was simple. No plan. We decided we needed money and were getting hungry. Took us a while to find an ATM but finally I did. I got money out and figured it was best to share this instead of both getting money and then having a lot left over. Can't wait to start using the Euro to help alleviate this problem. So it was on to lunch. I had picked out this place called Zoe's from some web site I found. Don't recall which one anymore. Took us about an hour to find it. It is across the river from everything I had ever seen in Florence before. It has a nice small park between it and the river where we sat down and just kind of rested for a while. Finally we went in. I have traveled around much of western Europe and never really given a second thought to not knowing the languages. It always kind of worked itself out. At least until I moved to Germany and thought I had to learn it to avoid being a bad person or something. Anyway, whether because we were rude or because they really didn’t know English, which is more than possible but we had an adventure ordering. Between the German English and Spanish I know I was able to figure out about 75% of the menu. And so we ordered with that and put the rest to good luck. It generally worked out except for Jeff's milkshake. That was pretty funny.
We spent the rest of the day walking around and checking out the scenery. So much to see and do in this town. There was some kind of Christmas festival going on. We walked to it and decided it wasn’t worth it and went to the nearby park instead. Was a very nice day out. Warm and bright. This was a very welcomed change from Germany and a sharp contrast to what I would face in Leiden later that week. Kind of nice to just hang and check out the people of this city walking by and kids riding their rental 3 wheelers. After some time we made our way back to the hotel for a nap. Not much sleep on the train as the journey can be as good as or better than the destination. And with that, about 430pm, we crashed for a nap.
Hello 6am. That’s right. Naptime became all night without me realizing it. And so we started the day with a little of the news, it was mid November 2001, and finally showered and rolled down stairs for breakfast. I think this was one of the first times I actually used the included breakfast with a hotel. Loaded up on eggs and bread mostly. And some wonderful orange juice. Only on Sunday's did we ever get breakfast in Germany that wasn't at the bakery. And that really only happened probably 4 times in the 5 months I was there. So you can imagine just how good it was to get this one. And all the others as well.
Breakfast done we went up to the room to chill for a while until we were ready to tackle the city and the day. We were booked on the 1159pm train to Zurich and thus had a long day with no place to call home. My mission for the day was to find Stonehenge. You know how when you first do something you can usually do it again or find it again unless you convince yourself it was luck you ever did it or found it? This is what Stonehenge is for me. It all started on my second trip to this wonderful town. We arrived at 5 or 6 pm and were scheduled to leave on a 120am train to Basel, Switzerland. No problem right. Just go get some dinner and some train supplies and we would be off soon enough. Well I had a book that recommended several good pubs. Included in this was Stonehenge. In the description it said you could easily miss the place and that all you would see to know it is a black door with a bumper sticker sized sign. We walked around and around the area it was supposed to be. Finally about to give up we strolled down and ally and happened upon it. And had a great time. So much so that when they moved our train to another platform for departure sometime in the final six hours we missed it. Anyway the precedent was set. Stonehenge would be hard to find. Having not been in Florence in more than three years since then I couldn’t remember exactly how to get there and didn't know if it even still existed. So we were off to exploring while always looking for it.
First stop was a place called J.J. Cathedral's. Said it was an Irish pub and therefore we expected someone there to speak English and probably know of it. Well the staff only spoke limited English and we sat down to have a pint or two and see who would walk by or in. Low and behold a woman comes in and sits down near us. Turns out she was from CT and comes to Florence as much as she can. We talked to her for an hour or two and asked her if she could recommend anyplace in town. She really didn’t share too much as to what to do but we had a pleasant time. Making our way from there we went and started sight seeing. There is so much here everyone needs to see at least once, and really many times. I admit it is hard to write with details of the trip now that it has been more than a year since I took this journey. That and I didn't know the names of many of the sites then. We walked and looked and checked out places and met as many people as we could. Our adventure took us into an Scottish pub near the river around dark. This turned out to be the jackpot I was looking for all day. The barman told us all about Stonehenge and even marked it on my map. Told us it didn’t open to 10pm and even the best way to get there from where we were. Well we were not about to stay in his place for the 4 or so hours until 10 so we moved along when the group we were talking to moved on. Up the street to William's pub for dinner. It came with praise earlier in the day. Fish and chips was the safest bet that night. It was odd how even in a dive-ish pub you can feel out of place if not well dressed in Italy. Around 9 we left and started meandering our way up toward the train station and Stonehenge. We got there a while after 10 and he was just opening. I got another membership card when I explained how I had found it before and that I always come back when in town. It was far too early in the night and a Sunday night to be very busy. We hung out until it was time to go to the train.
Once onboard the train it was a new day and soon to be a new city. See we purposefully picked the return train with the layover in Zurich because I had never been there and this was a 'free' chance to see it and eat a real breakfast instead of train food.

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