Did Anybody Get Our Passports?

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As much as we enjoyed Rome, when you are in the city you put up with a certain amount of chaos.

After all that chaos, we were ready for some peace and quiet ... in Tuscany.

We rose early, had breakfast and caught a taxi to the train station, where we arrived in time to have a leisurely cup of coffee before our fast train departed for Florence.

As we enjoyed our coffee, Karen suddenly asked "Did anybody get our Passports out of the safe?"

You see ... at the Hotel Campo de Fiori (which is a fantastic hotel) there are no safes in the rooms ... so we left our Passports and our extra cash in the hotel safe ... where they remained ... long after our departure.

Karen's question launched us into action (some would call it PANIC but we prefer to think of it as action).

"Do we need our Passports?"

"Of course we need our Passports!"

"Do we? Can't we have the hotel Fed Ex them to the villa in Tuscany?"

"Do we need a Passport to rent a car?" (for the record you do need a Passport to rent a car).

In the end we decided we best not leave Rome without our Passports.

We changed our train tickets from a 9:15 a.m. departure to an 11:00 a.m. departure and we put Jeff in a Taxi back to the Campo di Fiori.

After an extraordinary cab ride through morning traffic in Rome, Jeff returned with our Passports and we boarded the fast train to Florence.

For Fuzz and Jeanne this was their first experience with a European fast train, and they loved watching the countryside race by at 220 mph as we climbed into the mountains of Tuscany.

After a short trip of 74 minutes, we arrived in Florence, the economic, cultural and spiritual center of Tuscany.

We rented a car and drove to the Villa Il Poggiale, a lovely villa about 20 kilometers south of Florence. We relaxed all afternoon, and in the evening we had drinks and dinner and watched the sunset.

Tomorrow ... our cooking class.

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Comments

[Kris]

I'm glad you got the passport thing figured out! Enjoy the beauty and relaxation of the Villa it truly is one of the most wonderful places I've ever been! Enjoy some wine by the pool!