Scott

View of Florence from the Pitti Palace.

The flight was uneventful, but I got in about 30 minutes late, which was just enough to mess up my arrival plans. After getting off the plane I caught the Leonardo Express, which took me from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport to the main Termini in downtown Rome, about a 30 minute trip. This caused me to miss my 9am train. I gave up on the self service kiosks in favor of a human to get things straightened out. She put me on a 10:30 train – which would have put me in Florence at 12:00 – just in time.

Unfortunatly, something was up with the trains and everything was late. As of 11:00 the 9:30 train was just leaving. The terminal was full of nervous touristas. Luckily my train pulled up at about the same time, and we were on our way to Florence. I got to my apartment around 1pm, which was an hour later than I was supposed to meet the rental agents. With no cell phone and not being able to find a pay phone-and pulling along my rolling bag-I gave in and ducked into the hair salon next door. The guy was able to call Alba, and she let me in my apartment.

I got in and settled and spent the first day or two exploring and recovering from jet lag. The apartment is great – small and cold at first. I shut a couple doors and it warmed up. It’s supposed to warm up this week, so I can spend a bit more time up there. Here is a view of the first sunset from my terrace.

Sunset over the Arno from the terrace.

There is spotty internet access here in my apartment, and that’s been a godsend. Mike and I installed Skype before I left, and that’s been great for a few late night calls. I also talked with my brother in Michigan, who just installed Skype as well.

It’s been very cold and I didn’t bring a hat and scarf, so I wandered to the Mercato Centrale and picked up both. Very fashionable. The hat is rainproof with a fleece lining. There are ear flaps but my vanity prevents me from posting those pics.

The new hat.

Saturday night I finally met up with Doug and we took the bus across the Arno River to the villa they are in. Stuart’s friend Erica was in from Madrid, so we all hung out and had a great dinner and a little wine. Erica is a musician and teaches music, so it was quite the artsy crowd. Doug and Bob are here for 5 months and Stuart for a month. They’ve been great about going out and getting work done, and the results are on display in the dining room. I have lots of catching up to do.

I’m realizing this sounds like a horrible Christmas letter, so to wrap things up I got my Amici degli Uffizi card yesterday – Friends of the Uffizi – which allows me open access to about 20 museums around the city. No reservations – just need to go through security. I spent a few hours at the Uffizi yesterday, and I’ll head down there with Doug and Stuart today. They’re supposed to be here any minute , so I’ll wrap this up for now. More later.

Update: We had a great day in Florence. Started off at the Pitti Palace and the saw the work of Francesco Furini. I found a quiet bench upstairs and sketched for a while while Doug and Stuart drew downstairs. It got crowded after a while, so we went off for lunch.

Stuart and Doug.

The afternoon was spent at the Palazzo Vecchio before meeting Bob and Erica for the invisible parade honoring the last of the Medici’s. Today was a holiday in honor of her, but neither she nor the promised parade ever appeared. That was fine by us, so we found a quiet place for dinner next to the Medici Chapel. That was followed up by gelato, and here we are. Another early day tomorrow at the Gallery of Modern Art – also at the Pitti Palace.

Stuart, Erica, Doug, and Bob.

I woke up at an ungodly hour even though my plane doesn’t leave until late in the afternoon (from Dulles). Not sure I’ve ever been better prepared for a trip, but since I’ll be gone 25 days or so I needed to tie up as many loose ends as I could. Packing started a week or two ago, but a shopping trip with Kate at Potomac Mills last Sunday forced me to abandon almost everything and start over.

We all vowed to pack light, since we’re going to have our share of schlepping and big bags suck. One small bag that fits in the overhead compartment and a manpurse – that’s it – so no checked luggage. The apartment in both Florence and Rome have washers (not sure about dryers) so clean clothes won’t be a problem. Mike found some good packing and travel tips here. I doubt I’ll ever be that efficient.

So while it’s harrowing getting ready to leave for almost a month, it’s been non-stressful as far as last minute work deadlines go. I got a haircut and massage yesterday, and all was calm until my accountant Laurie harshed my mellow with a phone call at around 5:00 with a few questions and one potentially expensive slip up on my part. After a few hours on the phone with her and my bank, we got it straightened out, and it won’t cost me anything but high blood pressure. Thanks again to Laurie for all her help. Mike got in just as I was wrapping up my taxes and Valentine’s Day was celebrated with pizza and Project Runway.

Today – just a few things to do. Print my boarding pass and a few maps, and take some digital pics of the new work and download them to my tablet. I’m stuck on a few, so I want to be able to ponder them while I’m there and ready when inspiration strikes. With the tablet I can sketch right on the image of the painting. I’m also bringing along supplies and hope to get some new work going while I’m there.

DC artist Doug Kingsbury and Bob are already over in Florence, just starting a 4 month stay thanks to houseswap.com – or something like that. Stuart, an artist friend of Doug’s from Minnesota is staying with them for awhile as well. It sounds like Doug and Stuart have a great routine down and getting lots of work done. I hope to tag along with them. My plein air painting is a little rusty, but I’ll give it a shot.

The apartment I’m staying in looks great from the photos online. I’ll snap some pics and post here when I can. It has a big terrace with views of Florence. Even though the weather is in the 50s and 60s, I hope to get lots of use from it.

Shiny, sunny day here in DC, and it looks even better over there. Off to the airport shortly.