First guest
Well, Susie and I had dinner last night at Il Porcospino, just around the corner from the apartment. By the end of the day, she needed dinner someplace close by. After getting off the train about about 2:30 and dropping her bags at the apartment, we walked around town and she took lots of pictures. We had pizza on the Piazza della Signoria, and a couple of times it felt like we were going to get a big thunderstorm, but luckily it only rained a little while walking from the train station, and not again while she was here. After lunch we hiked all over, even across the Arno and back.
Sunday morning we got going and walked out to Piazzale Michelangelo, grabbing pastries along the way when a place looked good. The views were very good, but the sun was behind the clouds most of the time. We then walked back into town and climbed the Campanile, the belltower. 411 steps. The views were really great, and the sun had come out. It was a little windy for a while, but then it calmed down. After taking lots of pictures (I'll try to put them up on the web tomorrow or Tuesday), we had lunch at Antellesi, a little place that we frequented last year. Then some gelato, and back to the apartment to load pictures onto the computers.
By then it was time for Susie to start heading to the train station -- she went by train to Bologna, and then took a flight back to Munich, where she'll be working the next two weeks. The train part was right on time, and I think we got a train that would give her have plenty of time to get to the airport for her flight.
I went out and did a little more shopping for the next guests: Beth, Alli and Mom & Dad. They get into Pisa tomorrow around 11:00 and then have a bus from the airport to the train station in Florence. I figure they should be settled into the apartment between 2 and 3 o'clock. I will be on a trip with my students to Prato to visit some textile companies and hope to be back before dinner time. I can't wait to see everyone.
Evan, Jason and Brian arrive the next weekend, so we will be busy helping people learn to love Italy.
