Well, at least the flight was first class.

Tammi and I have been planning this trip for a year because, after three years of studying Italian, we figured what better place to practice than Italy? So, with Florence as our destination and a rented apartment that looked great on the Internet, we packed our bags last Monday and prayed we could get on a flight (our dad's a retired pilot). We did and they even put us in first class. Great flight to Milan and it went downhill from there. The airport is an hour from the train station, an hour to figure out how to get there and another two hours on the train to Florence. We found our apartment easily and let's just say the pictures were deceiving. Try lugging two 50 lb bags up 57 steps only to find the apartment doesn't actually have Internet, the lights work sometimes and Tam's convinced the place was previously used as a cat refuge. But as Joe says, she can smell a flea fart in Panama. First errand...air fresheners. Other than that it's a very convenient place and an easy walk to anywhere. And hey, we're in Florence. How bad can that be? And they understand us when we speak in Italian! Hmmm, 57 steps two or three times a day...Dio mio!