Airport

Kim, Matt and Isby before boarding the flying Indian Restaurant, Air India. We had to say good-bye to our sweeties at the airport and begin our journey, which we would later name the Amazing Race.

The flight from LA to Frankfurt went smoothly and included wonderful food and beautifully dressed flight attendants. The only issue was trying to get off the plane after it landed...we sat on the runway for an hour. We had to literally run off the plane and go through customs, negotiating a wild maze of stairs, hallways, elevators, lobbies, and a security check to find our gate.

Getting to Rome was a cake walk. We got off the plane, got our bags, and found the trian shuttle to the Roma Termini. I guarded the bags while the others figured out how to buy a ticket. Validating it turned out to be a challenge, and we missed the first train. We caught the next train, and had to run accross the entire Rome train station to find our next train, lugging a ton of luggage. We just made the train to Arrezzo. It was a smooth trian ride, but interesting because it was dark out, and we had no idea where we were.

Upon arriving to Arrezzo, we lugged our stuff down stairs and up stairs, then back down and back up, and caught our next train back to Castiglion Fiorentino. By this time, I was exhausted. When we got off the train, Dave was there with his rental car! I got in the back seat under the luggage and got a ride up the massive hill to school. What a treatf! I owe Dave and Laurie big time!

All of the graduate students plus Joel are in one big five bedroom apartment. Yarnie and Ana are in one room, Dave and Laurie are upstairs, Raphael, Henry and Matt are in a room, Joel has a room, and Sarah, Isby and I are downstairs. We have a big communal living room and a little foyer which is big enough to do Pilates/Yoga in. The place is very nice, although the streets are amazingly steep!!!!

Here's a picture having my first Cappuccino in Italy. It was fantastic. Luckily Dave and Laurie had already scouted out the scene, so we enjoyed our coffee in a beautiful spot.

Here's a pic from the top of the tower. The valley behind us is just gorgeous.