Arriving in Florence

Our trip from Fiumicino to Florence was OK. We had to straighten out some hotel booking problems before we left though. The Frecciargento express was good although there was a shortage of luggage storage space. It was a short walk over the cobblestones to the hotel and we were welcomed for the first of three stays at Hotel Mario's.

After the short walk to the hotel we checked in and I unpacked the bike. All good. We walked down to San Lorenzo markets and had dinner there. What they have done in the restoration is fantastic! The lowest floor is still a traditional fruit, vegetable, meat, fish etc. market. The next floor though is altogether new: more a less a food court, but no Maccas here - all individual stalls selling specialty Tuscan food to eat at the tables there. A baker, a pasta maker, a patisserie, a cheese shop, one for seafood, one for sandwiches, a pizza place, a bar and a Chianti Classico wine bar, a cooking school and lots, lots more! Our meal of antipasti, gnocchi (exceptional) and watermelon all washed down with Chianti Classici. Wonderful.

There is a third floor which appears to be restaurants but we didn't go there.

Morning walk at Fiumicino

Some shots from my early morning walk along the beach and river.

Uneventful trip

Four flights over and done with. All on time, no dramas and good service.

Meet Marie in Dubai and we got together for Rome arrivals. Quick taxi trip and dinner and now off to bed.

There is always a small bump in the road

Last night I got one of those "I'm sorry there has been a mistake with your booking" emails from one of the hotels. They wanted to provide one of the rooms without an en suite. I protested quite strongly and all is well with my booking again :-)

Rimini to Firenze

If the bicycles are not in bags then they (and the cyclists) must travel on i treni Regionali.
The way to do this is to change in Faenza.

Here are some potential solutions:

13:00 Rimini Regionale 11536 13:37 Faenza
14:20 Faenza Regionale 23570 16:11 Firenze SMN.

14:44 Rimini Regionale Veloce 6564 15:35 Faenza
16:16 Faenza Regionale 21480  18:11 Firenze SMN

By contrast if the bikes are in bags then the Freccia trains run about every half hour and take about two hours for the journey. For example,

14:19 Rimini Frecciabianca 9818 15:15 Bologna Centrale
15:35 Bologna Centrale Frecciarossa 9569 16:10 Firenze SMN.

Bagging the bike at Rimini and unbagging at Firenze adds about 30 minutes (assuming only dropping one wheel and seat post out).

13 days to go

I don't think I could be any more ready! I'm completely packed, I got some Euros from the bank... I could leave with five minutes notice.

This morning we have scheduled a planning meeting brunch with the four of us... the first and last joint planning activity f2f.

Phone SIMs

If we go Vodafone (usually the best choice), this is the current best looking Vodafone plan. You just have to remember to cancel it before you leave Italy. The cancellation can be done in advance.
http://www.vodafone.it/portal/Privati/Tariffe-e-Prodotti/Tariffe/Estero/Vodafone-Holiday-English

So how to get one?

The best bet to buy appears to be the Vodafone store at Parco Leonardo outside Fiumicino which is a shopping mall about 10km away. It is open seven days till 21:30. There is a small local store that is only about 600m from the hotel but it looks less likely, at Via Giorgio Giorgis 89/A, 50, Fiumicino. Or we could wait till Firenze but the stores there are not open on Sunday however there is a large one very close to the hotel that is open on Monday. I'd be for buying on Sunday unless K&J can get two purchased on Saturday in which case I think it would be tolerable to wait till Monday for Marie and I.