It was time to say goodbye to Italy.
We ate our last hotel breakfast (Goodbye pastry buffet! Sniffle), went back to our room to finish packing and watched our last bit of Italian Food Network.
As we checked out of our hotel, I "donated" my crutches to the hotel staff. They were a tad confused as to why I was handing them over. They were too big to carry home and I hadn't really needed them for the past few days.
Goodbye, Basilica di San Lorenzo and old side streets!
Goodbye, Italian pigeons!
We walked from our hotel to the Unita Tram station.
The tram took us directly to the airport, known as Aeroporto di Firenze "Amerigo Vespucci".
It took about twenty minutes to get to the airport.
The airport itself was very small. I think there was only one runway.
Even though it was small, it was STILL confusing trying to figure out where we needed to go.
We ended up walking down these long, narrow corridors to get to our gate.
Mikey led the way.
Katie and Huzbend brought up the rear.
I hope, Firenze, I hope.
I would go back in a heartbeat.
We settled in to wait for our flight.
During the wait, we were entertained by a cute puppy and by a gentleman that couldn't read Italian and went into the lady's restroom.
At the very last minute, they changed our gate.
We were able to find it and then had to wait in line to board.
Florence had one of those airports where you walk on the tarmac to your plane.
The first leg of our return was a short flight to Paris Charles De Gaulle airport.
On the way, we passed over the Alps.
It made for some breathtaking scenery.
Landed on-time at Paris CDG.
UGH.
We navigated our way through these weird bright yellow walled hallways to get to our gate.
Bye, France!
Well, goodbye three hours after this photo was taken.
"Can I say that I've been to France now?"
We sat and sat and sat some more waiting for our plane to arrive.
There really wasn't any good food to eat where we were.
For example, Katie ate a salad with no dressing, tortilla chips, dried pineapple and pomegranate seeds.
I think the rest of us had sandwiches? I can't remember.
We were sitting across from a perfume shop and got so bored that Katie and I wandered our way through it.
There were lots of toddlers to watch and they were pretty entertaining.
They were just going crazy, running around.
One had a scream like a Ring Wraith.
We watched as another escaped from an adult, get grabbed by said adult, fall on the floor in a temper tantrum and then be dragged away until their pants got pulled completely off by the carpet.
FINALLY, the plane arrived and after a little more delay, we boarded.
This was going to be a long flight. Paris allllll the way to Seattle.
As the flight got underway, Mikey developed a headache that would not quit.
And then, he barfed.
He barfed on his blanket, his jacket and on himself.
Huzbend assisted with cleanup efforts because he was sitting next to him.
He barfed three more times, each time running to the bathroom.
I asked the flight attendant for some "air sickness" bags so he didn't have to run to the bathroom.
Can you imagine if he didn't make it?
Ew.
He didn't eat at all and slept for most of the flight (when he wasn't busy barfing).
The rest of the flight was uneventful.
The food was blah, the entertainment okay. I was distracted by Mikey not feeling well.
We arrived in Seattle at about 8pm.
I'm not sure if it was because we were all exhausted, but it felt like a very long time for the car park shuttle to come and get us.
Mikey was doing better but was still jittery and shaky.
We arrived home at about 9:30pm and collapsed.
Just like any travel that we do, there are always ups and downs.
Usually, more ups than downs.
I guess the downs are part of the experience too.
They add a certain flavor to your memories.
This trip was a bucket list trip for us.
I wouldn't hesitate to go back again.
The Renaissance center of Florence had to be one of my favorite places ever.
So many sights and sounds. A little bit of chaos on the edges. History surrounding you.
The best part about it was that I was able to share it with my kids.
Now they too can see what all the fuss is about when people talk about the Renaissance.
Katie created an entire presentation about how Bernini needs to be named as the fifth Ninja Turtle for a school project later in the Fall and Mikey still thinks the "pope-uh is taking a poop-uh" is hilarious.
I couldn't be prouder.
