Tuesday, June 26, 2018: Italy, Here We Come!
My Italian adventures began when I was invited by the Liberal Studies Program at New York University to present a paper at a conference at our campus in Florence, Italy, called Villa La Pietra. Since it has always been my wont to combine international work with travel, I invited a few lady friends to accompany me on a tour of Italy that would follow the conference. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my friend Nafisa from Bombay, whom I have known for close to 35 years and, closer home, my friend Delyse Fernandes, whom has been a close friend for the past 22 years, jumped at the opportunity. I welcomed their company instantaneously as our logistical arrangements were set in motion. For an itinerary, I chose those parts of Italy that I have never visited and that had long remained on my personal Bucket List. Halfway through our plans, Nafisa requested us to include her cousin Shahida from Surat, Gujarat. I did not know her at all but trusted Nafisa’s judgment that she would be a compatible travel companion who would fall in line with our agenda quite amicably.
I had less than 48 hours at home in Southport, after my return from South America (Peru and Ecuador) during which time Llew and I rushed off to Basking Ridge, New Jersey, to comfort our friends, the Bhagats, as a sudden catastrophe had taken Mukaram Bhagat from us while we were in Lima, Peru. Thankfully, I had researched and written my paper and composed my Powerpoint presentation for the Conference, my case was all packed for Italy (prior to my departure for Peru) and I had photocopied all the travel literature that I usually carry on each trip. There was not much more to do other than to ensure that my passport and medication were in my baggage before I set off for 12 days in Italy.
Flight from New York to Florence (via Paris):
Delyse’s husband Marcus dropped her off to my place by 9.45 am, in time for us to take the 10.20 Metro-North train from Fairfield, Connecticut, to Kennedy airport in New York City. It left me enough time to rush off to my local Pequot Library in Southport in his car to print out a final copy of our itinerary before we set out. The train arrived in time, dropped us to Grand Central Terminal at 12 noon, from where we took a yellow cab to Kennedy airport (for a flat rate of $52). We arrived at Kennedy airport at 1.00 pm. checked in our bags and went to look out for lunch. Sticker shock at the Air France terminal led us to Starbucks where we picked up coffees and baked goods and slowly made our way to the gate for our 4.20 pm departure. Ours was a red-eye (overnight) flight. It would be the next day before we arrived in Paris and then in Florence.
Until tomorrow, arrivederci…
No comments:
Post a Comment