Thursday, October 24, 2013

Bentornata (Welcome home)

Ponte Vecchio
 A few parting shots of Florence, with color added by my gimpy camera. Kinda cool, I think!

San Lorenzo market
Ponte Vecchio from Ponte alle Grazie
Though it was touch and go at every stop on my flight home, I made it home safe and sound. On the flight from Paris to New York, I sat next to a woman who'd had her passport and wallet stolen in Barcelona, along with all her identification, credit cards and money. So my snafu with the cancelled flight seemed a minor inconvenience, in comparison. I spent the extra weekend enjoying the weather, the company of friends, and the beauty of Florence. I'll be going back soon enough to the same setting, so it's only a temporary parting.

At JFK, I was happy to see that the Customs declaration has been automated, making the process so much faster than the last time I passed through that airport. However, after going through Customs, I had the longest shuttle ride ever to get to another terminal for my flight to Kansas City. I arrived just as they were boarding: sigh of relief!

A fresh pot of Minestrone
My son Jesse picked me up at the airport, and surprised me at home with a fresh pot of Minestrone that he'd made. There was also a bouquet of zinnias from my garden, flowers that I'd planted in the spring. What a great welcome home!

Zinnias from the garden
It's a bit cooler in Lawrence than it was in Italy, and the trees are sporting their fall colors. I took some time the other day to get a few shots of the most colorful ones near my house.

Fall foliage in Lawrence
Since I lost the journal in which I write about my travels, I'm trying to recreate some of the events of the past month and will have more posts coming up soon. I'm thankful that writing on this blog has enabled me to record the highlights of my journey.

1 comment:

dawnmarie said...

Welcome back! Glad to hear you made it back safe and sound.