My nephew, Julian with Alina in tow, arrived perfectly on time to shuttle his mother and Auntie to the airport. Alina was sweet and playful as usual and Julian was ready with open arms and comforting hugs. Delta is in a newer part of the airport in Austin as they are expanding quite a bit. I sat down to get a bit of accounting done and before I knew it, we were ready to board the first leg of our flight: Priority business class from Austin to Atlanta. Newer plane. Exceptional service. And just as my sweet friend, Isabel said – endless mimosas and warm nuts. I just had orange juice, but I COULD have had endless mimosas had I wanted.

In flight, day 2 just sort of morphed into day 3 of vacation and we began our second leg (for Robyn – third leg for me!) in the beautiful Delta One airbus bed cubicles. Not only a semi-private cubicle, but a clean comforter, fluffy pillow and possibly the best peppered beef dinner I have ever had followed by pure vanilla ice cream topped with caramel and chocolate sauce. Just as I told the flight attendant, I never fathomed that the phrase; “best dinner ever” and “I think I ate too much” would roll out of my mouth on an airline.

After dinner, a bit of accounting in my cozy cubicle 4B and snuggled up in my fluffy comforter and pillow to catch a bit of much needed sleep here and there mixed with my Amazon music in my headphones, the time passed relatively easy and comfortably for an 8+ hour flight. Just as we were landing in Paris, the sun  was starting to rise.  We retrieved our luggage (and way too much of it by the way) then made our way to the taxi area.  We noticed several polizia with automatic weapons across their chests and ready at a moment’s notice.  Our taxi driver explained that the Italian President Sergio Mattarella was visiting Florence for the 500th anniversary of the death of Davinci. Hence the additional security.  Good to know!Checked into the beautiful AC Hotel Firenze (the Marriott), relaxed with a hot shower and a nap before heading out for dinner.  We walked to a Ristorante Pizzeria – very authentic.  Cute and homey decor. Ordered two different entrees (one was wood fired pizza – Yummy!) so we could share and taste.  Since dinner hours begin at 7:30pm and then  takes three hours, we were more than ready for a little Law and Order in Italian and a regular night’s rest!