by JHowatt | Mar 22, 2023 | Life Style
Enough Pizza, Music and Dominique. Meeting Francesca. November 27. On our fifth day in Florence, the sun shone bright and hot. Jim wanted to find a bench and read. I wanted to prowl and photograph. Across the street, half a block away, I saw a walkway that led... 
by JHowatt | Feb 28, 2023 | Life Style
Viva Florence! Long Live Clowns! Opera! Orchestra Toscana! Four Seasons! November 24, 2023. By day two, our dream vacation to Italy felt more like Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown than a romantic interlude in our favorite city. After almost an hour of Dominique’s... 
by JHowatt | Feb 20, 2023 | Life Style
Welcome to Florence! Just a Few House Rules – Chapter Three November 24, 2022. Jim and I finally got to the front of the taxi line at the airport and climbed in with no luggage But so what? We were in Florence! “We did it!” we cheered, relieved to be on our way to... 
by JHowatt | Jan 31, 2023 | Life Style
I’ll Pay Ten Euros for a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich December 24. I didn’t sip the Welcome Aboard flute of champagne like a proper Lufthansa Business Class passenger. I gulped it down, savoring every drop while Jim arranged the mattress, pillows, and blanket for... 
by JHowatt | Jan 24, 2023 | Life Style
“We’re Late! We’re Late! For A Very Important Date!” December 23, 2022. The twenty-one hour-marathon from California to our Florence VRBO was one week away. We’d been counting the days until the limo would appear in our driveway to whisk us away to the airport, the...