The distance between Sorrento and Florence was 318 miles and the bus would be making a number of stops along the way which meant this would be one of our longer trips. The distance from Assisi would have been much shorter at just over a hundred miles, but due to the earthquake we couldn’t blame the tour company for poor planning. The bus had a toilet and a sink, but we were discouraged from using it often because the sewer tank would require draining. Fortunately, we were provided with plenty of bottled water. We were warned not to use the local water for drinking or brushing our teeth. 

Since we would be on the road a good portion of the day, our bus left early. All the seats were occupied with two passengers. We had a daily rotation plan. Every morning, each person moved forward to assure no one would be able to claim the most preferred seats for the entire trip. When those seated on the right reached the first seat, their next rotation would take them to the back seat on the left. Joy's legs were longer than mine, and she was uncomfortable with the distance between seats, so I always had the window seat allowing her knees to be partly in the aisle. There were thirty-two people on the tour including the tour guide and driver.

As we traveled, our tour guide pointed out places of interest along the way. One of the first places we went through was Naples. We passed by an area where marble was mined. The guide said the granite and marble quarries in that area were where artists like Michelangelo found the stone for their masterpieces. Another fact about Naples was that it was the third largest city in Italy, and by area, it was the largest city in Europe at 3.8 sq. mi. It was founded by the Greeks 2,500 years ago, and was once a part of the Kingdom of Sicily. It has seven castles which can still be visited today. However and maybe because we wouldn’t be stopping there, our guide called it a dirty city, and she also said there was much crime there. She mentioned crime in connection with the mafia.

Our trip toward Florence meant we had to travel back through parts of Rome. Finally, the Jacksonville couple, whose father had died was able to get a flight from Rome back to Jacksonville. We noticed things we’d missed before, but for the most part, we stayed on the main road due to lack of time. The bus made several rest stops at smaller places  along the way, giving us time to stretch our legs, visit the ‘bagno’ and buy snacks or souvenirs. At one of the larger places, we stayed long enough to buy ourselves something for lunch. I chose not to eat much, since I didn’t feel well.

The toilets at places we stopped were sometimes a puzzle. You might find a button to push on the wall or top and other times there was a chain to pull or a foot pedal. Often the restrooms we visited had cleaning attendants and they expected a small tip. In some of the nicer hotels where we had rooms, we would find our bathrooms contained a bidet. Back then, a lot of Americans didn't even know what they were used for.

I didn’t feel like doing a lot of talking, so I kept my eyes toward the window and on the passing scenery with views of the lush countryside. We drove past olive groves and vineyards and large farms with lovely villas. Many of the houses appeared to be stucco or stone with red tile roof tops. Sometimes we saw fields where sheep or goats were grazing. The towns were quaint. A lot of the houses were small and boxy. The two-story houses looked like one square box sitting on top of another one. None of the windows had screens and often a line of laundry stretched from the window and was anchored somewhere beyond. Possibly there were pulleys to pull the laundry back up once it dried. Other windows had flower boxes filled with colorful blooms. Tall tapered cypress trees grew everywhere. There were many ancient hill towns scattered about. We would visit several of them on this trip, but I don’t remember visiting a hill town on the way to Florence.  

The first place the bus took us, when we finally reached Florence, was to the Piazzale Michelangelo. Here we saw a huge bronze replica of the original David. This stature was fairly new by European standards. It was commissioned and placed there in 1869 by Giuseppe Paggi, a Florentine architect. This place was on a hillside overlooking a magnificent view of the skyline of Florence. There was a museum and other things of interest at the site, but the main reason for this stop was to get a group picture of all of us with the city of Florence in the background. Photographers were there to take pictures, and other busses of tourists were also awaiting their turn for having a picture taken. The hope was that most of us would purchase the large group photo as a memento of our trip.

After the picture was made the bus took us to the hotel arranged for our stay. We sat in the lobby of the luxury hotel for what seemed like hours while they got around to assigning each couple their room. Perhaps the main elevators were out in this hotel, because we were taken to our rooms by way of a lift beside the check-in desk. There was only room for two couples and their luggage to ride up at a time.

It was late afternoon and I had to call you as soon as we got to the room, because Florence time was five hours ahead of our time back home. I didn't want to interrupt your sleep time.  I was almost too tired to talk to you and give you an update. You assured me that everything was going well at home and our children were checking on you. You had gone out to eat with Carol. I knew unless something truly major happened, I wouldn’t be likely to find out until I returned home because you would assume I was too far away to solve any crisis. I couldn’t let it bother me, but I knew nothing ever ran that smoothly in our household. 

We had another long Italian supper ahead of us for the evening, I could hardly wait until it ended and we were taken back to the hotel. Luckily, I was tired enough to sleep in spite of my cold. We would be in this area for two more nights. Florence had had rain earlier and a front had come through. It was much cooler here than it had been further south.