Florence
I went to Florence for two reasons: there was some training I needed to attend to familiarize myself with some online tools that I would soon be utilizing, and I had to meet and interview with some people who had an abundance of work and no one to do it. Considering that I hadn't been working in three months, this seemed like a match made in... well... Tuscany.
I met a man on the plane trip to Frankfurt who was headed to Russia for a mission trip for his church and he and I talked about quite a bit. I wouldn't say the conversation necessarily got me all fired up about missions, but it certainly planted a seed I have been unable to shake. It made me consider just what I have been accomplishing with all of this travel. Is it all about the paycheck or is there more to it?
Upon exiting the airport, I approached the taxi stand and inquired as to the price of a ride to the hotel. When the driver quoted me a figure of 23 euros, I decided walking 3 kilometers wasn't that bad after all. I walked a lot when I was there and there were some personal issues that made the experience very original for me. I somehow managed to get booked to two hotels, one of which was a much farther walk from the training center than the other... Needless to say I went to the closest one and prayed for a miracle.
If you ever find yourself in Florence, you need to go here:
I met a man on the plane trip to Frankfurt who was headed to Russia for a mission trip for his church and he and I talked about quite a bit. I wouldn't say the conversation necessarily got me all fired up about missions, but it certainly planted a seed I have been unable to shake. It made me consider just what I have been accomplishing with all of this travel. Is it all about the paycheck or is there more to it?
Upon exiting the airport, I approached the taxi stand and inquired as to the price of a ride to the hotel. When the driver quoted me a figure of 23 euros, I decided walking 3 kilometers wasn't that bad after all. I walked a lot when I was there and there were some personal issues that made the experience very original for me. I somehow managed to get booked to two hotels, one of which was a much farther walk from the training center than the other... Needless to say I went to the closest one and prayed for a miracle.
If you ever find yourself in Florence, you need to go here:
...and talk to this guy:
This guy is Giorgio, and he knows more people in my former company than I do. They have sat at his bar and told stories and eaten the world's worst bar snacks and laughed with Giorgio at the craziness in the world. When I got the chance to talk with Giorgio, he told me all about the guys I was working with. "He is very disaster" he would tell me. Later, he got out his collection of business cards and began to lay them out on the bar, in order of levels of disastrousness. Giorgio is, without a doubt, a national treasure.
Fun Facts
The Ponte Vecchio is the only bridge in Florence that survived World War II. Hitler said it was too beautiful to destroy.