Hi friends! Welcome to the first post of this monumental, inconceivable and definitely memorable blind sightseers through the archive tour!
Nancy (from Nancy Loderick’s Blog) has requested to see more of ‘The Blind Sightseers’ adventures and escapades… Well i’m never bored of posting our amazing memories (new & old) as it’s easy to forget just how blessed we are (and have been). I’ll be sharing a post (or 2) each week (nearly 100 posts of travels) so you (and Nancy) can join us on our monumental adventures. This new endeavour is going to bring back some amazing memories for me and Sarah, and i hope it brings lots of smiles, laughter and interest during 2022…Let’s start in 2014, the year i got my first passport at 38 years old! 😲
Wow, the time has come…Me and my lovely wife Sarah are off to Florence, Italy to visit the exhibition where some of my photos will be exhibited! The exhibition is being held at The Prestigious ‘PALAZZO MEDICI RICCARDI‘, Florence, Italy. I still can’t believe this! It is my first time abroad and i’m really excited!!
The Airport…
First i’d like to give a big thanks to our brother Ben who kindly managed to wake up at 4:15am and drive us to the airport, guide us into the airport, check in our case and take us to the assistance desk, thanks Ben, we’d still be wondering round the airport now! if it wasn’t for you!
The airport assistance was fantastic and couldn’t of made it any easier for us. We we’re guided through the security, taken to the shops, given a lanyard that buzzes when it’s time to go to the buggy…And yes we got to ride on the mean machine that takes us all the way to the gate! I was the first to board the plane and i couldn’t wait to finally enable “Airplane Mode” on my iPhone whilst sat on the plane! This may seem like a small thing, but remember this is my first time out of the country, and i like to get joy from everything! 😀
The Plane…
I think my wide eyes and silly grin throughout the whole plane journey was getting tiresome for Sarah (she has been on planes lots of times). But it was fantastic! The best part is when the pilot “Gives it the beans” and accelerates down the runway when taking off, i’ve felt acceleration simular to this in different cars that i’ve driven before i went blind in 2000…But wait it is now 2022 and ‘The Blind Sightseers’ have now driven Supercars , and that Lamborghini Gallardo felt even better!! But when you think just how big and heavy this plane is, it’s just amazing!
Yay we’re in Italy…
Once we landed at Pisa (and i’d stopped saying that i was in Italy and not England), the assistance were already there and waiting to escort us from the plane. They also sorted out our passports and picked up our suitcase. Now it was time to get our first Italian coffee while we wait for the bus to Florence. ☕
Sarah described the beautiful panoramic landscapes from the bus (i couldn’t see them until i got back home to zoom in on my large screen) as it took about an hour to get to Firenze. We then got a taxi to our hotel, as i read on trip advisor that although it’s only about half a mile, it’s tucked away in a small courtyard, and as you know…We can get lost within a 10 foot radius, lol! 🤣
Hotel Brunelleschi…
Wow, the hotel was fantastic, and the staff were unbelievably helpful. Once we were settled in to our amazing room, and logged onto their WiFi. We decided to venture out a little and try and figure out where we were in relation to the duomo and the palace where my photos were being exhibited. We knew we were close but as Sarah & i can’t see enough to read a map, we could easily get lost and never find anything!
Shortly after leaving the hotel and finding the main street, we heard the thunderous sound of the bells (now they are ear splitting loud) from the north (i think) coming from the Cathedral of Florence (Il Duomo di Firenze), The bells would make our navigation much easier for the rest of our holiday as the Cathedral was only about 300 yards away from our hotel, thank you bells! We then headed back to our starting point and headed west, where we found an even better point of reference!! (see below)
The twinkling lights on this department store were simply amazing to just stand and look at, and i instantly imagined our home covered in the same lights at Christmas (Sarah said you’re not covering our house like the National Lampoon’s house, lol). It was too dark now and we didn’t want to get lost on our first day! All of the streets were decorated beautifully with illuminated stars, borbals & bells, it made the whole place seem like a magical dream world. So after one more photo (see below), we headed back to the hotel with expressions of wonder on our faces. What an amazing, exciting and tiring day, and we have a week of this…Unbelievable! 😲
I hope you’ve enjoyed travelling with ‘The Blind Sightseers’ on my first day abroad? Have you ever been to Florence? 🤔
FitBlitz 