San Gimignano is not much fun in the rain. Since we do all of our touring outside because there aren't really any churches of note or works of art that are must-see, the view is one of the big draws, so when you can't see the view in the storm it kinds of shoots the idea down the tubes. Being a hill town, the water runs down everywhere, the shopkeepers put out little burlap sack tubes filled with straw, like burms, in front of their doors to turn the water away. Feet are wet, people pull out plastic garbage sack-like coverings (they all look like they are riding the boats below Niagara Falls) and there's lots of scurrying hither and yon.
We made do as best we could and had lunch at our regular restaurant. While we were eating Ettore asked to conference with me. He had notifications on his phone from the weather service that things were really bad out there. Whatever the equivalent of the Department of Transportation, CalTrans or 511.org is in Italy, they were saying that roads leading to the coast were very bad and some were even closed due to flooding and flashflood warnings in multiple regions.
I called the hotel in Viareggio and asked them if they knew what was going on with the roads. Since they are well acquainted with our itinerary they were quick to tell us to cancel our reservations. Even if we were able to get into Viareggio, all plans for the next day were going to have to be canceled because we were not going to get to La Spezia and the Cinque Terre. No cars into La Spezia, no trains into the CT. I thanked them immensely for their straightforwardness.
Now I had to secure rooms for tonight in Florence. The ideal thing would be if the Excelsior in Florence was able to take us all in one day early, but likely not possible considering we need 15 rooms. Got in touch with group sales and they informed me they could only take in six rooms, so that went to our billing account. I then asked for the concierge. Those guys will work their butts off for you. I asked him if he could assist me in finding rooms for the remainder of my guests. It's a disaster y'all – everybody pitch in and we'll put on a show. I gave him the corporate card and asked him to call me back when he had any info. He called me back in under ten minutes. He found the additional rooms at two other hotels, and they are all close to one another. We were set up – they would expect us whenever we showed up.
Samuele in Firenze rocks! Yay!
Went back to the table with the clients and made the announcement about our plans changing. While some mouths started to harden in protest, I simply told them that this is “act of God” territory. Roads are closed and it isn't safe for us to continue with our planned itinerary and the local emergency services wouldn't let us do it either. We would head to Florence and check into our rooms. Weather permitting, I would give an orienteering session for the city center and hopefully a short walking tour. Tomorrow we would have some extra activities obviously not on the regular itinerary – the Bargello and the Opera del Duomo museums and I would arrange for lunch. Andiamo! Let's get to Florence...
While on the bus I called the home office and let them know we had major changes, and I would email everything as soon as I was off the bus in Florence. No problem, keep us posted.
I was on pins and needles about the one phone call I wanted. And as we pulled off the autostrada into Florence I got it. Mamma got through surgery and was in recovery. Double bypass – arterial grafts from her right leg and right arm. Now the hard part begins for her: recuperation and recovery.
I called Trattoria ZaZa in Florence to see about a reservation for 26 for tomorrow. No problem – separate room for us and a special pre-fixe menu. Excellent. Called both museums about group sales for tomorrow – do we need an appointment time or suggestion when we can show up? Got those matters handled pronto. I was ripping through my mental list. Whoo hoo.
Raining cats and dogs in Florence. Just miserable. But, we were all checked in to our three hotels fairly easily, and even though we wouldn't go on the orienteering walkabout, I had map printouts with marked places very nearby they could go eat in on their own if they chose to go out of the hotel. We would meet at the Excelsior for breakfast – they were kind enough to extend the breakfast buffet to all of us even though not all of us were staying that night. Loyalty and longevity has its perks when it comes to business contacts. For certain.
I collapsed on my bed and just went blank for a couple of hours. What a day.
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