Da Pisa a Tokio

On August 9th, we bid a teary farewell to Mary and Peter at the airport in Florence. We were excited and nervous about embarking on this journey and new chapter in our life together. We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, so we had time for a few coffees and photos :)




We waited patiently to board the plane... boarding began, and then stopped. "There will be a 10 minute delay in boarding due to a technical difficulty with the plane" - never comforting words just before stepping onto a giant mechanical bird! A few minutes later, the people who had boarded (well, they were actually waiting on the bus which takes you to the plane) arrived back in the departures lounge. Confusion reigned supreme! An Italian airport, a German airline, lots of English speaking passengers... too many languages. The airport staff did their best... which in my opinion was lousy... but finally we were informed that our flight was 100% cancelled due to the fact that one of the plane doors wouldn't close. While we were glad that the airline considered our safety first, we were a little peeved and stressed due to the fact that we weren't going to be able to take our connecting flight to Tokyo. Oh-oh!

After being informed that our flights would be rescheduled, we all piled onto a bus and were driven around to the arrivals terminal to collect our bags. After 30 minutes, we were on our way to line up to secure new flights... and a room at a nearby hotel for the evening (all at the airline's expense, thankfully). We waited in the line for about 2.5 hours, during which time I ate a dodgy sanger and a big bag of chilli chips - Ale looked on, amused. After obtaining our new flight times and a hotel room, we took a shuttle bus to a 3-star joint near the airport, checked in, and then enjoyed a wonderful buffet dinner. The next morning, after waking up very early to call my boss in Tokyo to tell him not to meet us at the airport, we indulged in a buffet breakfast, and were then whisked away to the airport (take two) for our flight to Munich, and then on to Tokyo. We arrived almost 24 hours late - now I know that I am famous for my 'better late than never' approach to life, but this one was way beyond my control, OK?

We touched down, took a bus from Narita to Shibuya, then a train to Yoga, and checked into our hotel. After a long, hot shower we... took another train and then walked to my workplace, announcing "We're here!"

Che viaggio! - What a trip!

Greetings from Tokyo!

Life has been very hectic since our arrival here on August 11th. After a few weeks we found a great little apartment not too far from where I am working (a 10 minute walk), and we have been busy over the past couple of months settling into life in Tokyo, and doing exciting things like buying refrigerators, discovering the cheapest place to buy coffee for our moka... important things like that. I have also been very busy working with a class of 28 boys! Anyway, we are both well (well, I am still recovering from the flu) and happy, and we look forward to each weekend so that we can go and explore Tokyo together.

Ale has been very busy organising the garden. Yes, we have a 50sqm apartment (2 levels - mezzanine floor - very cool), AND a tiny garden... that was more like a jungle when we first moved into the place! One afternoon I returned from work to find Ale wrestling with roots and weeds and vines and very scary-looking insects... he removed all the foliage by hand to leave just the dirt and rocks... and that night it rained!!! So, after a few days of rain we actually had a rather dirty swimming pool... but then when the sun came out and the ground dried, we quickly paved the space with slate tiles and pebbles to create a peaceful outdoor space for plants, our herb garden, and for us to relax - very zen.

This photo shows Ale in gardening mode, and there are other fun snaps on our Flickr page - enjoy!