400 Years of the Telescope

Don: Rising late after a long night's sleep that largely repaid the previous night's deficit, I breakfasted with Steve Shore, then bathed and packed in a calm and leisurely manner while he went to the office before returning to take me to the airport, in plenty of time to check in for my flight to London Gatwick. Plenty of time indeed--the dreaded words "flight cancelled" were all to visible on the monitors. Before long I had learned that for an impressive large extra price one might be able to fly on another airline to London, but that British Airways' plan--discussed up and down the nonmoving queue--was to bus us over to Venice for the flight at 10:30 PM. Unfortunately, they could not confirm that we would have space there until the check-in for the Venice-to-London flight opened several hours later (!) This Venice plan eventually was--I think--announced, but before this came into focus, most of us, thanks to the cell phone calls to British Airways from many standing in line, were rebooked on the British Airways flight at 10:50 PM (but now showing as departing at 11:20 PM on the BA website) from Pisa to Gatwick. Rumours abounded, as the British might say, that Gatwick would be totally closed by the time we would arrive, leaving us to doze there until near dawn, but after I emailed my friend Hallam in London, I learned that there are trains from Gatwick at least until 2 AM--but there is no guarantee I can make that train. If I do, Hallam, that generous soul, is willing to meet me, provide me with a few hours' sleep, and take me to Heathrow for my American Airlines flight to JFK. A backup plan would be to go direct from Gatwick to Heathrow if the flight is even more delayed (or could it be cancelled?--the reasons for the earlier cancellation remain unclear, but talk of a sudden strike made the rounds). If all goes reasonably well, however, I'll reach New York on Friday afternoon in time for all the wedding celebrations, with less sleep but more adventures (of the waiting in the airport variety) than I anticipated. The weather here remains marvelous, and another sort of traveler--perhaps my younger self with imagined wealth--would hire a taxi to drive to the Field of Miracles and gaze once more upon the cathedral, the baptistery, and the most famous building in Italy, which always recalls to me the words from Cole Porter's fine song about Lisa (and about Becky-Wecky-o: Is she still drinking on that stinking Ponte Vecchio?--which I crossed once more yesterday). Italy has its drawbacks, but for ambience, Tuscany stays hard to surpass.

The crew: As our friend Don was waiting to catch his late-evening flight on British Airways out of Pisa, the production team was treated to a day on the town in Firenze. Kris surprised us by getting reservations to go into the Uffizi Museum which houses some of the most treasured art pieces from the Renaissance era known to the modern world. It was overwhelming to see so much art history in one place and to experience it as people did hundreds of years ago. From the top of the Uffizi, a gorgeous Firenze skyline was visible and we marveled at it as our cameras and camcorders captured the memories for us. We were quite disappointed, however that we were unable to view the Statue of David – which we found out later is housed at the Academy Museum a few blocks away. We completed our restful afternoon by wandering the city streets of Firenze, taking some footage of the cathedrals and down the busy blocks. We shopped to our hearts’ content and we made sure to get the necessary nick-knacks for our family and friends. We enjoyed a wonderful pasta dinner and gelato to sum up our night and prepare for the next day. Friday – it’s another pick-up day for shots in the city. We get to search for those elusive street shots that show the energy and culture of Firenze.