Here goes nothing!

January 31, 2013. 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Dad and I left the house (Lewiston, Maine) for an approximately 3 hour drive to Logan International Airport (Boston, Massachusetts). We arrived around 1:30 p.m. I got my boarding pass, checked my exactly-50-pound bag, got through security, and made it to my gate before 2. Perfect timing for a flight scheduled to leave at 2:59 heading for Newark Liberty International Airport (Newark, New Jersey).
The weather was not going to have it however...

The plane we were to take was flying up from Newark and didn't even leave there until almost 4..so we didn't board until just after 5, and we finally left around 5:30. THEN because there's still weather happening in Newark, we had to wait in the air before landing around 6:40.

My next plane was scheduled to leave at 6:10...

So I missed that flight (Newark to Frankfort, Germany) but was able to get on a later flight to Munich, Germany. However, my luggage was still tagged to go to Frankfort first...(more about that later)

So I wait around the Newark airport for a couple of hours, got some over-priced unpleasant airport food for dinner, and logged onto my computer. I was able to send an email to my school here [Accademia Europea Di Firenze (AEF)] to let them know that I would be arriving later than expected, so someone would be there to meet me. I was also able to check in on Facebook to make my presence known :)

Around 9 p.m. we started boarding and were in the air about half an hour later, and I settled in for a 7+ hour flight. Lufthansa is a great airline, I highly recommend them if you are flying to/from/through Europe and/or Germany. They are a very professional company, have spacious planes, and good food (as far as airplane food goes). We got food twice (one around 10 for "dinner" then breakfast at 9ish local time, which was technically 3 in the morning...)

We landed in Munich around 10:30 and I got through all the "check points" and made it to my gate before 11 for my 12 o'clock flight. However, that plane had mechanical issues so we didn't leave until almost 12:30, which got us into Florence at about 1:30.

Here's where my luggage comes in...

My bag got on the next plane from Newark to Frankfort, and a different plane from Frankfort to Florence, so when I arrived of course my bag wasn't there...so one of the airport workers was able to trace my bag and discover that the plane was scheduled to land around 1:50 (only about a 20min wait).

So, I waited around, finally got my bag, went through "customs" (which was nothing, unless you were claiming items, which I wasn't, so it was just like getting off at any other gate...COMPLETELY different from the USA), and looked for someone there to meet me.

Another road-bump.

Because my Munich-Florence flight left late and due to the extra wait for my luggage, no one was there to meet me...luckily I had cash on me so I exchanged my US currency for Euro's and got a taxi to my host-house.

So almost 24 hours, limited food, even less sleep, and lots of stress later I finally arrived!

I had about 3 hours to unpack and get settled in my own room and take a shower in my own bathroom; before meeting with the rest of the students in my program for a welcome dinner at a local restaurant.

Greetings were exchanged, the usual get-to-know you questions were asked, and good food was enjoyed by all. Afterword, we all went back to one of the groups apartments to hang out for a bit, before deciding to venture out to explore the area and nightlife. Some found a bar and hung out over drinks, while a handful of us walked around soaking up the reality that we were actually here. In Florence, Italy.