Firenze

The Arno River outside the hotel.

On Friday afternoon I boarded a Lufthansa flight to Germany. Those long-distance eastward-bound flights are exhausting because I find it impossible to sleep. Arriving in Frankfurt, I must stay awake another couple of hours to make the connecting flight. When I arrive at the hotel it’s mid- to late-afternoon (early morning in SF), and if I give in to temptation to take a nap it’ll be difficult to sleep that night and to be “on” for the next day’s meetings.

So I go for a walk. It’s shirtsleeve weather, and I pick up large bottles of water and soda for five euros, which is about the cost of a small drink from the room’s mini-bar. The room is comfortable but expensive at €400 ($500) per night. Over the next week we’ve scheduled conferences with other businessmen who are also at this hotel, so here we must stay. The sacrifices we must make for our jobs….


The bathrooms have been recently renovated.


It was tough not to take a nap.