Our Shop 'til you drop weekend in Florence via Lufthansa First Class
 

A few weeks ago, Mrs. SFO and I were discussing the strength of the USD in relation to the Euro. After I foolishly suggested that she should be buying Italian clothes in Europe and not the US, Mrs. SFO said "let's go check it out." :eek: So... we are off for a long weekend in beautiful Florence. And one more visit with nonstop Lufthansa First Class before Denver is downgraded to two class service in a couple of weeks. We lucked out with perfect timing as today is the last day of our wonderful 72/22 degree spring temps and a return to winter scheduled for the rest of the week. Although I had OLCI'd, we stopped at Lufthansa counter to change seats on our connecting flight to airport-assignment only bulkhead seats, the only good seats on what passes for Business Class in Europe.

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With no PreCheck today, we used our CLEAR cards to jump the queue. Unfortunately, CLEAR at DEN doesn't hold a candle to CLEAR at SFO, where the agents escort you to the front of the queue at the conveyor and even bring you bins for your personal effects.

With 35 minutes before boarding, we headed to the DEN Admirals Club which Mrs. SFO called "the crap lounge" before she experienced the DEN United Club. At T-35, we headed downstairs to nearby Gate 41 and our 747-400.

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Denver-Frankfurt
Lufthansa 447
747-400
5:25P-10:55A +1
April 14, 2015
Departed 8/8
Seats 83C and 83H

Lots of gate lice as EF showed full Business and First Class cabins.

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Typically pathetic LH outstation premium boarding as some 30 people queued at the First Class lane.
Yes, by all means, don't pre board First but just open it up for Star Alliance Gold to board at the same time.

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This seems a little pointless as you've already invited the world to use the First Class lane. :rolleyes:

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Finally past the contract staff towards the jet bridge. OK, we can see how much Lufthansa Denver thinks of First Class.

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Ordinarily we'd go down the Economy jet bridge directly to the stairs. But they had already started boarding Economy so we took the Business Class jet bridge and walked thru the Business Class cabin to get to the stairs. Finally upstairs to one of our favorite First Class cabins. From previous trips...

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Service was not very polished today, ultimately acceptable but started off not so well with seeming confusion and no PDB for nearly 20 minutes. Gone is the Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle, replaced by an inferior (IMO) Taittinger. No wonder it was poured out of sight although since no wine was ever presented, this crew just didn't know any better.

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Perhaps LH is catering only a smaller bag of mac nuts as my ramekin contained only 9 mac nuts.

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Weak amenity kit.

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Once in the air, not much better as it took 51 minutes after wheels up to be asked our drink selection.

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Forget the forgettable champagne, let's go with the G&T.

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Today's amuse bouche.

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Tonight's menu...

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And wine list...

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More than an hour after wheels up, showtime at last.

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You'd think someone might notice my empty glass??

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We passed on the caviar...

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...but did go for the starter trio.

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Citrus marinated Chicken with Vegetable Brochette and roasted Tomato and Tomatilla and Yellow Beet Salsa.

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Watermelon Radish Salad with black Sesame Seeds, Wakame Salad with Orange and Ginger Vinaigrette.

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Crabmeat deviled Egg, smoked Salmon and Chipotle Orange Aioli.

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And Season Salad with Jicama, Cucumber and Teardrop Tomatoes.

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For the main, Mrs. SFO had the Mixed Grill of Beef Tenderloin, Prosciutto and Sage Wrapped Chicken, Sautéed Chicken Chipolata with Zucchini, Baby Yellow Beets and Wild Rice Pilaf with Pecan.

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While I chose the delicious Braised Beef Short Rib and Chorizo with Burgundy Sauce, Broad Bean Cassoulet and Potato and Butternut Squash Purée.

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For dessert, we both had the amazing Lukewarm Sea Salt Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream.

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And a glass of the 25 year old Armagnac X.O. :)

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Not sure if it was real or just the wine, but service seemed to improve as we got in to the dinner and beyond. We both hopped over to our beds and got varying degrees of sleep with Mrs. SFO complaining about the cabin being too warm. Ah well.

We arrived onetime at Gate 25B and made our way to passport control and Germany and 10 minutes later were at the First Class Terminal.

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Frankfurt-Florence
Lufthansa Cityline 312
E90
12:25P-1:55P
April 15, 2015
Seats 1A 1D

Forty minutes later, our Personal Assistant escorted downstairs for another round of Lufthansa's best-in-the-world First Class ground experience.

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For today's tour of FRA and virtually the entire airport as our FRA-FLR was parked at pretty much the furthest tarmac position. But no worries in a new S class.

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We were the first to arrive today.

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The rest of the cabin arrived having made the long trek by bus.

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Shortly thereafter, we taxied out and were on our way to Firenze.

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What a concept, completely foreign in the US, using a curtain to block views of the galley.

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Today's lunch was a very good ahi salad.

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Great scenery along the route.

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Descending to Florence.

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Florence Airport is tiny and lacks basic taxiways. So planes use the runway as a taxiway. Since we landed while two other planes were positioned for takeoff, we had to wait until they departed to be able to taxi to our "gate"...

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Which in Florence means a tarmac position.

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A far cry from our S class in FRA...

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And the short drive to the terminal.

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Our hotel-arranged driver was waiting just outside baggage claim and returned a couple of minutes later for the short drive into the city.

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I'm thinking a translation from Italian to English. :cool:

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In our previous visit, we stayed at what is now the St. Regis. This time, booking at the last minute, I opted for a charming, highly rated and reasonably priced centuries old family Palazzo. Once the home of one of the biggest art dealers in Florence, it has been converted to a 12 suite hotel, The Palazzo Magnani Feroni. Located on the west side of and only a short block from the Arno, the hotel is surrounded by numerous restaurants, bars and shops. By no means is this a 5 star luxury hotel. But it exudes charm and history and features an extraordinarily friendly and wonderful staff. Simply amazing service.

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Beautiful interior with hundreds of original pieces of art.

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Just outside our suite, is a sitting area for the four suites on the first floor.

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And our suite, The Angelica.

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The hotel features a rooftop bar area with spectacular views of Florence.

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While Mrs. SFO took a short nap, I explored the immediate area including the Ponte alla Carraia over the Arno.

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Time for a drink on the rooftop before we head out for dinner.

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As we had not made any reservations, the front desk/concierge recommended nearby Trattoria Pandemonio. A little touristy with good, but not great food.

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Nighttime views from our roof top bar.

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A full breakfast was including in our rate.

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Up next: And we're off... with designer outlet shopping at Florence's The Mall.

Stunning as always. How will you cope with LH 2 class out of DEN? By positioning to a properly-served airport? :)

SFO, I am sure you enjoyed the Mall, I always go there when in Italy and stock up on TODS and Ferragamo and Sergio Rossi shoes !! I am sure the CC got a good beating !!

Did you manage to notice which engine the S-class had?

How was shopping at The Mall? I usually tend to go to Serravalle near Milan or Foxtown just past the Swiss border from Milan.

Simply amazing pictures. Enjoy Florence. My family are from about 2 hours south! A beautiful part of the world.

Another excellent start! Definitely jealous of all the trips you take!! We really enjoyed Florence last year when we went. Look forward to the rest!

what's the piece of exercise equipment in the corner? a wobble board?

Speaking of good ole Denver Spring weather. I was there for work last week and it was 74 when I landed and then snowed most of Thursday. As a weather geek love the wild swings.

Love charming hotels like the one you selected.

Thank you zeltergiset. Indeed, in the off season we position to another airport. In June, we are are booked on ORD-FRA.

LOL. I can say that I earned lots of miles this trip. ;) Thanks BRITINJAPAN3.

Did not notice this time but most of the previous ones seemed to be S300/350s. Not a lot of S500/550s like is standard in NA.

I'm not much into shopping. Indeed, my limit is usually 45 minutes. But this was pretty interesting, especially comparing prices and calculating net USD equivalents. Don't think I'll tell Mrs. SFO about Serravalle air Foxtown. :eek:

Thank you so much SYDSideFlyer. Florence is so special and the surrounding countryside so beautiful.

Thanks very much Digital01.

It's actually a body vibration therapy machine. Pretty strange to have it in a hotel room though.

Welcome to Denver weather. Thank you apodo77.

Florence is a very charming city! Enjeoyed your report

No more rimowa amenity kits or crystal on LH? Hopefully the flight back is a more of a high note. Have a great trip, and thanks for posting!

Thank you offerendum. Florence is wonderful.

Apparently rimowa is history as we got the same new kits on the way home.
Return flight was much better, with an excellent crew who had obviously been doing First for years. Thanks Madone59.

I am loving this TR!!!

We will be in Florence this summer (first time for me, so I am very excited to see the art, architecture, the "usual" stuff). Completely non-self-serving question here -- where is The Mall? It seems most of the museums and the like are closed on Mondays, and one of our days there is a Monday. Can't let a day (or perhaps an afternoon) go to waste, now can we? That would be all kinds of wrong. ;)