I slept most of the morning in the Frankfurt Airport waiting for my connecting flight to Florence. It struck me that this was my first time back in Germany since 1989, when my mother and I were here for her Fulbright studies.

The views from the flight were fantastic. The first aerial view was taken shortly after takeoff over Germany, the second someplace along the Alps, and the third near Florence. I took the streetcar from the Florence Airport downtown and walked for a while.

Europe has been experiencing a heatwave, so light breezes of the sort that wafted over me as I walked were especially welcome.