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Published: July 15th 2013
Florence Train Station
Getting ready for VeniceLeft the apartment about 9 this morning. It is amazing how much faster the walk back to the train station was than the walk to our building!! We knew exactly where to turn. A few days in a city make all the difference in getting your bearings. Had a tasty croissant with ham and cheese and a cappuccino on our way. The train we chose was a high speed one, 2hr 20min from Florence to Venice. Had a bit a trouble with the ticket machine EVEN in English!! Managed though and we had about a 20 minute wait until boarding time.
A lot of the trip was in tunnels but did see some very hilly countryside to start with and then it became very flat. Lots of farming. Hay bales as well as the hay rounds you see at home. The rounds looked a bit smaller but not sure. Even the "round" irrigation systems looked familiar. Only 4 stops on this train. Our top speed was 200kph….should have waited a bit before the picture.
Venice Railway station is large and the entrance has a good view of all the cruise ships that are docked. Went
Inside our Train
High Speed Coach to Venezia outside to the Tourist information booth, great chap got us all hooked up with 48 hour Vaporetto (water bus) and bus (land vehicle with wheels!!!) unlimited passes and a map. We boarded number 5.1 which was to take us to Gardini Bienale where we disembarked and walked to our apartment. Had a bit of a wait before the lady came down and walked us to our unit. Smaller but had all the essentials…A BED, A TOILET AND A SHOWER!! We dropped our bags and headed out to explore.
Warm day here….30C with a nice breeze. We walked and walked and walked. Went to San Marco Square, the Rialto bridge and many roads,alleys and walkways in between. You could really get lost in this city for days and no one would find you!! Gordon & Donna had recommended a pizzeria so we hunted it down. We were NOT disappointed. Tara,Morgan & Kailey, I had the Quattro Fromaggi in your honor. Trev had on with all the fixings. Had a few gelatos along the way.
Fell in love with a blown glass vase on a metal stand and just had to go back and buy it.
Speedometer
Took the picture too soon. We actually hit 220kph!! It will look awesome in the house and be a great reminder of our trip. Venice is full of shops with blown & colored glass. Some quite ugly and garish and others exquisite. The shop we bought from ships to the US so it was a simple transaction. I'll send to TC and have Katelin open and check it over to make sure it arrived in 1 piece. Freight and insurance was a steal 😊
Decided that a gondola ride was in order so Trev went to get cash and I stayed where I was…..was…..was….and waited and waited and waited. I thought he must have been mugged and left for dead it took so long. I was afraid to move from my spot in the glaring sun for fear he would show up and we would miss each other!! He had the map and keys to the apartment, but I was pretty sure I could get myself home. Not sure what I would have done when I got there as I couldn't get in. It did seem like forever but he showed up. He went a long way to find and bank machine. Shocking really when we
Venice
View as we arrived in Venice. Those are HUGE cruise ships in port seem to have one on every street corner! All's good. Paid way to much for the gondola but that was the going rate and we really enjoyed the quiet, peaceful ride through the canals. Pretty amazing what was created here. Our gondolier is the 6th generation and we passed his sone who is the 7th. I asked him how long it took him to learn the waterways and he said 30 years. He was 7 years old when he got on the gondola with his dad. He was a very smooth driver and new his gondola and how it would respond very well.
Bought lots of water and headed back to the apartment. My leg is giving me some trouble today so we called it a day a bit early and will rest up for tomorrow. We have to find a post office to ship the rest of the leather items home and have more to see and discover.
Left the apartment this morning about 9ish on a mission to find the post office and send the rest of the purchases back to the USA and then breakfast. Got the St Marc's square and
they had no boxes. They recommended we go to the main post office by the Rialto bridge. We walked and walked couldn't find it so I finally asked a merchant. Asked several more before we had complete directions that would actually get us to the location. Went inside rather cocky as we had done this whole "post a package" thing a day or 2 ago!!! Punched for a ticket and waited our turn. Yehaw, we are up…..Sorry ma'am, you have to punch the P not the A….back to the ticket machine…Punched the P and waited some more. Our number was called and I asked Tweedle Dee (seriously, he was about 5'2" and 300lbs!!!) for a large box. Oh no, misses, we don't sell them anymore. You must go to a stationery store and buy one. I asked where and he wrote out the name, no address just a general location and we left. Still no breakfast…Trev is wilting. If you know Trev, breakfast is a must EVERYDAY!! We noticed that it was paper recycling day and many stores had broken down boxes. I told Trev, I'm finding one that will work. We searched a bit and found one!!! So excited
not to have to wander around aimlessly looking for the store your man told us about. Trev used our room key to cut down the box and break it in the way we needed. We had tape from the last PO stop so we were golden. Here we are in the middle of some street, in Venice, wrapping packing tape around this box. There is no way anything will come undone now. Head back to the PO, punch the letter P again and wait to be served. Same man and I walked up so proudly to present our package. He wasn't too happy that I didn't get all the stickers off but accepted it anyway. Handed over the paperwork and he explained (between sign language and minimal English) how to fill it out. We moved to the chairs and I filled out all the forms as well as addressing the box. We waited them for him to finish with the next customer. Back to the counter, Ohhhhhhh nonononononono - sending leather to USA a problem….left to find some form for WA….came back and another form to fill out!! All is good, box is signed, sealed and stamped. I thought his
First look at Venice
Scene that greeted us as we left the train station seal stamp was going to go through the table he hit it so hard. Must be his form of aggression therapy 😊 Still no breakfast and it is close to 11:30 😞 Trev is getting a headache so need to find food and coffee PRONTO.
Brunch was worth the wait as we found a lovely little cafe, Jambo Pannini (beautiful artisan bread, ham and provolone) and cappuccino and the required water. We are going through so much water but it is necessary in this heat and humidity. Absolutely the best meal we have had in Venice. We decided to explore the other side of the canal and found all sorts of interesting streets. Had the requisite gelato - hazelnut and chocolate….yummy!! Tried on many pairs of shoes today but none worked. So sad as I had thought it would be easier over here to find some. Interestingly though a 40-42 European shoes size is next to impossible to find as that is HUGE in the Italian world. Most women are a 35-36 and they get frustrated as that size is always sold out. Trev tried on some linen pants but the "skinny" style just wasn't cutting it.
Vaporetto Floating Station
Vaporetto is the term used for the water buses that transport people from one stop to the next all through the islands Lots of linen here for both men and women. Must be cooler in the summer months.
Happened on a Coffee Only bar and thought of Donna M!! You definitely need to come here. They roast coffee everyday and you just come in and order what ever you want. The gal explained the machine when I asked and said that they roast about 20-30 kg at a time. There is no sitting down, you stand at the counter and doctor your drink and then sip it or guzzle it, your preference. The Italians all seem to want to sweeten their espresso. We each had a cappuccino and enjoyed it. It was a bit stronger than most we have had here but I'm still liking our Liquid Amber Blend at home the best. We shall see what the Greeks have in store for us in the coffee scene.
Stopped in St Marc's square to rest and have a gold beverage. Thank goodness we asked the waiter for a menu. 9,80Euros for a Coke. THAT IS ALMOST $15.00US for 1 drink. We decided we didn't want a drink that bad. Ridiculous and yet there were lots of
people enjoying the service in the square. They definitely had a better exchange rate than the US currency rate!!!
We went to the bus depot trying to get information about our transportation to the airport and must say we are a tiny bit concerned. It looked like the first bus was at 5:40am and it takes about 20 minutes to get there. Our flight is at 7:15 am….International to Munich. The first Vaporetto from our station is 4:45am. We may take that just so we can be down in the right area as early as possible. Maybe we won't even go to sleep tonight!!!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Venice
Very nice photo