We woke up very early on Friday morning (around 5:30 AM) and caught a taxi to the Rome train station, Stazione Termini. From there, we caught a 6:45 AM bullet train to Venice. We all slept a lot on the train and Matt loved the whole concept of the bullet train.
We arrived in Venice at around 10:45 AM and were greeted by long lines for the vaporetto station (ferry station). Since there are no subways and no cars in Venice, this was the best way to get around. We decided to walk down to the next vaporetto stop and catch the boat from there. My brother and Dad saw a part of Venice we did not see when we were there seven years ago. We eventually hopped on a ferry boat and saw the most famous bridge in Venice, Rialto Bridge, before getting off at Piazza San Marco, the most famous piazza in the world.
We then found the hotel we stayed at last time we were in Venice, but more on that later. We were absolutely famished after our journey, so we went to the restaurant I went to last time in Venice with my friends, Vini di Pinto. I had the same thing I had the previous time, gnocchi, and it did not disappoint. I love the restaurant because the waiters are hilarious.
After our meal, we went back to the hotel we stayed at seven years ago and caught a gondola ride from the dock next to the hotel. My brother, Matt, ran into one of the kids he played baseball with in the fall the bridge by our old hotel. Talk about a small world! Back to the story, we decided to use that specific gondola dock because they gave us a great tour of historical Venice last time including Mozart's house. They did the same thing this time and we had a great time!
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| Mozart's House |
After our gondola ride, we grabbed a gelato in Saint Marks Square. Then we headed for Murano to see the glass blowing demonstrations. We made it to Murano in time for the last demonstration of the day, it would have stunk if we did not make it! Afterwards, we walked around Murano for a bit and I bought Matt a pair of souvenir glass dice.
After Murano, we headed back to the train station and headed for Florence. We caught a bullet train again, but this time it was actually cheaper for us to buy first class tickets instead of second class tickets. Trenitalia has discounts based on seat availability and the discount was sold out of second class, but the base rate for the second class was higher than the discounted first class fare. We were not complaining! We got free soda, snacks, and candy!
We arrived in Florence at around 9:30 PM and walked towards the Duomo in search of something to eat.
The problem with Florence is that it is so small. Everything is in a touristy area, thus everything is going to cost a lot. That being said, we were able to find a rather economical hostaria about a block from the Duomo. It wasn't that bad, either! I had gnocchi again because the first thing I ordered was not in stock.
Then, we took a taxi to our bed and breakfast, Leone X. Because it was so late, they left our key at another hotel and we had to get it. The directions they gave us to the hotel were pretty poor, but we eventually found it. The room was nice - a king bed and a small cot. We fell asleep right away after traveling to three different cities in one day!
Ciao,
Michael
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