Oak Street Ranch

Viva Venice!

Day Eight – Florence to Venice:

Recap – more photos to come. Sorry for the delays. http://community.webshots.com/album/550508480DXroaQ


Today, we head out of Florence to Venice.
Started with a short walk to the train station. Our trip has taught me – take everything you think you need, and then divide by half. Wait a day, and then take out a couple more things. Mind you – we have rolling suitcases – but you wouldn’t want to jog with these things!
We did get all set up and into the train. A family with kids was separated, so we made a little trade, which was awesome, so we now had two seats on their own, next to the windows. A very “civilized” way to travel. We read the paper, watched the towns go by. Jen napped. We walked back to the restaurant car for some snacks. They even came down the aisle with beverages, like an airplane. VERY cool. We had a lot of fun.

Then – arrival in Venice. I have to say – Pretty cool for a city built on a swamp.
Stunning medieval architecture. The river is fascinating, as the taxis, gondolas, larger “vaporettos” (buses, basically) and other private boats go down. Though – you wouldn’t want to swim in this river!

A quick check in at the hotel. Apparently we were “upgraded to a jr. suite.” Scam? I don’t know. But it’s the biggest room we’ve had yet. Bed, sitting area, flat screen tv. Exceptional bathroom with a tub and shower (most of the hotel listings we’ve seen only have the shower).

A quick walk around town brings us to St. Mark’s square. Another large, exceptional example of construction. The church is amazing, the rows of palaces or other buildings of the elite of the 1500’s are stunning, with great views of the canals. Its not a stretch to imagine this as the hub of commerce and government at the time.
Now, however, there’s the disturbing catering to pigeons. To Jen and I, this is a small example of hell on earth – But in the center of the square, there are a dozen vendors selling birdseed – Apparently, so you can feed the pigeons and get them to land on you (I suppose, so one can take a picture). Now, I saw the Hitchcock movie (and after my well documented battles with pigeons at the Condo) so I think no one will be surprised that we’re not interested in feeding these rats with wings.
A little more walking – gelato (gotta get energy)… and back to the hotel for a soak in the Jacuzzi.

Oh – one nice post script – My next major screw-up while here. I left part of the power cord to the laptop in Florence. The hotel is kind enough to send that along, so I should have that tomorrow. Don’t worry – more updates to come! (Battery power!).

We hope that all is well with everyone there.
More updates in a bit.

Cheers.

posted by Mitch @ 8:49 AM