sarge56

I don't think y'all can stand fourteen installments, so I'll try to bunch two or three days together. Those of you here awhile know my writing style. I tend to give a lot of useless detail. Despite that, I hope you will all enjoy my trip report.

Day 1 (Rome/Venice) WHO KNEW ITALY WAS AN “INTERNATIONAL” DESTINATION?

So, as is usual, and rightly so, thanks to all those who contributed to my queries and conundrums on these boards! You helped to make my trip more successful and more enjoyable, no doubt. Special thanks to those who contributed restaurant recommendations for my google maps.

We (adult DD and I) were on pins and needles for several days before our trip, as Rome was eventually affected by “THE” ash cloud. Fortunately for us, the airport there was only closed for about 2 days. It opened on Monday morning at 7am, and we departed Dallas on Tuesday at 5pm.

Well, we got off to a very auspicious start. The flight from Dallas to New York was not full. One of the flight attendants was especially joyous, funny and helpful. He tried to make sure everyone had room to spread out, and those who wanted to sit together could. We felt very pampered. The flight was uneventful and we boarded our flight for Rome on time.

Here’s where things started to go downhill. The flight to Rome was totally packed. I used SeatGuru.com to make sure that our seat selection included access to a power supply. It did, but we happened to have a power outlet that was not functioning. Thank heavens my new Toshiba laptop has a 6-hour battery backup and was fully charged when we left.

The hours did seem to fly by until about an hour before landing. Bathroom lines were long and the bathrooms were in bad shape. Doors that wouldn’t stay shut, pools of liquid (don’t want to know what they were!) on the floors, etc. Not pleasant. I was very impressed with the fact that I did not have to use the Xanax my doc gave me for flight anxiety. Oh, I’m good with flying… It’s the 9-10-11 hours in close quarters that starts to get on my nerves. Combine this with the completely oblivious idiots sitting behind us. Apparently, they have either never flown before (doubtless, as they were in there 60’s) or just didn’t care that their constant kicking and hitting and banging on the seatbacks might actually keep US awake. Sigh… I don’t mean innocent or slight bumping. We are talking about a couple with pugilistic skills that could rival Muhammad Ali!

We landed on time in Rome, gathered our luggage and took off, following the pictures of the train to find the Leonardo Express train that would take us to Termini station. While waiting on luggage, I found an ATM and took out E300. (Many machines I found during our two weeks had a daily limit of E450, though my Credit Union had taken all limits off my account.)

We found the “quick” desk to purchase our tickets and were on our way. We arrived at Termini in about 25 mts. Things immediately went south. We could find no signs indicating where we needed to go to get to the main train station. We were on some outside track and knew we needed to find the main station tracks. No luck. After dragging our luggage back and forth to Kingdom Come, and talking with a local cop, we ended up at a travel agent line in the upper portion of the station.

Due to other travelers trying to get home to England and France and Germany, we found ourselves in a long line of people looking to get train tickets. I KNEW there was somewhere we could buy the tickets ourselves, from machines… but could find not a single person that could/would point us in the right direction to find those machines. We could not even find a layout of the station. Just very, very frustrating.

The line was moving so slowly, we were sure we were not going to be able to catch the train we wanted to, the 10:45 to Venice. By some miracle, we made it to the window with about 10 mts to spare. We bought our tickets (and paid a E9 premium to the agent) and headed downstairs. Of course, our train was departing from track #2 and we were at like track #20. We got down to the doors for track #2 and they were closed.  We figured we could go up at the end of the hall and dragged our luggage up two flights of stairs.

We finally came out where the main tracks are; why nobody could point us to them previously still befuddles me. Anyway, we found a lovely man who looked at our tickets and told us to run. We had about 100 yards to cover in 5 minutes in order to make it onto the train. I still don’t know how we did it, but we were finally on the 10:45 to Venice.

When it rains…

We needed to call the owner of our apartment in Venice to make arrangements about where and what time to meet us. Turned on the phones and… no service. AAARRRGGGHHHHHHH!!! Despite three phone calls (and once even going into the AT&T store), my “international phone” was not usable. When I had called AT&T the first time, I told them I was going to Italy and needed information on how to unlock my phone. The rep tried unsuccessfully to do it for me over the phone, but seemed a little confused. After 30 minutes, she finally gave me some ambiguous directions and a code which she said I would have to use once I had replaced the US Sim card. I made a second phone call, and my daughter also made one to see if she needed anything special, as she has an I-phone and I have a Samsung Impression. I went into the AT&T store and the rep there told me I didn’t “need to do anything” because my Impression is an “international phone” and can be used anywhere in the world.
And yet, neither of us were able to use our phones.

Thank heavens, we found a nice couple from Brazil who spoke perfect English and offered to let us use the “throw-away” phone they had just purchased just for use in Italy. Got through to the owner and agreed to meet at the San Marcuola vaporetto stop at 3pm. (Train was due in at 2:45.)

We disembarked to a very sunny and warm Venice. As I needed E600 to pay for our apartment upon arrival, I went to the ATM (Bankomat) machine in the train station. Despite pressing the “English” language button, everything still came up in Italian. After three attempts, I was unsuccessful in obtaining any funds. We were going to be late, so we went ahead and bought our 3-day vaporetto passes and headed to San Marcuola.

The agent for our apartment owner spoke no English, but she seemed very sweet and accommodating, even insisting on carrying some of our luggage. When I explained that I needed a Bancomat, she stopped at the first one on the Strada Nova. I was able to get an English version there, but now read that I needed to contact my bank and left without funds. The second bancomat produced the same results. I was SO livid with my bank at that point, I wanted to scream.

The agent called the apartment owner on her cell and let me speak to her. I explained the issue and she was incredibly gracious. She told me not to worry about it, it was a sunny and beautiful day and we should enjoy what was left of the evening; to just leave the E600 in the basket on the kitchen table in our apartment when we left five days hence!!! A very fortunate turn of events. What a lovely and trusting lady!

Thank heavens for the free wifi for I-phone owners in Venice. The apt. owner had left her login and ID on the kitchen table, along with a great little binder she’d put together with how to use the internet, appliances, etc and maps to local grocery store, bakery, good restaurants! Since my daughter had an I-phone, we were able to use Skype on her phone to call AT&T. While I enjoyed my first diet Coke (Coke Light- really Coke Zero, not diet Coke), my daughter talked to the bright folks at AT&T.

The rep says, “Oh, well you need to have the “international calling” function turned on.” REALLY???? Did we forget to mention when we called the first three times that Italy IS NOT in the US of A???? Are you trying to tell us that when we called and told you we were <b>“going to Italy”</b>, you had no idea that Italy was an international destination?????????” OMG!!!!!!!!!!! Steam coming out of my ears.

Once that call was done, I used DD's phone to Skype my credit union. Again, “what part of ‘I’m going to Italy’ got missed in the conversation to turn off all daily limits???” Oh, well, they’d forgotten to forward that information to the “fraud alert” department, who promptly placed a hold on my account for suspicious use, as soon as I took money out in Rome. Sigh… Ten minutes of trying to hold my tongue and temper later… I had access to all my funds.

I can say that the day ended well. The weather was incredible, our apartment- perfect. We had found a unit on VRBO, but when we inquired, it was already booked. The owner, however, had another apartment that was available and listed on PerfectPlaces.com.

Ca’ Bianca turned out to be perfect. It is on the corner of a little throughway canal and the Misericordia canal in the middle of Cannaregio. It was five minutes walk to both the Ca’D’Oro and San Marcuola vaporetto stops. It was a very quiet neighborhood, but just five minutes to the Strada Nova and major shopping/restaurants, etc. We absolutely loved the location and the apartment.

The apartment is on the ground floor, but has a protective plate at the lower part of the front door to prevent flooding during high water season. We liked not having to climb up and down stairs. (Though if you are in Venice, you have to do plenty of that just to get around. : ] ) You walk right into the cozy kitchen. It has all the amenities you would expect (stove top, fridge, microwave), including an espresso pot (which got a lot of use). There was also a little dining table with four chairs. Two small windows and one large brighten the room.

All of the windows in the apartment were awesome: By a 90-degree twist on the handle, they opened completely sideways and another twist of the handle, and they opened from the top, inward. All the windows were covered with metal blinds on the outside that closed and locked and totally prevented light from entering when you were trying to sleep.
The “living area” was totally enclosed by a door off the kitchen and had a pull out sofa, desk area and bookcase. Also had a large window for light. Down the hallway on the opposite side of the kitchen was a small bathroom with toilet and sink, and a washing machine.

From there, the hall ended with a large bathroom with toilet, sink, bidet and large shower. Huge window, again, that opened two ways and had shutters you could close for privacy.

The bedroom had a large bed (I swear it was a King, as I sleep on a Queen every night and I say it was bigger than mine- but my daughter insisted it was a queen), and a large airy window. A wardrobe and a chair and big dresser rounded out the room. Very large room and I was able to really spread out in it.

We loved, loved, loved this apartment! Since it had two sinks/toilets, we both could get ready in the morning without having to share one bathroom.

For dinner, we chose a little place across the canal from our bathroom window, Trattoria Misericordia. The food was fairly forgettable. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t memorable, if you know what I mean. We shared a caprese salad; DD had sea bass (she said was very fishy for her tastes) and I had gnocchi in a mascarpone cream sauce with almonds. That dish was delicious. Steak was overdone, but edible. The total was E55 without tip or service.

aussiedreamer

lovely so far. Will be in Venice early Sept', still trying to find a two bedroom two bathroom apart.
Really enjoying your report.

sarge56

aussiedreamer- my daughter used the living area and pull-out sofa for her "bedroom" and though the second bathroom did not have shower, it did have a toilet and sink. We thought it was a bargain and we sure loved the apt and location.

Here is link to this apartment:

http://www.perfectplaces.com/vacation-rentals/33432.htm

I don't know what your budget is, but if you opt for a B&B, we loved the Corte 1321. http://www.corte1321.com/en/index.htm

sarge56

<b>Day 2 – Venice NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON’T… DRIZZLE AND THE INTERNET</b>

We woke up to find a light drizzle falling. All day this day and the next, we had on and off drizzle and overcast skies. However, the temperature was warm during the day and only required a sweater for the evenings.

We pretty much spent the entire day in and around St. Mark’s. We walked through what seemed like dozens of miles of little shops and enotecas. We shopped and shopped. We had a quick sit-down lunch at a little place (Bar Mio) that offered mostly paninis and sandwiches. My daughter had what she said was a delicious little tuna and egg sandwich. I chose a lovely antipasto salad. The olives were huge and delicious, the entire salad just hit the spot. With sodas and potato chips, it was only E11! We should have done that more often!

We had an early dinner at a little place also across the canal from our apartment. It was called Ristorante Diana. Food was a little better than their neighbor’s, but still unremarkable. At least the prices were better. We got away for E35 before tip and service. And we were served complimentary shots of ice cold limoncello. Yum.

We wanted to Skype my DD’s family, but the internet at the apartment was intermittent, at best. It was very strange. We seemed to be connected, but the signal went from 0 to 60 and back again at short intervals. So, Skyping was impossible, and just using the internet was hit or miss- and very slow. We had a little bit better connection at the little pub around the corner, but still not great. We were told St. Mark’s square should have a strong signal, but alas, it was not to be. Like the rain, internet seemed intermittent wherever we went.

<b>Day 3 – WHO NEEDS A TORTURE CHAMBER WHEN YOU’VE GOT A TICKET TO THE DOGE’S PALACE?</b>

A little less drizzle today, but still overcast. Not a great day for taking outdoor pics.

We went to get some groceries this morning and found it extremely interesting to see what is on the shelves of a Venice grocery store. We were shocked to find the vegetable selection was extremely small and limited. (We thought this was an anomaly to Venice or the small neighborhood- but we had the exact same experience at the Rome grocery store.) We summed it up to the fact that most Italians must buy their fresh veggies at the numerous street markets, and not from the grocery store. (OH, if we had as many here… I have to go 10 miles to find a “farmers market” for fresh veggies.)

We did find that there were twice as many bagged “bread” selections as there were vegetables! “Croissants” of every kind- plain, cherry or plum-filled, chocolate, etc. Then there were muffins and cookies and crumpets and bread and who-knows-what-else. But there sure was lots of it!

We needed to buy some toiletries, milk for my morning tea and some Cheerios for late-night snacking. We also bought a box of the cherry “croissants”. Turned out they were closer to dinner rolls but a little sweeter. They were good for light breakfasts.

We brought the groceries home and headed out to San Georgio Maggiore. It was a little cooler this morning and I was glad I’d brought my sweater. That ride out to the island was a little windier than I’d expected.

The place was fairly deserted when we got there. Just saw maybe 5 other people. The church interior was beautiful. We rode up to the top of the bell tower and weren’t there 5 minutes when the bells started to peal! We realized it was noon. OMG! Those bells were loud! But beautiful. Even though it was overcast, we got some nice pics of Venice proper.

We then went back to St. Mark’s and decided to do the Doge’s Palace. We spent the first 20 minutes in the courtyard and viewing some architectural remnants, as well as seeing the Giant’s Staircase with its’ fabulous statues of Neptune and Mars. That was all perfectly lovely.

We then made the horrible mistake of actually entering the palace innards. Once you’re in…you are a prisoner of the Doge. The first few rooms were interesting, but then there were more and more and we felt trapped and could not find any way to exit the Palace from where we were, other than to follow the marked path.

Once we started to head down instead of up, we thought, “at least we’re headed in the right direction”. OH, how little we knew. Not only were we then stuck behind a large group of 70-somethings moving at the pace of winter molasses, but the prison cells went down and around, down and around, down and around. I thought I would suffocate. It seemed like a 30-minute tour on a B-movie set. Dang, were we happy to get out of there!

Based on our experience, we opted to skip the “Secret Passages” tour. I’m thinkin’ that was a really good choice. I swear I never saw anyone, in all the Italy trip reports I’ve read, say anything bad about this place. But we found it to be, well, laborious. Sorry to those who feel otherwise.

We had lunch at a little restaurant off of Calle Larga San Marco, it seemed the least touristy. As a matter of fact, one of the few not advertising “no cover” or with a tourist menu out front. It was called, “Beppino”. Soup and pasta and we were out the door for E38. Pretty good food, service was slow but friendly.

In the late afternoon, we walked along the area of the Cannaregio to the northeast of where our apartment was. It was so lovely just walking the small canals and we saw many lovely churches and bridges. We met a delightful Englishman who was in Italy on business. He was snapping photos, too. He stated that it was his first trip to Venice and he absolutely adored it. We spent about 2 hours wandering around the neighborhoods in Cannaregio.

This night, we decided to eat at a little restaurant we’d passed on our walk, and which was recommended by our apartment owner. It was called Ostaria da Rioba (Cannaregio, 2553). We should have come sooner. The food was delicious. We both had primi’s, secondi’s and dessert. Price was E83 with service but without tip. My daughter’s favorite was the pumpkin soup. I thoroughly enjoyed my lasagna. It was all good, though.

We decided to go back to St. Mark’s around 9-ish. My daughter Skyped her boyfriend and kids while I window-shopped. We didn’t stay long, as there was nothing really going on that night and we found that even St. Mark’s itself was not lit up at night. Very disappointing. I did have the most delicious melone (Cantaloupe) gelato at a gelateria right on the square. OH MY- it was one of my favorites. I found myself eating mostly melone and amareno (cherry). Oh, so incredibly good! I miss it already!

We were hungry when we got off the vaporetto at Ca D’Oro around 11pm. We had two choices, the “Pizza Kebab” place or the McDonald’s. The kebab place just did not look appetizing. Yes, we did it. We each had a hamburger and small fries and Cokes. We want to note: Catsup- E0.20 extra. It was the only time in the whole two weeks where we fell off the wagon. (We passed what seemed like dozens of McDonald’s in Rome and Florence, and never once gave in.)

chazzarelli

A great trip report so far! I am sympathetic to your banking problems. I've lived overseas now for almost 4 years, and despite continualy telling Bank of America that I am ovrseas, and I travel frequently and that I dont want them locking my card, it still happens from time to time. I guess the alternative is that they dont, my card does get stolen and charges are made all over.

I'll be in Venice in September, so am looking forward to hearing more about your trip.

kybourbon

I'm a bit confused about where you were in Termini. Did you end up on the second floor somehow or down in the basement? For amenities and layouts of the main train stations:
http://www.grandistazioni.it/grandistazioni.html

Ticket machines can be found on this map layout where it says atrio. You can faintly see the numbers on the tracks (1-24).
http://www.grandistazioni.it/cms/v
/index.jsp?vgnextoid=45d94b08689fb110VgnVCM1000003f 16f90aRCRD

The Leonardo usually arrives track 25 as shown in the lower right corner (short tracks) with track 24 being the first long track beside them (still can very faintly see the numbers on the far left of diagram for tracks 1-24).
http://www.grandistazioni.it/cms/v/i...003f16f90aRCRD

Roninrome also has some pictures and directions. Too late for you, but perhaps will help someone reading your report.
http://www.roninrome.com/%20transpor...roma-termini-2

Very lucky to have such a nice apartment owner. Did the apartment have any outside area/terrace?

barbrn

You are transporting me back to Venice....what an experience. I also went with my DD...we are great travel companions (as you sound to be with yours). Loved every part of Italy...even the mishaps (I had a few experiences that sound like some of yours). awww....the little alleys and bridges..(and steps and more steps!) But awww....the wine and limoncello!!! And the pasta and the risotto and the gelato.....big awww!! Great trip report..can't wait to read more.

aussiedreamer

Really enjoying, may even be one I 'take'(I save them in my online email program, which means I can get them when I need to from any computer) with me, thanks.

As for the apartment, we will be two couples and really want 2 bedrooms & 2 bathrooms.

Gaia606

Aussidreamer, are you still lokking for your apartment?
I thought that maybe for two couple this could be perfect:
http://www.viewsonvenice.com/our_pro...colombina.html

aussiedreamer

Thanks Gaia606, I've sent a request off.

AnnMarie_C

Loving your trip report! Haven't yet been to Venice or Florence--wanting to get there sooner. Look forward to more!

kismetchimera

OH Sarge, what are you doing to me?

...I should have not started reading your trip report..Now I feel Homesick..

Keep going ,I am enjoying reading your adventures..

Lucky Girl..

ellenem

Enjoying this report and waiting for more

TDudette

Oh boy! Too pooped to read it all right now but will do so soon.

Dayle

sarge,

What a wonderful trip start. Can't wait to read the rest. One thing you have to remember, banks NEVER do forward your travel plans to their third party security monitoring. You need to ask them for the security number and do it yourself to be sure. I guess it just too much trouble for them. But,then, bankers aren't our favorite people now are they?

sarge56

<b>Day 4 – VENICE --- NO ICE GLASS (NONE IN IT, EITHER.. BUT THAT IS TO BE EXPECTED)</b>

We got up early and headed off to Murano. Thank goodness there is a Murano Express vaporetto. We picked it up at the Piazzale Roma stop. It was a little overcast and drizzly in the a.m., but it mostly burned off by early afternoon.
We visited the church of Santa Maria e Donato, and were disappointed that no pictures were allowed. However, services had just concluded and it was nostalgic to take in the aromas of the incense used during Mass. A very quiet and small church.

We then visited the Glass Museum and found the desk clerk a huge fan of (of all things), “Walker, Texas Ranger”. At first we were thinking our local baseball team when he said “Rangers”, but quickly came to realize he wanted to carry a badge and kick some butt.

The museum was small, but worth a visit just to view the enormous glass chandeliers in several of the rooms. OMG! Some of these have to weigh at least a ton. I surely would NOT want to clean them!

I was looking for a particular kind of glass known as “ice glass”. My aunt was a frequent visitor to Italy and loved the Murano glass, as do I. When she passed away 25 years ago, she left two pieces to my kid sister. They are a blue vase (about 12 inches in height) and a green pitcher, about the same height. Both are designed in an almost Grecian-style. And both are what is known as “ice glass”. The pieces were taken while still hot and dipped into buckets of cold water. This caused the glass to “crack”, without actually causing the article to shatter. The result is beautiful- “crackled”, like a mini-jigsaw puzzle of glass.
Alas, even the glass museum did not have any examples of this kind of art glass. When I found a shop with some other pieces I liked, I spent some time talking to the owner. He said that ice glass was very popular in the first half of the century, but most glass houses stopped producing it in the 50’s. His uncle had been a glass-blower and retired just last year, at the age of 83! He did have some lovely and unique pieces in his shop. He showed me most of the glass pieces you could get in any shop in Venice. Then had one wall of all the remaining pieces that his uncle had produced. I fell in love with one green vase and thought I got a good deal for E100 (cash discount of 20%). (I’m going to have to ask my sister to have those pieces appraised, since any remaining pieces seem to be extremely rare. I think my aunt purchased her pieces in the early 50’s.) The shop was called, “Murano Modern Glass” (Riva Longa, 14-15).

Anyway, we had a quick tourist lunch and left Murano as the sun broke out. We decided to walk down the Strada Nova and do some more window shopping. We found a little internet café that was part of a large chain hotel (can’t remember which one). We had my laptop with us, so decided to go in and Skype the kids.

We then decided to splurge for dinner at one of the restaurants on the Grand Canal, very near the train station. We had a lovely table right next to the water. The view was incredible. Don’t have the receipt, so can’t tell you the name. We started with a “shrimp cocktail”, only to find out that it was muddled in a thick heavy sauce of mayo and ? We had to pick out the little shrimps to eat.

We had fresh spinach, pasta, fish, dessert and cappuccinos. I think the total was E88. Lovely evening.

When we left the restaurant, we decided to just ride the vaporetto around the entire canal to see how it looked at night. It was a perfect evening and the stars were shining bright. There was almost a full moon. My daughter caught some incredible pics of a statue atop a church near our apartment. It was a new camera and she had to take several shots to get it right, but I loved the take.

We slept well that night, ready to wake up to our last full day in Venice.

<b>Day 5 - Venice AND I THOUGHT <i>I</i> NEEDED SUNSCREEN…</b>

Woke up to find bright, sunny skies and gloriously warm weather. A perfect day in Venice.

We decided to sleep in a little late today. Headed off to Santa Maria della Salute around mid-morning. There were lots of people out and many seemed to be here, too. Then, we remembered that it was a National Holiday and we were told to expect lots of extra people in town.

If you’ve been to this church at the southern tip of the Dorsoduro, you’ll know that at the very tip stands an 8-foot tall fiberglass statue of a little boy (in all his glory) holding his hand out in front of him. Dangling from his hand is a frog. (“Boy With Frog” by American artist Charles Ray. http://www.vogue.com/voguedaily/2009...e/12_c_ray-hd/)

Now, I can get silly with the best of ‘em, but the things people were trying to do with this statue while someone else snapped their photo--- . Well, let’s just say that there was a reason that there was a police officer standing very nearby , whose entire job seemed to be to discourage such ribald acts. (My DD was sure he’d lost a bet to get that post. Hahaha)

When we felt like we wanted to move again (we could have sat here the entire day, soaking up the sun), we wandered the back streets and bridges of the Dorsoduro. We headed north, not knowing where we were going or where we would end up.

At some point, we decided we were really hungry. So, we started to look for one of the restaurants on my google map. After a few wrong turns and a number of minor arguments with DD about where we were going, we found the restaurant in question. Alas, it was closed, as it was now 2:45pm.

This was one of the things we consistently seemed to forget: That restaurants open for lunch and close after “lunch” and don’t re-open until “dinner”. We somehow always seemed to get hungry around 2:30. This caused us to actually save money, as we were forced to eat more “street food” than we had anticipated.

On this particular day, we found a little kebab place that was actually the most horrible place we’d ever decided to enter. It was in the heart of the Dorsoduro and the only other thing we’d seen was a gelateria. (In hindsight, that would have been the better option!) I can’t even describe how bad the food was. Eh, lesson learned.

We finally wended our way out to the Fondamenta Zattere, where we enjoyed a bottle of water while basking some more in the hot sun. We then caught the vaporetto back to our apartment to take a nap. (Hey, soaking up the sun is hard work!)

I have absolutely no idea what we did for dinner that night, as I cannot find a receipt nor any notes. :0 I think we may have eaten street food and I know I spent an hour or more walking down the Strada Nova. I had additional Murano glass gifts I wanted to buy before we left.

Around 10pm, I decided we needed to take a gondola ride before we left Venice. I remembered a gondola pier just a short distance from the Ca’D’Oro vaporetto stop, so we headed that way. Fortunately, there were two gondoliers still there and we agreed upon E100 (which was the published rate the city of Venice said we should pay for a night ride). We had a very cute and sweet gondolier. No singing, but he did keep us entertained with interesting tidbits about certain buildings and historical sites along the route. Our route included a trip under the Rialto and it was lovely that night with a full moon out. It was the perfect way to end our five days in Venice.

*Sidenote: Our apartment owner affirmed something I had figured out while trying to develop a Google Restaurant Map for Venice… Google doesn’t do Venice well. Several places, though the address was correctly put into the search bar, showed up in the wrong places on the map. Just an fyi.

laartista

Great report so far!

sarge56

PS folks, before I forget...

Venice has been inundated with foreigners who have opened shops selling items that very much look like Venice glass. But they all have signs in their windows stating "50% off", etc. These are knockoffs- not Venice glass.

The true Venetian vendors selling true Murano glass, are struggling to compete with the fakes.

If you shop in Venice, PLEASE DO NOT spend your money in these wanna-be shops. Please make sure that you are buying glass and souveniers marked as being made in Venice or Murano, etc. DO NOT even go into those "50 off" places.

Save Venice from becoming a cheap dime store!

Thank you!

sarge56

**Minor addendum to Day 2 in Venice- I forgot to mention that we went to the Rialto markets early in the day. Awesome sights, smells and sounds. Everyone should get up early one day and head to the Rialto markets!

Florence, Tuscany and Rome to follow...

sarge56

<b>Day 6 – Florence – HOT TIME IN THE OLD TOWN TONIGHT…</b>

We got up early to catch the 9:27am to Florence. It was a bright sunny morning and the heat was building even then.

We arrived in Florence before noon and took a taxi to the Hotel Casci (Via Cavour, 13). We had previously stayed here on our visit in October of ’07 and couldn’t think of staying anywhere else. The owners/proprieters of this hotel, Karla and her son Paolo, are the best. Always concerned about making their guests comfortable and providing excellent service. You feel like family.

The hotel is just about a block from the Duomo and is situated on the 2nd floor of a historic building (that is adjacent to an old palace once owned by the DeMedicis.) There is a small lift, which I enjoyed alone, as my daughter always took the three flights of stairs, to keep in shape. Alas, my arthritic knees would not have obliged that.

We were there some time before check in, but as usual, they were more than happy to keep our luggage for us until our rooms were ready. We headed off for lunch and shopping.

We ate at a small restaurant along a row of restaurants with shaded outdoor seating, near the Central Market. The meal was forgettable. We did not linger, but instead got up to head to the San Lorenzo market stalls around the corner. I have no idea how much we spent, but we left with at least a dozen scarves, a wallet for me and a sweet white leather jacket for DD. Thank heavens there was a Bancomat on the way back to the hotel!

When we arrived back at the hotel, we were happy (ok, DD was thrilled!) to see our old friend at the hotel desk. Pierpaolo. No doubt, the hottest guy in Italy. And just as nice as he is gorgeous. Pierpaolo works for the hotel and is very good at what he does, which I think runs the gamut from desk clerk to entertainment to IT. He always has the best recommendations for restaurants and always asks if he can make a reservation for you. He offered us a “welcome back” drink from the little bar off the lobby. (We had sodas. :] ) We had a nice talk and there was definitely some chemistry going on there. I think if my gorgeous daughter lived there, she and he might be spending time together. (Alas, she is home with her boyfriend.)

We took a long nap and, after showering, descended on the front desk to seek a dinner recommendation/reservation. We asked about our favorite restaurant from our previous trip, Semidivino. We were totally distraught to find out they had closed. Instead, we were directed to Trattoria al Trebbio (Via Delle Belle Donne, 47-49/R). It was down near the Santa Maria Novello train station.

We asked Pierpaolo to call us a cab, as we were both suffering feet and back pain, and my knees were killin’ me. “Mama Karla” insisted we could walk it in ten minutes. We knew we could, but we were beat. So, the cab ride of death, it was! (Folks, those New York cab drivers got nothin’ on the taxi drivers in Florence or Rome! I kid you not!)

The meal was very good. The menu had some unusual items, including pot roast and pork chops. DD opted for the luscious, perfectly-cooked pork chop. I opted for meatballs with “mashed potatoes”. The meatballs were very good, the potatoes..eh. They seemed to have been made with potatoes that had been roasted with some meat, and then were mashed with water. Not my version of mashed potatoes, for sure. But, overall, a really good meal. Lovely staff. Cozy setup. We were right by an external French door and part way through the meal, they opened it. The night breeze was so welcoming.

With a bruschetta appetizer, a side of spinach, the two primi’s, water and 2 cappucinos, we got out for a very reasonable E44 (with service, but before tip).

As it WAS a beautiful evening, and the meal had renewed us, (and we were not up for another roller coaster taxi ride) we opted to walk back to the hotel. The moon was full and there was activity all around. We Skyped DD’s girls and went to bed, as we had to catch the train to Siena in the morning to meet our Tuscan tour guide.

<b>Day 7 – Tuscany – WE KNEW WE’D HAVE AN ADVENTURE AT SOME POINT ON THIS TRIP…</b>

We got up this morning and headed to the breakfast room of the hotel. This is seriously the best spread we have encountered in our European hotel stays. Fresh croissants, strawberries and other fruits, coffee cake, fresh juice, eggs, cereal, toast, yogurts. And coffee made to order. The best cappuccino and espressos! And Mama Karla makes them herself.

When told we needed to head out for the train, Karla insisted we should take the bus to Siena instead of the train. We told her we understood, but that buses tend to make me sick. She looked disappointed that we were not taking her advice to take the bus. (We heard from everyone that the bus was not only faster than the train, but it let you off in the center of town, while the train station was out away from town by 15 mts.) But we were meeting our tour guide at the train station, so we could not change our plans.

Alas, though we arrived at the station on time, our train departed almost an hour late. With an extra-long stopover at one particular station, we did not arrive in Siena until 10:45am. (We were to meet our guide, Luca Garrapa, at 9:40.) Fortunately, he waited for us.

Luca had come highly recommended on this board. When we were planning our first trip to Italy a few years ago, we tried to book a tour with Luca, but he had no days available on his calendar during our stay. So, we were doubly happy to have snagged him on this trip.

The rain had stopped, but it was still a little overcast. As we drove into Tuscany, those clouds burned off and we had a lovely day exploring Tuscany.

Our first stop was Asciano, a small town where Luca now resides. It was a stereo-typical Italian village. A couple of churches, a couple of businesses, a few restaurants. And a very quiet and peaceful town. It was extremely interesting to walk along the old “walls” of the town, where Italian soldiers once trod to keep out intruders. We walked all around this little town and it was lovely while getting a history lesson from Luca.

We then drove on through the beautiful green hills of young wheat, on to Pienza. We stopped several times to get the best views of the hills and valleys, many perfect photo opportunities.

We arrived in Pienza ready for lunch. Luca took us to a delightful family-run restaurant right in the heart of Pienza, Trattoria da Fiorella (Via Condotti, 11). DD was not very hungry and opted for a large bowl of zupa ribollita (everything soup.) She said it was delicious. I opted for fettucini al cacio e pepe, a very simple dish of pasta with olive oil, fresh-ground black pepper and cheese. Pecorino cheese. OMG-YUMMY! Not only was the pasta delicious, but the olive oil was like liquid heaven. Apparently, it was a local family that produced it. I am still suffering remorse for not having purchased any of this delicious olive oil to take home. With service, water and bruschetta appetizer (can you tell it’s my fave?), we left after paying E25.50.

We strolled through the heart of town while Luca relayed the story of Pienza and Pope Pius II. It was a wonderful way to spend an early afternoon in Tuscany. The cathedral was amazing, the view from behind it, incredible. The clouds returned over the valley below and we wound our way to a lovely cheese/olive/wine store. There, we tasted different samples of Pecorino at different stages of aging. Of course, I left with a half-wheel of it. LOVE pecorino! I also threw in some chestnut honey, as nothing is better than fresh pears, with chestnut honey drizzled over the top and then shaved pecorino on top. Heaven to the tongue. Seriously.

We had lingered longer than we anticipated and so could not do both items remaining on my list, before the day was through. So we gave up the winery to head out to the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore.

We arrived at this beautiful monastery at the top of an equally-stunning green mountaintop about an hour before they closed. The amazingly-bright frescoes that adorn the inner walls of the courtyard tell the story of St. Benedict. The inlaid woodwork on the choir stalls, by Fra’ Giovanni da Verona, is the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. The detail, colors, workmanship are just unparalleled.

We spent the entire hour viewing the lovely rooms and artwork within the abbey. This is still a working monastery and there are about 35 monks in residence. We snuck a peak through the door of the Refectory, to see a monk preparing the tables for the evening meal. That memory is burned in my mind- it was just so picturesque. The amazing ceiling, the old tables lined against the walls, the monk (in white) going about his business unaware that we were quietly watching him from a distance.

As we made our way back to the entrance, we realized it had started to drizzle. Now and then we could hear thunder in the distance. Luca ran out to the SUV to get a couple of umbrellas. He reported back that one of the back seat windows was stuck halfway down. We didn’t think it would be an issue, as there was plenty of room for DD to sit on the other side of the rear seat. We noticed that the little gift shop off to the left of the front door was still open, so we decided to walk over there while Luca went to get the car.

We quickly made our purchases and headed out the door. Suddenly, it began to pour buckets and buckets of rain. A man and his family were standing in the entryway of the gift shop and the father asked Luca if he would drive him up to his vehicle, about a mile up the road at the other parking lot. So, the man jumped into the backseat, only to realize he was being soaked because of the window issue. He was still grateful for the ride, as he could return for his family with his own vehicle and they would not have to get wet.

As we pulled up to the parking lot and the man opened his door- all hell broke loose. (Seemed, literally!) It started to lightning and thunder and hail. I mean the sky opened up with Texas-sized hail and what can only be described as fire-and-brimstone from above!

Poor Luca was beside himself as hail came flying in the window at DD; it was even bouncing off the back seat to the front of the car. DD and I were laughing hysterically at this point (maybe to hide the fear!) hahaha. I could see Luca’s distress and tried to relieve it by yelling out, “Oh, my, is this the way they close the Abbey every night???”

That did it. He finally cracked a smile. We were just laughing so hard now, I thought we were going to wet our drawers. Because the thunderstorm that had rolled in brought much cooler air with it, the windshield fogged up rapidly. Because the back window was down, the defrog wouldn’t work. It was like an “I Love Lucy” episode. We traveled for 20 minutes down the mountain under those conditions before we were out of the storm. Too friggin’ funny!

We made our way back to Siena and had time for a quick drive-thru of the city and center square. We may have to go back some day and include it as a day trip.

We said our good-byes, paid him and Luca drove away as we boarded our train with a couple minutes to spare.

We thought our long ordeal with the weather was over. Alas, after 45 minutes, we realized that, not only was our train not going anywhere, but we saw no trains coming or going in all the time we’d been sitting there. Finally, a conductor came on board and we could garner that we were not going anywhere nor did anyone know when that might change. (We did not know for sure, but assumed that power may have been out somewhere down the line, due to the storm.)

We had passed the bus station when we were in town and knew that there was a regular express bus to Florence. So our choice was to wait it out or try to get to the bus station. It was now going on 8pm.

We inquired at the ticket office and were told that there was no bus that would get us from the train station to the bus station; that the only way to go was to walk or taxi. So, we headed out to the taxi stand.

So much for small towns and wet weather. Apparently what few taxis there were, were already gone taking people home in the rain. We waited 20 mts and no taxis showed up. DD was getting quite anxious. Just as she was about to have a meltdown, a young couple whom we had seen on our train, approached the taxi stand. They were from Turkey and had also been on a Tuscan tour and were trying to get back to Florence.

Our luck was about to change for the better. Seemed this young couple had been there the day before and knew how to catch a bus to the bus station. When no taxis were forthcoming, they told us to follow them and we would all get home soon.

We purchased E1 tickets at the tobacchi shop in the station. We then headed across the street and entered what appeared to be a mall. We took an elevator and a couple of escalators and came out at what seemed like a lower street level entrance. There, a nice city bus stopped five minutes later and picked us up and wheeled us off to the main bus station!

We found the ticket office closed. This little tour-de-force Turkish woman just kept asking questions of everyone she could find at the bus stop. Finally, we headed for another little tobacchi shop and purchases E7 tickets for the Florence Express. The bus pulled up minutes later and we were home back to our hotel by 10:45pm. Crisis averted, new Turkish friends made. (Who knew we should have TAKEN THE BUS!!!) hahaha...