Mr Green's Italy Trip Report - Milan Florence Venice
Nov 14th, 2005, 08:06 PM
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Hi MrGreen,
Very much enjoying your report. we leave in 10 weeks for Florence and Venice, so the detail that you have so generously provided is really ehlpful.
It sounds like Siena was your favorite day trip from Florence, is that correct? We will probably only have time for one excursion from Florence and have had a hard time narrowing it down...
Looking forward to hearing more, thank you for posting! Tiff
Very much enjoying your report. we leave in 10 weeks for Florence and Venice, so the detail that you have so generously provided is really ehlpful.
It sounds like Siena was your favorite day trip from Florence, is that correct? We will probably only have time for one excursion from Florence and have had a hard time narrowing it down...
Looking forward to hearing more, thank you for posting! Tiff
Nov 15th, 2005, 03:59 AM
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Alisk - You are correct. We booked our tickets through Expedia.com sometime around May, I think. It was just before the prices jumped. We had been watching the fares fall for a while and we jumped at what we thought was a good price. After that the fares started increasing. Basically we lucked out big time!
We actually called from the U.S. several weeks ahead of time to book the Uffizi and the Accademia. The fee was 3 Euros over the admission price. I don't have the number that we used, but it has been posted many times on Fodor's. (A quick search will bring you to them.)
For the last supper, we went to
http://www.cenacolovinciano.it/html/eng/home.htm to make our reservations.
For the Secret Itineraries tour at the Doge's Palace in Venice we booked at http://www.museiciviciveneziani.it/f...;sezione=musei
The busses and trains can be a little confusing and stressful, but in my mind they were not as stressful to me as driving myself would have been.
We actually called from the U.S. several weeks ahead of time to book the Uffizi and the Accademia. The fee was 3 Euros over the admission price. I don't have the number that we used, but it has been posted many times on Fodor's. (A quick search will bring you to them.)
For the last supper, we went to
http://www.cenacolovinciano.it/html/eng/home.htm to make our reservations.
For the Secret Itineraries tour at the Doge's Palace in Venice we booked at http://www.museiciviciveneziani.it/f...;sezione=musei
The busses and trains can be a little confusing and stressful, but in my mind they were not as stressful to me as driving myself would have been.
Nov 15th, 2005, 05:57 AM
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Wednesday, October 26 – Day Seven, Florence
Another beautiful day in Florence! We headed out towards the Bargello Museum for our first of the day’s museums. The fee to get in the Bargello was 6 Euros each. This was a pleasant museum that was not at all crowded. We purchased a guide book for 8 Euros so that we would know what we were seeing. We knew about Donatello’s bronze statue, David, but seeing it in person was a treat. There was also some pieces by Michelangelo. The museum also boasts a nice armor collection with some elaborately decorated swords, helmets, and other instruments of warfare.
Leaving the Bargello, we easily found the Uffizi Gallery, our next stop. Our reservations were for 11:00 A.M. We arrived at about 10:15. The place to collect our reservation was across the piazza from the main entrance. We had reserved the Uffizi by phone before the trip. The same phone call also allowed us to book the Accademia. We paid 9,50 Euros each to get in, which includes the 3 Euro fee for pre-booking. We soon became aware of how huge a bargain this was as we made our way past the throngs of people waiting in line and the signs that told them they had a one to two hour wait from that point! We went over to the reservations entrance and were admitted by 10:30 (a half-hour early!)
The first thing we did was to purchase the official guide. The guide was very handy because we are not art experts and the guide has a small room-by-room description of every single piece in the gallery. It also gives more detailed descriptions of the more major pieces, like Botticelli’s captivating “Birth of Venus” and “Spring”, works by Leonardo, “The Annunciation” and “Adoration of the Magi”. There were works by Titian and a painting of “David with the Head of Goliath” by Reni were some of our favorites. I found a painting that I like by Pietro di Cosimo while Mrs. Green’s favorite was a famous painting of Venice. I don’t know if the museum was smaller than I expected, but it took less time for us to get through it than I had imagined. But it was still worth every penny to see this amazing gallery.
We stopped outside of the gallery at an outdoor café and had pollo (chicken) salad and foccacia with mozzarella and spinach. I couldn’t find the receipt for this, so I don’t have prices or locations for this one, sorry!
Next we headed down the street to the Palazzo Vecchio, which sits right next to the Uffizi Gallery. The entry fee was 12, Euros for two of us. The first room we came to was a huge meeting room completely covered in enormous paintings on the walls and ceiling. This was the most impressive feature of the palace. Another room that we enjoyed, contained a large metal globe with antique maps covering all the walls.
Santa Croce was the next item on the agenda. (4 Euros each) The outside of this beautiful church was decorated in blue, white and gold. The inside of the church was mostly covered in scaffolding for restoration, but we still got to see the highly decorated tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Dante. Santa Croce is a very interesting church that I wish we could have seen more of, but with all the restoration work, it was difficult. We found a little leather-making school connected to the church where we could watch them make purses, wallets, and shoes, to be sold at extravagant prices in the adjoining shop.
The next stop was the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale. But for some reason, even though we double checked the hours of operation on the sign next to the entrance, we were told, not too kindly, that there were no visitors. I was very aggravated by this, because I had been looking forward to seeing the library. (I was exceedingly impressed by the British Library last year, so I had hoped for the same in Italy.) Disappointed, we did the first thing that came to mind. We bought some gelato. It was a cone with one scoop of chocolate and one scoop of vanilla. Mmmmm. We spent the rest of the day shopping for gifts for our family and friends back home. We found a neat little wooden toy/clock shop, with a gentleman hand painting small wooden toys at the door.
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a Pane shop at the corner of San Zanobi to buy some pizza, drinks, desserts, and a little something for breakfast in the morning. (9,27 Euros) Back at the room, we enjoyed watching a Mickey Mouse cartoon on TV, in Italian.
In the next episode, find out what we did with our free, completely unscheduled day!
Another beautiful day in Florence! We headed out towards the Bargello Museum for our first of the day’s museums. The fee to get in the Bargello was 6 Euros each. This was a pleasant museum that was not at all crowded. We purchased a guide book for 8 Euros so that we would know what we were seeing. We knew about Donatello’s bronze statue, David, but seeing it in person was a treat. There was also some pieces by Michelangelo. The museum also boasts a nice armor collection with some elaborately decorated swords, helmets, and other instruments of warfare.
Leaving the Bargello, we easily found the Uffizi Gallery, our next stop. Our reservations were for 11:00 A.M. We arrived at about 10:15. The place to collect our reservation was across the piazza from the main entrance. We had reserved the Uffizi by phone before the trip. The same phone call also allowed us to book the Accademia. We paid 9,50 Euros each to get in, which includes the 3 Euro fee for pre-booking. We soon became aware of how huge a bargain this was as we made our way past the throngs of people waiting in line and the signs that told them they had a one to two hour wait from that point! We went over to the reservations entrance and were admitted by 10:30 (a half-hour early!)
The first thing we did was to purchase the official guide. The guide was very handy because we are not art experts and the guide has a small room-by-room description of every single piece in the gallery. It also gives more detailed descriptions of the more major pieces, like Botticelli’s captivating “Birth of Venus” and “Spring”, works by Leonardo, “The Annunciation” and “Adoration of the Magi”. There were works by Titian and a painting of “David with the Head of Goliath” by Reni were some of our favorites. I found a painting that I like by Pietro di Cosimo while Mrs. Green’s favorite was a famous painting of Venice. I don’t know if the museum was smaller than I expected, but it took less time for us to get through it than I had imagined. But it was still worth every penny to see this amazing gallery.
We stopped outside of the gallery at an outdoor café and had pollo (chicken) salad and foccacia with mozzarella and spinach. I couldn’t find the receipt for this, so I don’t have prices or locations for this one, sorry!
Next we headed down the street to the Palazzo Vecchio, which sits right next to the Uffizi Gallery. The entry fee was 12, Euros for two of us. The first room we came to was a huge meeting room completely covered in enormous paintings on the walls and ceiling. This was the most impressive feature of the palace. Another room that we enjoyed, contained a large metal globe with antique maps covering all the walls.
Santa Croce was the next item on the agenda. (4 Euros each) The outside of this beautiful church was decorated in blue, white and gold. The inside of the church was mostly covered in scaffolding for restoration, but we still got to see the highly decorated tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Dante. Santa Croce is a very interesting church that I wish we could have seen more of, but with all the restoration work, it was difficult. We found a little leather-making school connected to the church where we could watch them make purses, wallets, and shoes, to be sold at extravagant prices in the adjoining shop.
The next stop was the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale. But for some reason, even though we double checked the hours of operation on the sign next to the entrance, we were told, not too kindly, that there were no visitors. I was very aggravated by this, because I had been looking forward to seeing the library. (I was exceedingly impressed by the British Library last year, so I had hoped for the same in Italy.) Disappointed, we did the first thing that came to mind. We bought some gelato. It was a cone with one scoop of chocolate and one scoop of vanilla. Mmmmm. We spent the rest of the day shopping for gifts for our family and friends back home. We found a neat little wooden toy/clock shop, with a gentleman hand painting small wooden toys at the door.
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a Pane shop at the corner of San Zanobi to buy some pizza, drinks, desserts, and a little something for breakfast in the morning. (9,27 Euros) Back at the room, we enjoyed watching a Mickey Mouse cartoon on TV, in Italian.
In the next episode, find out what we did with our free, completely unscheduled day!
Nov 15th, 2005, 10:38 AM
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Thursday, October 27 – Day Eight, Free Day
We had left this day open on the schedule in order to free up time to relax and maybe get in some site seeing that we hadn’t scheduled. One of the places we had been tossing around in our heads before we left was the mountains of the Garfagnana region north of Lucca. This is a small mountain range that runs near the Apuane Alps. It is not a very well-traveled region, so we weren’t able to find much information on it. Still I wanted to see the mountains, so we got our train tickets to Lucca (9,40 Euros for two 2nd class tickets.) Once in Lucca, we headed to the North part of the town where the main tourist information office is located to see if they had any information on Garfagnana. They didn’t, so we decided that we would just take a train up to Castelnuovo di Garfagnana and back to see what was there.
We went back to the train station and bought our tickets for 3,30 Euros each, one way. We had about an hour to wait and it was getting close to noon, so we went around the corner to grab a bite to eat. Finally, we boarded the train and opened up the window to take some pictures along the way. We did get to see some beautiful mountains as we made our way north. We saw vineyards and orchards of olive trees running up the sides of the mountains dotted with villages and tiny churches. We also saw the famous Devil’s Bridge, which is an odd looking bridge where each arch rises higher than the next and the last arch is about double the height of the first arch. The train ride only took about 45 minutes which was much shorter than I had anticipated.
Castelnuovo di Garfagnana was something of a disappointment in terms of having any great mountain views. But it was nice just to relax and enjoy the quietness. We walked down the street for a while looking for little unusual shops, but there wasn’t much around. We went back to the station and bought return tickets to Lucca for the same price as the trip up. Back in Lucca, we went to a few shops and came across the very pretty San Giusto. We decided that we didn’t feel the day was wasted by spending it on the train most of the time because, for one thing, our feet needed the rest, and another thing, we would have been disappointed had we not at least tried to see the mountains. Plus the day was very peaceful.
We headed back to Florence by train and arrived at 7:20 P.M. just in time for dinner. We found La Falterona on Via Zannoni. We had salads, Mrs. Green had a ricotto dish and I had a smoked meat dish that consisted a extremely thin sliced pieces of meat, leaves, and shaved parmesan cheese. This was probably our least favorite meal in Italy. However, I must admit that our desserts saved the meal. Mrs. Green had I creamy dessert with strawberries and wafers, while I had pana cotta, which was a sort of bread pudding. They were excellent. For the meal, drinks (water, again) desserts, and cover charge, we spent 35 Euros.
We had left this day open on the schedule in order to free up time to relax and maybe get in some site seeing that we hadn’t scheduled. One of the places we had been tossing around in our heads before we left was the mountains of the Garfagnana region north of Lucca. This is a small mountain range that runs near the Apuane Alps. It is not a very well-traveled region, so we weren’t able to find much information on it. Still I wanted to see the mountains, so we got our train tickets to Lucca (9,40 Euros for two 2nd class tickets.) Once in Lucca, we headed to the North part of the town where the main tourist information office is located to see if they had any information on Garfagnana. They didn’t, so we decided that we would just take a train up to Castelnuovo di Garfagnana and back to see what was there.
We went back to the train station and bought our tickets for 3,30 Euros each, one way. We had about an hour to wait and it was getting close to noon, so we went around the corner to grab a bite to eat. Finally, we boarded the train and opened up the window to take some pictures along the way. We did get to see some beautiful mountains as we made our way north. We saw vineyards and orchards of olive trees running up the sides of the mountains dotted with villages and tiny churches. We also saw the famous Devil’s Bridge, which is an odd looking bridge where each arch rises higher than the next and the last arch is about double the height of the first arch. The train ride only took about 45 minutes which was much shorter than I had anticipated.
Castelnuovo di Garfagnana was something of a disappointment in terms of having any great mountain views. But it was nice just to relax and enjoy the quietness. We walked down the street for a while looking for little unusual shops, but there wasn’t much around. We went back to the station and bought return tickets to Lucca for the same price as the trip up. Back in Lucca, we went to a few shops and came across the very pretty San Giusto. We decided that we didn’t feel the day was wasted by spending it on the train most of the time because, for one thing, our feet needed the rest, and another thing, we would have been disappointed had we not at least tried to see the mountains. Plus the day was very peaceful.
We headed back to Florence by train and arrived at 7:20 P.M. just in time for dinner. We found La Falterona on Via Zannoni. We had salads, Mrs. Green had a ricotto dish and I had a smoked meat dish that consisted a extremely thin sliced pieces of meat, leaves, and shaved parmesan cheese. This was probably our least favorite meal in Italy. However, I must admit that our desserts saved the meal. Mrs. Green had I creamy dessert with strawberries and wafers, while I had pana cotta, which was a sort of bread pudding. They were excellent. For the meal, drinks (water, again) desserts, and cover charge, we spent 35 Euros.
Nov 15th, 2005, 10:38 AM
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Friday, October 28 – Day Nine, Florence
This was our last day in Florence and it was a busy one. The first stop was the Opificio Pietre Dure, (2 Euros each) which is a museum that exhibits the products from the workshop of precious and semi-precious stones. This particular workshop has been in business in some form/location since the 1500’s. The amount of detail in the stonework was incredible. Some of the pieces were nearly indistinguishable from actual paintings. But each piece was completely made from tiny pieces of different colored stones intricately puzzled together. Upstairs, we saw some of the instruments and fragments of stones that were used to make this amazing artwork.
We still had some time before our 11:00 A.M. reservation to the Accademia so we decided to check out San Marco, just around the corner, pausing at Caffettoria Il David in Piazza San Marco on the way for some inexpensive and delicious pastries for breakfast. San Marco was a beautifully frescoed monastery. We were able to view the cells where the pious lived their lives in poverty. The cells were very small, only about 5 X 7 feet with a tiny window and a mural on the wall usually depicting a suffering Christ. There was also a large hall where they used to work on manuscripts. We paid 4 Euros each for San Marco.
Once we finished with San Marco, we decided to get in the line to wait for our reservation time. As we stood in line, we compared travel notes with a nice couple from San Jose, California. The tickets for the Accademia were 6,50 plus 3 Euros for the reservation fee, each. Again, we ordered these with the same phone call as the Uffizi. It only took a few minutes to get inside. Once again, we purchased the official guide, which was from the same publisher as the Uffizi guide. I think these guides were about 15 or 16 Euros each.
Unquestionably, Michelangelo’s David was the most impressive single piece of artwork that we saw on this trip. This masterpiece was much larger than I had imagined, and the detail was amazing. We also enjoyed the unfinished sculptures by Michelangelo. It is true what they say about how the sculptures appear to be trying to escape from the marble. We also saw the small musical instrument museum, located inside the Accademia. The rest of the Accademia was nice, but pales after the stunning introduction to David.
We headed out towards the hotel to drop off some things we had purchased. We stopped at a movie memorabilia store on the way and bought some movie posters, including a poster for Il Padre (The Godfather) and of course an Italian Disney poster of Snow White for Mrs. Green. I also indulged in one of my addictions and bought a Laurel and Hardy poster for Fra Diavolo. We have a movie room at home that these will fit in perfectly.
The rest of the day was devoted to Florence’s Duomo. If I had it to do over, I might not have saved this until the very last day, since it is such a symbol of Florence. But it was still great to visit at any time. The outside is decorated in intricate patterns of white and green. But our first stop was the Battistero, or Baptistery. The entry fee was a modest 3 Euros per person. The gold-mosaic domed ceiling alone was worth the price of admission. Next, we went into the Duomo, where we looked around for a bit. The interior is a little underwhelming compared to the exquisite exterior, but they do not charge an entry fee, so it would have been unfortunate to have skipped it.
We decided to see the items that used to be in the Duomo, so we went to the Museo del Duomo across the street in an unassuming location. The charge was 6 Euros per person, which was a little high, in my opinion. But given that the Duomo itself was free, it all works out. We did get to see the original baptistery doors. The six panels of the doors have been placed separately in glass cases, which makes it easier to view each piece up close. It does take away the effect of the original intention of the work, though. There were other interesting sculptures and models of the Duomo in the museum.
Almost next door to the Museo del Duomo is a shop selling stone items very similar to those we saw in the Stone Museum earlier in the day. Most of the items were very expensive, but we did find a couple of small, pretty stone bracelets that we purchased as gifts. The shop was called Le Pietre Nell’Arte.
We had lunch at the café next to the stone shop. I had spaghetti and Mrs. Green had lasagna. But I don’t have this receipt, so I don’t know what we spent. The food was ok, and the price similar to the other places we had been to. Nothing special. The rest of the day was free for shopping.
Back at the hotel, we began to prepare for the mornings journey to Venice. It soon became apparent where the weakness of our packing strategy lay. We had bought too many souvenirs to fit into our three small bags. It was also time to do laundry again. So we went over to the Wash and Dry on Via Nazionale and loaded up the washer. While that was running, we went down to the corner near Santa Maria Novella where we had seen some luggage for sale. We purchase a somewhat large rolling, expandable suitcase with dozens of extra pockets for only 20 Euros. We finished our laundry and packing and picked up some dinner at the corner café near our hotel again.
My opinion of Florence is that we had plenty of time to see what we wanted, including the day trip (except we needed a little more time in Siena). Any more time would have been almost too much, any less time and we would have not been able to relax or just wander around. The city is chaotic, but contain many little places where one can get away for peace and quiet. It was easy to find our way around because of the many landmarks available. I would return in a heartbeat!
This was our last day in Florence and it was a busy one. The first stop was the Opificio Pietre Dure, (2 Euros each) which is a museum that exhibits the products from the workshop of precious and semi-precious stones. This particular workshop has been in business in some form/location since the 1500’s. The amount of detail in the stonework was incredible. Some of the pieces were nearly indistinguishable from actual paintings. But each piece was completely made from tiny pieces of different colored stones intricately puzzled together. Upstairs, we saw some of the instruments and fragments of stones that were used to make this amazing artwork.
We still had some time before our 11:00 A.M. reservation to the Accademia so we decided to check out San Marco, just around the corner, pausing at Caffettoria Il David in Piazza San Marco on the way for some inexpensive and delicious pastries for breakfast. San Marco was a beautifully frescoed monastery. We were able to view the cells where the pious lived their lives in poverty. The cells were very small, only about 5 X 7 feet with a tiny window and a mural on the wall usually depicting a suffering Christ. There was also a large hall where they used to work on manuscripts. We paid 4 Euros each for San Marco.
Once we finished with San Marco, we decided to get in the line to wait for our reservation time. As we stood in line, we compared travel notes with a nice couple from San Jose, California. The tickets for the Accademia were 6,50 plus 3 Euros for the reservation fee, each. Again, we ordered these with the same phone call as the Uffizi. It only took a few minutes to get inside. Once again, we purchased the official guide, which was from the same publisher as the Uffizi guide. I think these guides were about 15 or 16 Euros each.
Unquestionably, Michelangelo’s David was the most impressive single piece of artwork that we saw on this trip. This masterpiece was much larger than I had imagined, and the detail was amazing. We also enjoyed the unfinished sculptures by Michelangelo. It is true what they say about how the sculptures appear to be trying to escape from the marble. We also saw the small musical instrument museum, located inside the Accademia. The rest of the Accademia was nice, but pales after the stunning introduction to David.
We headed out towards the hotel to drop off some things we had purchased. We stopped at a movie memorabilia store on the way and bought some movie posters, including a poster for Il Padre (The Godfather) and of course an Italian Disney poster of Snow White for Mrs. Green. I also indulged in one of my addictions and bought a Laurel and Hardy poster for Fra Diavolo. We have a movie room at home that these will fit in perfectly.
The rest of the day was devoted to Florence’s Duomo. If I had it to do over, I might not have saved this until the very last day, since it is such a symbol of Florence. But it was still great to visit at any time. The outside is decorated in intricate patterns of white and green. But our first stop was the Battistero, or Baptistery. The entry fee was a modest 3 Euros per person. The gold-mosaic domed ceiling alone was worth the price of admission. Next, we went into the Duomo, where we looked around for a bit. The interior is a little underwhelming compared to the exquisite exterior, but they do not charge an entry fee, so it would have been unfortunate to have skipped it.
We decided to see the items that used to be in the Duomo, so we went to the Museo del Duomo across the street in an unassuming location. The charge was 6 Euros per person, which was a little high, in my opinion. But given that the Duomo itself was free, it all works out. We did get to see the original baptistery doors. The six panels of the doors have been placed separately in glass cases, which makes it easier to view each piece up close. It does take away the effect of the original intention of the work, though. There were other interesting sculptures and models of the Duomo in the museum.
Almost next door to the Museo del Duomo is a shop selling stone items very similar to those we saw in the Stone Museum earlier in the day. Most of the items were very expensive, but we did find a couple of small, pretty stone bracelets that we purchased as gifts. The shop was called Le Pietre Nell’Arte.
We had lunch at the café next to the stone shop. I had spaghetti and Mrs. Green had lasagna. But I don’t have this receipt, so I don’t know what we spent. The food was ok, and the price similar to the other places we had been to. Nothing special. The rest of the day was free for shopping.
Back at the hotel, we began to prepare for the mornings journey to Venice. It soon became apparent where the weakness of our packing strategy lay. We had bought too many souvenirs to fit into our three small bags. It was also time to do laundry again. So we went over to the Wash and Dry on Via Nazionale and loaded up the washer. While that was running, we went down to the corner near Santa Maria Novella where we had seen some luggage for sale. We purchase a somewhat large rolling, expandable suitcase with dozens of extra pockets for only 20 Euros. We finished our laundry and packing and picked up some dinner at the corner café near our hotel again.
My opinion of Florence is that we had plenty of time to see what we wanted, including the day trip (except we needed a little more time in Siena). Any more time would have been almost too much, any less time and we would have not been able to relax or just wander around. The city is chaotic, but contain many little places where one can get away for peace and quiet. It was easy to find our way around because of the many landmarks available. I would return in a heartbeat!
Nov 16th, 2005, 08:11 AM
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Saturday, October 29 – Day Ten, Florence to Venice
Let me start by saying that until this point, we had a love-hate relationship with Italy’s transportation services. Public transportation in Italy is efficient and fairly cheap. It is also extremely confusing at times and almost always horribly crowded. But at least we had not been forced to deal with any of Italy’s infamous strikes…yet. We arrived at SMN station with all of our belongings, our anticipation of Venice, and a newly acquired piece of large, heavy luggage. It was about 7:30 A.M. The train we were hoping to take was the Eurostar train that was to leave Florence at 8:39 A.M. and arrive in Venice (Santa Lucia) at 11:28 A.M. We also had decided to treat ourselves to first-class tickets since we had been traveling cattle-class most of the trip. We wanted to make this last train ride a pleasant one.
We made our way to the ticket booth and were told that the Eurostar train was full. Not yet knowing the full irony of those words, we asked when the next train to Venice was scheduled to leave. It was the Intercity train that departed at 9:55 A.M. So we bought two first-class tickets for that train for 50 Euros. The man at the ticket counter told us, somewhat ominously, that the seat reservations are not guaranteed for Intercity trains. What was the worst that could happen? We headed out to the main station area to grab some breakfast and wait for our gate number to come up on the board. As we waiting, I was looking at the ticket, when I realized that this train only went to the Maestro station. Mrs. Green went back to the ticket booth, while I guarded the luggage and kept an eye on the board. She came back about twenty minutes later and said that the next Eurostar doesn’t leave until after 12:00 P.M. We would just have to get tickets to Santa Lucia once we arrived in Maestro.
So we continued to wait for the gate number. And we waited, and we waited, and we waited. As 9:56 approached, there was no hint of which gate our train would be leaving from. There was another train scheduled to leave at 9:55, so we went to that gate to ask on of the green-suited guys which gate was ours. It happened to be the one right next to that gate, the one with hoards of people cramming their way into the “line” to get on board, the train that was so full I could swear there were arms and legs coming out of the windows. (I’m still not sure how all these people knew which gate to go to and we didn’t.) We panicked, because the train was supposed to leave any minute. We got onto the first car we came to and made our way about five feet into the car. That’s as far as we ever got. This train was so full, we couldn’t even get down the narrow aisle to look for an empty booth, let alone the first-class cars. The train left within a couple of minutes of our boarding. We were left standing with all our baggage in the aisle way with dozens of others too crowded to even move. We couldn’t even reach the fold-down seats along the aisle. We couldn’t even get a THIRD-class seat.
I was so angry I could have burned a hole through someone with my eyeballs. We would just wait until the train made its first stop and then get a train employee to help us get to a first-class car. Or even a second-class seat. Otherwise, I planned to demand a refund for the cost of a first-class ticket. Well, the train rolled into the first station and a few people got off, but even more got on. We had no chance to move. We were stuck for the duration of the train ride. And as it turned out no one ever came to check our tickets, so we had no one to complain to and no way to prove that we didn’t get a seat. Every few seconds, some class-less idiot made their way from their comfy booth (with the doors closed off to all us unfortunates, of course) to try unsuccessfully to make it to the restroom. And we all had to scrunch up against the wall to let them pass. There were too many people to even open the restroom door. So they made their way back up front and we had to scrunch up again.
At one point, some people came up as if they wanted to pass, so we scrunched up again. It turned out that they were actually preparing to get off the train at the next stop (ten minutes down the line) so they never went through, leaving us scrunched against the wall. After about five minutes of this, I looked over at Mrs. Green, who is claustrophobic, and noticed tears flowing down her face. She was at the beginning stages of a panic attack, but was controlling it admirably. I became infuriated and gave the lady standing in her way a look that hinted of murder. She would have to move soon. Finally their stop came and they got off. At this point ,we began to guard our little standing spot with militant determination. We purchased a first-class ticket and this was OUR spot to stand in, darn it!
Next, a group of obnoxious American college girls got on and tried to make Mrs. Green move down the aisle so “others could fit in.” I thought she was going to throw the girl and her knapsack out the train window. Finally, they found a spot for themselves and, no doubt, mumbled to themselves how unreasonable we were being. To make a VERY long story a little shorter, after more than three hours standing on the train from Florence to Venice with our luggage, we made it to Maestro station and left the train in a hurry to get in the long line to purchase tickets to Santa Lucia station on the island. The tickets were only a couple of Euros each, which was good. We only had to wait about fifteen minutes for the next train. It all seemed like it would be going smoothly now. We got on the (very much more spacious) train and grabbed the first FOUR seats we could find and sat comfortably with our luggage for the short ride to Santa Lucia, Venice.
Arriving in Venice, we made our way over to the information booth to find out where we needed to pick up our Blue Venice Cards. These cards were about 90 Euros for two and they cover transportation on the Venice waterbuses, and entry into the pay-toilets, and discounts at selected stores and restaurants. The Orange version covers some museums and costs a bit more. After waiting in line at the information desk for about ten minutes, they told us to pick up the tickets at the Vela ticket booth at the waterbus stop. So we went out to the waterbus stop and was told we needed to go to the other waterbus stop 100 feet to the right. So we drug our luggage to the other waterbus stop (the one with the long line) and waited for another fifteen minutes or so. When we got to the man at the booth, he pointed over to the waterbus stop we had just came from, suggesting that we go over there. We explained that they had sent us over here, and he shrugged his shoulders and said it was closed, dismissing us completely.
Disgusted with the world, we found a bench to sit down and try to decide what to do. Finally, Mrs. Green went back into the station to the information booth, while I waited at the bench with the luggage, wondering why everyone else got to be having such a nice time in Venice. About twenty-five minutes later, Mrs. Green came back out and said that the workers at that booth were on strike, so that is why we couldn’t get the tickets there. (Why they didn’t tell us that in the first place, I’ll never know.) They told her that there was another Vela Ticket office at Piazza Roma across the bridge and to the right where we should be able to get our tickets. So we drug all our luggage over the bridge with fifteen hundred steps and made the trudging journey to Piazza Roma on foot. (I sure wasn’t going to spend any more money on transportation in Venice than I already had!)
When we got to the piazza, we found it very confusing. With busses whizzing in and out and people and cars everywhere, we didn’t want to try to find the office while carrying our luggage, so once again, I waited with the luggage while Mrs. Green went to find the ticket office. About thirty minutes later, after I had given up all hope of ever seeing Mrs. Green again, she returned triumphantly with two small pieces of paper…our Venice Cards! So we made our way to the Piazza Roma waterbus stop and boarded the Vaporetto heading in our direction. We sat in the covered area of the boat, so we couldn’t really see much, so Venice took its time to charm us. We got off the boat at the San Stae stop to follow the directions to the hotel given to us by the owner. About halfway to the hotel it hit us. We were finally here, and it was wonderful!
We had a little trouble finding the hotel the first time, but with a little help from the owner of a café, we made it to the hotel. The first thing the lady at the reception desk said to us when she let us in was, “You must be Mr. and Mrs. Green. I thought maybe you missed the train that you said you’d be on. I was so worried about you!” This lady will probably never know how much those words meant to us! She was so nice. As we explained what had happened to us, she lead us to the only first-floor room in the hotel. “I knew you’d like a first-floor room,” she said. “THANK YOU!” we replied. She said she was sorry that the room was a little small, but to us it was a palace. “Its perfect” I said. We plopped down on the bed exhausted, at 4:00 P.M., four hours later than we had planned to arrive in Venice.
We rested until about 5:00 or 5:30, scratching off everything we had on the itinerary for that day. We did still need to pick up our reservations for the costumed concerto at http://www.imusiciveneziani.com/index.htm before 7:00 P.M. The concerto was at 9:00 P.M. that evening. We ventured out and found a little café in Campo San Cassiano and had some very good pizza. The owner told us where to find the Scuola Grande di San Teodoro, across the Realto bridge and to the right next to San Salvador church. We found it with no problems, purchased our two tickets for 64 Euros. We went back to the hotel to freshen up. Later, taking the Vaporetto back to Realto, we walked around the area for a while. Mrs. Green found the Venice Disney store, of course. And we found a café for some dessert while we waited. The concerto was magical. The musicians and singers were excellent. They were all dressed in 18th century costumes. We saw the Baroque and Opera program. Venice is wonderful at night, it was so pleasant walking back to the hotel (with the exception of the shopping area that runs along the Realto bridge and down that street, which is very crowded and highly chaotic). The streets are lit up just enough to read the street signs on the corners of the buildings. We had no trouble finding our way back to the hotel.
Let me start by saying that until this point, we had a love-hate relationship with Italy’s transportation services. Public transportation in Italy is efficient and fairly cheap. It is also extremely confusing at times and almost always horribly crowded. But at least we had not been forced to deal with any of Italy’s infamous strikes…yet. We arrived at SMN station with all of our belongings, our anticipation of Venice, and a newly acquired piece of large, heavy luggage. It was about 7:30 A.M. The train we were hoping to take was the Eurostar train that was to leave Florence at 8:39 A.M. and arrive in Venice (Santa Lucia) at 11:28 A.M. We also had decided to treat ourselves to first-class tickets since we had been traveling cattle-class most of the trip. We wanted to make this last train ride a pleasant one.
We made our way to the ticket booth and were told that the Eurostar train was full. Not yet knowing the full irony of those words, we asked when the next train to Venice was scheduled to leave. It was the Intercity train that departed at 9:55 A.M. So we bought two first-class tickets for that train for 50 Euros. The man at the ticket counter told us, somewhat ominously, that the seat reservations are not guaranteed for Intercity trains. What was the worst that could happen? We headed out to the main station area to grab some breakfast and wait for our gate number to come up on the board. As we waiting, I was looking at the ticket, when I realized that this train only went to the Maestro station. Mrs. Green went back to the ticket booth, while I guarded the luggage and kept an eye on the board. She came back about twenty minutes later and said that the next Eurostar doesn’t leave until after 12:00 P.M. We would just have to get tickets to Santa Lucia once we arrived in Maestro.
So we continued to wait for the gate number. And we waited, and we waited, and we waited. As 9:56 approached, there was no hint of which gate our train would be leaving from. There was another train scheduled to leave at 9:55, so we went to that gate to ask on of the green-suited guys which gate was ours. It happened to be the one right next to that gate, the one with hoards of people cramming their way into the “line” to get on board, the train that was so full I could swear there were arms and legs coming out of the windows. (I’m still not sure how all these people knew which gate to go to and we didn’t.) We panicked, because the train was supposed to leave any minute. We got onto the first car we came to and made our way about five feet into the car. That’s as far as we ever got. This train was so full, we couldn’t even get down the narrow aisle to look for an empty booth, let alone the first-class cars. The train left within a couple of minutes of our boarding. We were left standing with all our baggage in the aisle way with dozens of others too crowded to even move. We couldn’t even reach the fold-down seats along the aisle. We couldn’t even get a THIRD-class seat.
I was so angry I could have burned a hole through someone with my eyeballs. We would just wait until the train made its first stop and then get a train employee to help us get to a first-class car. Or even a second-class seat. Otherwise, I planned to demand a refund for the cost of a first-class ticket. Well, the train rolled into the first station and a few people got off, but even more got on. We had no chance to move. We were stuck for the duration of the train ride. And as it turned out no one ever came to check our tickets, so we had no one to complain to and no way to prove that we didn’t get a seat. Every few seconds, some class-less idiot made their way from their comfy booth (with the doors closed off to all us unfortunates, of course) to try unsuccessfully to make it to the restroom. And we all had to scrunch up against the wall to let them pass. There were too many people to even open the restroom door. So they made their way back up front and we had to scrunch up again.
At one point, some people came up as if they wanted to pass, so we scrunched up again. It turned out that they were actually preparing to get off the train at the next stop (ten minutes down the line) so they never went through, leaving us scrunched against the wall. After about five minutes of this, I looked over at Mrs. Green, who is claustrophobic, and noticed tears flowing down her face. She was at the beginning stages of a panic attack, but was controlling it admirably. I became infuriated and gave the lady standing in her way a look that hinted of murder. She would have to move soon. Finally their stop came and they got off. At this point ,we began to guard our little standing spot with militant determination. We purchased a first-class ticket and this was OUR spot to stand in, darn it!
Next, a group of obnoxious American college girls got on and tried to make Mrs. Green move down the aisle so “others could fit in.” I thought she was going to throw the girl and her knapsack out the train window. Finally, they found a spot for themselves and, no doubt, mumbled to themselves how unreasonable we were being. To make a VERY long story a little shorter, after more than three hours standing on the train from Florence to Venice with our luggage, we made it to Maestro station and left the train in a hurry to get in the long line to purchase tickets to Santa Lucia station on the island. The tickets were only a couple of Euros each, which was good. We only had to wait about fifteen minutes for the next train. It all seemed like it would be going smoothly now. We got on the (very much more spacious) train and grabbed the first FOUR seats we could find and sat comfortably with our luggage for the short ride to Santa Lucia, Venice.
Arriving in Venice, we made our way over to the information booth to find out where we needed to pick up our Blue Venice Cards. These cards were about 90 Euros for two and they cover transportation on the Venice waterbuses, and entry into the pay-toilets, and discounts at selected stores and restaurants. The Orange version covers some museums and costs a bit more. After waiting in line at the information desk for about ten minutes, they told us to pick up the tickets at the Vela ticket booth at the waterbus stop. So we went out to the waterbus stop and was told we needed to go to the other waterbus stop 100 feet to the right. So we drug our luggage to the other waterbus stop (the one with the long line) and waited for another fifteen minutes or so. When we got to the man at the booth, he pointed over to the waterbus stop we had just came from, suggesting that we go over there. We explained that they had sent us over here, and he shrugged his shoulders and said it was closed, dismissing us completely.
Disgusted with the world, we found a bench to sit down and try to decide what to do. Finally, Mrs. Green went back into the station to the information booth, while I waited at the bench with the luggage, wondering why everyone else got to be having such a nice time in Venice. About twenty-five minutes later, Mrs. Green came back out and said that the workers at that booth were on strike, so that is why we couldn’t get the tickets there. (Why they didn’t tell us that in the first place, I’ll never know.) They told her that there was another Vela Ticket office at Piazza Roma across the bridge and to the right where we should be able to get our tickets. So we drug all our luggage over the bridge with fifteen hundred steps and made the trudging journey to Piazza Roma on foot. (I sure wasn’t going to spend any more money on transportation in Venice than I already had!)
When we got to the piazza, we found it very confusing. With busses whizzing in and out and people and cars everywhere, we didn’t want to try to find the office while carrying our luggage, so once again, I waited with the luggage while Mrs. Green went to find the ticket office. About thirty minutes later, after I had given up all hope of ever seeing Mrs. Green again, she returned triumphantly with two small pieces of paper…our Venice Cards! So we made our way to the Piazza Roma waterbus stop and boarded the Vaporetto heading in our direction. We sat in the covered area of the boat, so we couldn’t really see much, so Venice took its time to charm us. We got off the boat at the San Stae stop to follow the directions to the hotel given to us by the owner. About halfway to the hotel it hit us. We were finally here, and it was wonderful!
We had a little trouble finding the hotel the first time, but with a little help from the owner of a café, we made it to the hotel. The first thing the lady at the reception desk said to us when she let us in was, “You must be Mr. and Mrs. Green. I thought maybe you missed the train that you said you’d be on. I was so worried about you!” This lady will probably never know how much those words meant to us! She was so nice. As we explained what had happened to us, she lead us to the only first-floor room in the hotel. “I knew you’d like a first-floor room,” she said. “THANK YOU!” we replied. She said she was sorry that the room was a little small, but to us it was a palace. “Its perfect” I said. We plopped down on the bed exhausted, at 4:00 P.M., four hours later than we had planned to arrive in Venice.
We rested until about 5:00 or 5:30, scratching off everything we had on the itinerary for that day. We did still need to pick up our reservations for the costumed concerto at http://www.imusiciveneziani.com/index.htm before 7:00 P.M. The concerto was at 9:00 P.M. that evening. We ventured out and found a little café in Campo San Cassiano and had some very good pizza. The owner told us where to find the Scuola Grande di San Teodoro, across the Realto bridge and to the right next to San Salvador church. We found it with no problems, purchased our two tickets for 64 Euros. We went back to the hotel to freshen up. Later, taking the Vaporetto back to Realto, we walked around the area for a while. Mrs. Green found the Venice Disney store, of course. And we found a café for some dessert while we waited. The concerto was magical. The musicians and singers were excellent. They were all dressed in 18th century costumes. We saw the Baroque and Opera program. Venice is wonderful at night, it was so pleasant walking back to the hotel (with the exception of the shopping area that runs along the Realto bridge and down that street, which is very crowded and highly chaotic). The streets are lit up just enough to read the street signs on the corners of the buildings. We had no trouble finding our way back to the hotel.
Nov 16th, 2005, 08:36 AM
#53
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Oh Mr. Green - what a train nightmare. And every time you typed that Mrs. Green was "going" and you were staying with the luggage I cringed until she was back "With" you again.
Tell Mrs. Green that both my DH and I tend to be claustrophobic, so we fell for her. I was once stuck in the middle seat in the row of five on a DC-10 for a bzillion hour full to the gills flight. I had to have a blood mary and put my walkman on (remember walkman's, ha) and that got me through it.
We will be taking that same route, Florence to Venice, good grief, the dread.
Glad your hotel greeter was the light at the end of this dark tunnel.
Tiff
Tell Mrs. Green that both my DH and I tend to be claustrophobic, so we fell for her. I was once stuck in the middle seat in the row of five on a DC-10 for a bzillion hour full to the gills flight. I had to have a blood mary and put my walkman on (remember walkman's, ha) and that got me through it.
We will be taking that same route, Florence to Venice, good grief, the dread.
Glad your hotel greeter was the light at the end of this dark tunnel.
Tiff
Nov 16th, 2005, 10:09 AM
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Woody - Thanks, It only got better from there!
Tiff - Believe me, I was cringing too. But the choice of who went and who stayed was really determined by which of us was better suited to guard all of our belongings.
For your train trip, I suspect that all you need to do is book the Eurostar well in advance (meaning at least a day or two), find out as early as you can which gate the train is leaving from, and get there plenty early. With a little forethought, we could have avoided the whole mess. Happy travels!
P.S. I still have a walkman, but I've graduated to Mp3s!
Tiff - Believe me, I was cringing too. But the choice of who went and who stayed was really determined by which of us was better suited to guard all of our belongings.
For your train trip, I suspect that all you need to do is book the Eurostar well in advance (meaning at least a day or two), find out as early as you can which gate the train is leaving from, and get there plenty early. With a little forethought, we could have avoided the whole mess. Happy travels!
P.S. I still have a walkman, but I've graduated to Mp3s!
Nov 16th, 2005, 12:06 PM
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What hotel did you visit in Venice? I can't seem to find it. Too bad about the Eurostar, we took it last year from Paris to London, 2nd class and it was wonderful. There were 4 of us and we had a little banquete and brought a picnic lunch. I guess 2nd class is different in Italy. We will remember - reservations, reservations!
Nov 16th, 2005, 12:12 PM
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I will be posting a more thorough review of the hotel in one of the upcoming reports, but until then, I've posted a recommendation for it on another thread. Just type in Ca Bonvicini in the search field. Here is there website: http://www.cabonvicini.com/
I highly recommend this place at the price we paid, 96 Euros per night, for the standard double room. It was quite a find. We originally found it on venicehotels.org and mentioned that price when we requested information on the hotel's website.
I highly recommend this place at the price we paid, 96 Euros per night, for the standard double room. It was quite a find. We originally found it on venicehotels.org and mentioned that price when we requested information on the hotel's website.
Nov 16th, 2005, 12:19 PM
#58
Mr. Green, Your story is why I always book tickets way ahead of schedule. I took the same train you wanted to go on (8:39 to Venice), but booked a first-class e-ticket through Trenitalia before we left. Everything went great.
I have read often on this board that it is not necessary to book in advance, but it would have made your day a heck of a lot easier and more relaxing.
Hope Venice relieved your train pain.
I have read often on this board that it is not necessary to book in advance, but it would have made your day a heck of a lot easier and more relaxing.
Hope Venice relieved your train pain.
Nov 16th, 2005, 12:38 PM
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Hi MrGreen, Am truly enjoying your report. Had to giggle when you sat in first class seats and said conductor didn't mind-my thought was "don't worry, the train vagaries will get you later!" am so sorry it happened with the Eurostar on the way to Venice! We too stood from Flo to Venice! We also noted that there is no icecream to compare with gelato! Looking forward to the rest of Venice.
Nov 16th, 2005, 01:38 PM
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MrGreen was on an IC train (not Eurostar) for that horrible trip from Florence to Venice. IC trains have optional reservations. The lesson learned in this case: If you must take an IC train on a popular route, reserve your seat!
I suspect MrGreen's IC train was going beyond Venice, so he was perplexed when he didn't see Venice posted on the Departures board. Second lesson learned: Know the final destination for your train--the final destination is the city posted on the departures board.
Waiting to hear all about Venice. . .
I suspect MrGreen's IC train was going beyond Venice, so he was perplexed when he didn't see Venice posted on the Departures board. Second lesson learned: Know the final destination for your train--the final destination is the city posted on the departures board.
Waiting to hear all about Venice. . .
