A Return to Venice

Late post, sorry.  As Lauren said in our last post from before this trip; we are pretty bad at getting our last few days documented, especially on longer or tiring trips.  This trip turned out to be pretty tiring, even if it was a still amazing.

We took the train to Venice because we had some free time in our schedule and Lauren let me pick what to do.  I could have stayed in Florence another whole day or done a few other things, but the end result was that we needed to be in Paris within 2 days for our flight home (Paris often has the cheapest flights).  One of the easiest options for getting to Paris was something we had done before; the night train from Venice.  It's not exactly the cheapest option, but it is easy and it also means I get to go back to Venice which is, maybe my favorite place on Earth, at least top 3.  Is it sometimes smelly?  Sure. Did it flood a week before we got there?  It was only a couple of feet!  But, is it one of the most beautiful and interesting cities in Europe?  You bet.  Bonus; we found that Venice is one of the best places for Gluten free Italian food which Lauren was thrilled with.

We got Venice in late afternoon, it was foggy and chilly but still beautiful as ever.  We stayed at a nice little B&B tucked a little bit further into the city than last time.  We got checked in easily and then went out into the city to explore for the night.

Lauren found something new and interesting for us to do though: the mall in Venice (which is exactly as high end as you might expect it to be) has a rooftop terrace which allows you to see basically the whole city.  In a city built on wooden posts and piers, a high vantage point is all but unheard of, so this was a nice treat.

With little to do officially, we had a nice evening and enjoyed proper Italian food, including a full Gluten Free meal for Lauren with bread and pasta that she found amazing. 

The next day we got up a bit early to re-pack our bags, have a nice breakfast at our B&B, and head off for a visit to Burano which is a small town/island about 30 minutes boat ride from Venice.  It's like a miniature Venice but it's also known for it's colorful homes which are beautiful and interesting. 

We enjoyed strolling around Burano before heading back to Venice where we relaxed for a bit by grabbing a few drinks (and fries) in the Irish pub right in the middle of town.  We found it to be one of the few things that isn't as good as we remember it (new management we think) as the rest of town appears to be far cleaner and updated dramatically compared to our last visit.  After relaxing and catching up on wi-fi we had one of the best meals of the entire trip for dinner. 

From there it was a bit of a rush to pick up our packs and make it to the train; luckily it turns out our train was early and we didn't have any issue getting aboard.  Lauren picked up some gluten free Gelato for us (it was very good) and we settled in on the Thelo overnight train to Paris for the second time ever.  A small overnight cabin may not be many people's idea of luxury but I really enjoy the old-school experience of travelling by train, and I had a good night's ride. To be fair we didn't sleep as well this time as our first experience but we did arrive in Paris feeling a lot better this time (despite the rainy weather). 

More to come about our short 3rd visit to Paris and hopefully some of our many other travels in 2018.

Frenzy in Florence (Firenze)

I had read you need days and days in Florence.  Well it’s off season now; so we raced through the city to see it all in only two days.  After we finally arrived following an interesting Hertz car experience (see previous post); after checking into a B&B our first mission was to go to Hard Rock.  I was so very hungry. I had to go to a reliable food source. It was amazing after days of no food.

 However that evening it was raining a lot.  We cabbed it to the Boboli Gardens and Palazzo Pitti.  This is across the Arno river in the city. This was one of many Medici palaces we would visit this trip.  It has gardens to rival Versailles.  Since it was raining so hard, we skipped walking to the famous Piazza Michelangelo overlooking the city.  Instead we walked back over the famous bridge of Ponte Vecchio bridge and oriented to the city on a slow walk back.

The next day we hit the city running.  We ventured to the most famous spot, the Duomo (the top of the church).  We got a rare reservation to climb the 400 stairs to the top of the Duomo to see the city.  It was grueling but we made it.  Look at the views:

We then visited all the Cathedral sites including the amazing museum.  The museum had the original doors of the Cathedral/ Baptistery as well as some moving artwork:

Since I’ve found myself becoming a huge fan of the Renaissance, I had to visit all the Medici sites.  That included seeing two different churches, a library and their crypt / tombs.  

After an amazing lunch at Ciro & Sons, I made us venture to more art.  We made it across the old city to the Academy.  This is an art museum that made a household name for housing the Michelango statue of David.  This one statue that lived up to all the fuss.

We rushed over to Santa Croce, a church that has multiple famous tombs as well as functions a  lace school, nunnery and art museum.  It has great records of the Florence floods as well.  (Let’s appreciate Jordan for saying I’m good and drinking beer on the square so I could take my time). 

We then had time, much to Jordan’s dismay, to visit the Palazzo Vecchio.  This building was used as and still has function as City Hall as well as being a living quarters for the Medici clan for a time.

We finally ended up strolling around the city, catching a pub and finding some food that was too good.  I finally got to try the wild boar pasta! Even Jordan scraped up desert at this dinner.  

We had a decision to make that night - to visit more things the next morning or get to Venice early.  We have a love affair with Venice so we got up early and made it happen in Florence; guaranting an early arrival in Venice. We visited one of the best art museums in the world.  To see these Renaissance works almost alone( we were really early)  was moving.  Thank you Uffizi.  Then Jordan made me visit the Bargello statue museum alone.  To stand alone in a room full of Michelangelo statues was breathtaking to say the least.  This museum was diverse so I loved it.  We then walked a few yards to the Galileo Science Museum.  These artifacts, while different, were so cool and completed the idea of a Renaissance man (human).  

We then grabbed a lunch and bought our train tickets to Venice! Thanks Florence for over-feeding me and being amazing.  We appreciated you.  Even if you didn’t capture my heart like Rome, I wouldn’t hesitate to come again - during the off-season. 

Steps: 35k

Wine bottles: 6 (we deserved it)

Note of Record - of the best wines of our life: