Venice was nice but the city had failed to grab our interest. Perhaps it was the short time we spent in Venice or the 82 steps to get to our apartment. Our last morning in Venice we ate breakfast and enjoyed the sunrise
Down the stairs one last time
Descending the 82 steps for the last time we headed for the water bus to take us to a real bus. As if on cue when we boarded the water bus the sky opened up and gave us our last rainy glimpse of Venice.
I was right
Eventually we made it to the train station and I remarked that Devin had gotten us first class tickets. This typically would have been seen as a frivolous waste of money by her but she was frustrated with the Italian rail site when she bought them.
Even though I had the tickets in hand and the class was marked as No. 1 my other companions refused to believe me. When our train arrived, I found the first person on the platform who looked official and got the affirmative nod when I asked if we were in first class. The weight of being right was too much to bear and I transcended into a Zen like right state of energy.
FYI first class train tickets are a waste of money. They are not like airline business or first class cabins. No free drinks, food, or extra legroom.
The train ride was nice and smooth at about 100 mph. Why can’t we have trains like this in America?
Arrival in Florence
Our arrival in Florence was earlier than our check-in to our next Air BnB so we used a luggage storage service at the train station. Each bag cost 6€ for 5 hours and the train station is 15 minutes away from most of the cities sites.
Our walk included the Duomo and walking through several shopping areas. We finally stopped at a cafe and had something to nosh on. I was most excited about the chicken liver pate and Devin got a pesto gnocchi. Florence on a Sunday has been very crowded. Not sure if this will keep up the rest of the week or if this was weekend traffic.
It was two PM and we headed to check into our AirBnB. It was on the 5th floor but there was an elevator. Woot. The AirBnB is filled with mirrors which makes it looks larger than it is but it’s a two bedroom and two bathrooms flat so its decent sized.
Florentine Steak
I had picked out dinner at a place that I could get a Florentine steak (Ristorante Paoli) and it was wonderful. Dinner was great and we had way too much food but we all round room for gelato at a place Devin had made a mental note about earlier today.
Looks like you are having a fabulous time! Enjoy every moment!