Friday morning we stopped and got another couple of pastries from the corner shop and dragged our bags down to the boat dock (wishing for another Tesco cart...). We caught the boat that would take us to the train station, found a good seat and waved good-bye (for now?) to Venice. I really liked that city.
We got to the train station in plenty of time, but there was some last minute confusion about our train, and Dave found out that rather than getting on a train and going directly to Florence, we would have to get on a different train, go to Mestre, and then get on some other train to Florence. It seemed easy enough...except no one told us which train to get on in Mestre! That was very confusing! (Not to mention frustrating!) We figured it out, though, and ran like crazy to get there! Dave and I had seats on different cars, and rather than try to maneuver through the cars to mine, I knew it would be easier to get off the train, go to my car, and get back on...until I heard the whistle signalling the closing of the doors! I threw my bag and myself at the closing door, and even though I got on the train, I am wearing a wound on my shin. It has lots of pretty colors!
There was no one assigned to the seat next to me, so I got up, limped to Dave's car, and told him that he could come back and sit with me for the 2 hour journey. It was much more fun that way! The weather was gorgeous, and the views of the Tuscan countryside on the way to Florence were gorgeous! This is the stuff that dreams and movies are made of!
So, after all that kerfuffle, we got into Florence, and made our way to our hotel...only to find out that they had changed our reservation (over-booked, I guess?). Our new hotel was around the corner, and it was a nice hotel, so we can't really complain -- it could have been a lot worse! We weren't in an attic this time, but the room still seemed very old. So old, in fact, that there was a bathtub, but no shower! There was a shower hose, but not a stand-up-and-take-it kind of shower! We made it work, though. I think I got about 2 gallons of water in my ear on accident, and Dave got about a gallon of water on the floor...but we were clean, and that's all that counts, right?
We had made a reservation at the Galleria del'Accademia, where the original David statue is kept (by Michelangelo), so we started the journey to the museum. It was only about a 1/2 mile walk, but there are lots and lots of buildings and little alleyways to confuse, and street markets to distract, but we got there in plenty of time.
I'm so glad we made reservations, though, because the walk-up line was really really long! (this is Dave in the Reservation line). I would definitely have passed if I'd had to stand in that line! But the statue was really cool to see. It was a lot taller than I expected! When I think of David and Goliath, I don't imagine that David to be 17 feet tall! But Michelangelo was only 20 when he started it, and I certainly didn't accomplish anything like that when I was 20!
It's such a stretch for my American brain to think of something still standing that is over 500 years old. And to walk on streets, and eat dinner in buildings that are centuries old. Our history is nothing like this! There isn't much "spanning" of time in American history...but Italian? Lots of spanning! And we haven't even visited Rome, yet!
So, after the museum, we wandered some through the street markets. Much like in Venice, there are loads of knock-off vendors, and cut-price goods. I thought it would be nice to have an Italian purse, and a marathon shopping excursion commenced! (Dave was such a champ!) After about 2 laps around the entire (h-u-g-e) street market, I settled on a very nice purse, and I paid less than $50 for it! Yay me! For a bonus, it's actually big enough to hold my camera!
Dave wanted a nap after that (can you blame him?) and my feet (and shin) were screaming at me...so we went back to the hotel for a little nap.
We woke up and went down the street for a pizza (of course!)
Then it was back to turn in for the night. Many miles today.
...more Florence pictures in tomorrow's post.
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