Florence to Venice!

Sunday morning we were up, cleaned up the apartment and headed to the train station for Florence. The train journey was about 3 hours long. We all snoozed, had snacks and entertained ourselves with colouring or games. 

The view from our balcony in the apartment. 

Once we arrived in Florence, our only option was to get a taxi to the apartment. It was about a 25 minute walk from the main action of the city, but we would figure out a way to deal with it. 

We were greeted by the owner but we didn't know it. When the hostess opened the house a young boy was sitting on the sofa. When the confusion had settled, we discovered that the young boy was waiting for his father who was taking pictures of the apartment. The main we met was the owner of the apartment. He was so friendly. Stuart asked him questions about getting into town and where we could get some milk. In the end, the owner took my mom and me to the grocery store. It was about to close, so his son came in with us and helped us get the food we needed. He was such a good kid. This was a service above the call of duty for sure. 

Once Mom and I were back at the apartment, we decided to play games and get settled in. Around 5 pm we decided to walk down to the town center. It was a long walk, but we weren't sure how to use the bus system that first day. 

We had dinner after seeing the outside of the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore, the main Duomo. We decided on a cafe in a square that had a carousel. Of course that meant that the kids would have to ride the carousel after dinner. They loved it. 

We walked back to the apartment, showered the kids, and put them to bed. The adults played Pitch. My dad and I are always on the same team, mainly because we are sore winners, but also because we would rather not fight with our spouses. I do believe we won. 

On Monday morning, we all commented about how great we slept. The beds were memory foam beds. This was by far the best place we had stayed. We didn't get up until 8:30. We had washed laundry and so had to hang it out. We had a coffee and then I went down to buy bus tickets. When I came back we walked down to the bus stop and got on. 

A latte was first thing of business for the day. 

We got off at Plaza San Marco and walked back to the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore. We stood in line to go inside. As we were entering I was forced to buy a cheap scarf because I had worn a sleeveless top. So now Millie is the proud owner of a scarf with symbols from Pisa on it. The cathedral wasn't as spectacular as I remembered. Sometimes the larger the cathedral, the less beautiful and ornate it is. 

We walked down to the Ponte Vecchio, a gold and silver shopping experience placed on this famous bridge. We hopped on the site seeing bus and rode the red line the entire way around. Once we were off the site seeing bus we went to have lunch at Hard Rock Cafe, as you do when you are in Italy. Jack bought a t-shirt that I convinced him was a better idea than the panda stuffed toy he wanted. The panda did have a Hard Rock Florence shirt on, but really wasn't the best choice. 

Then we went on a journey to find the hand bag alley we had gone through on Sunday. Oh Lord, what a mess that was. We did finally find the street, but then didn't like the bag we wanted as much as we thought we originally did. My mom ended up buying a different bag, and I ended up with nothing! My dad bought a new wallet at this same store. 

Millie and Stuart also got a bag after some bargaining. Stuart also bought a mob hat. I did buy a dress, as did my mom. We bought the same dress but in different colours. It was a successful day! Hello, Italy shopping!

We settled on coming back to the apartment and just having a hodgepodge of food. We ate a relatively late lunch so a big dinner wasn't necessary. Of course we played a couple of rounds of Uno, and then the kids were off to bed. We decided to give pitch a miss on Monday night. We had to be up early for our visit to the David at the Accademia. 

I hit my snooze button twice on Tuesday morning. Once I did finally roll out of bed I only had about 35 minutes to get the kids out of bed, dressed, hair brushed, breakfast, teeth brushed, shoes and out the door. I managed, thank goodness. 

We had a booked time to go into the Accademia Gallery to view the original David. He is quite spectacular. The gallery was built specifically to house Michael Angelo's, David. We walked around for a bit and then headed out to the streets again. 

We got on the big bus and then rode the blue line all the way around. The blue route was a longer route that took us to the top of the other side of the city before taking us to the place where we could get a good view of the city from the top, and a view of the bronze David replica. It did rain for part of our trip, and wouldn't you know that the roll top was broken on our bus. We withstood the rain and it eventually passed. 

Once we got off the bus we went to find Santa Croce, another spectacular cathedral. We didn't go inside, but did get pictures out front. I'm sure no matter how many times I visit Italy, I will always discover new piazzas and basilicas, all beautiful in their own right. 

We had a bite to eat and it started raining again. We ducked in and out of stores until I finally decided to see if we could go into the Uffizzi Gallery earlier than our booked time, which was 6 pm. We were able to go in just after 4 pm, and walked through the gallery as if we knew anything about art. 

This was another time that 'count the wieners' came in handy. It had stopped raining by the time we exited the Uffizzi. We walked to Piazza San Marco where we caught the city bus and rode it back to the apartment. Stuart and I got off a few stops before the rest of the family to buy something for dinner. 

We purchased ingredients for burgers and chips, a very American meal. It was delicious. The kids were bathed, had played their rousing games of UNO while we were at the supermarket, so then went to bed. As you would guess, bedtime has been a bit difficult. They don't want the fun to end. 

Wednesday Stuart got up to go get the rental car. We headed out for our day of adventure around 9:30 am. 

We started our fun in Lucca, a fortified city where you can ride bikes up on the city walls, essentially. We had a coffee, used the toilets and then rented bikes for an hour. This was probably the highlight of the trip for the kids. Millie couldn't settle on a bike, and quite frankly just irritated me until she finally agreed to riding on a tandem bike with Stuart. It was a lot of fun for sure.

Grammie and Pop rented a surrey and had Millie on the front part of the time. When we finished in Lucca we headed to Pisa. 

Pisa was as touristy as you can get. We took the typical pictures of Jack and Millie holding up the tower. We walked around the basilica and took a bunch of pictures. It was a must see, but super typical of a tourist trap. 

Our last adventure of the day was to attempt to see Cinque Terra, a string of 5 villages on the coast. We ended up only visiting one of the villages because the idea of this area is that it's difficult to get to, hoping to minimise the tourists. We visited Manarola. It was quant, but we were only allowed to meter park for one hour at a time. The hill we climbed down and up to get to the car park was not putting in more money. It was steep and exhausting. 

We tried to hit a beach city so the kids could swim, but when we arrived in the city of Viareggio, we discovered that we parked at the private beach end of the city.

So, we opted for dinner instead. Pizza and mussels were on the menu, and Millie even ate some mussels. We arrived home at 10:30 pm and the kids went straight to bed, only getting a scrub of their feet, which you all know absolutely killed me. 

I got up to find some eggs on Thursday morning. When I got the the bottom of the hill, I discovered there were no eggs at the little shop, so I messaged Stuart to come and get me in the car so we could go to the Coop. When we got home we all had ham and eggs. 

We left the house around 11 am so we could try to hit a winery and visit some of the Tuscany hill towns. 

Siena was our first stop. We loved it so much, we stayed most of the day, leaving around 4 pm after a delightful meal, some shopping, gelato and a cafe latte. 

The winery didn't happen, but instead we hit another little small village on the way back to Florence. It was a fortified village by the name of Monteriggioni. It was fantastic! This might have been my favourite day so far. However, we still had 4 days left. 

Friday morning Stuart and I got up and returned the car. 

We walked back to the bus stop, stopping first for a latte of course, and then sneaking into a church we had seen but didn't ever go in. 

It was gorgeous and I really hated that my mom missed it. 

We caught the bus and arrived about a half hour before we had to get the bus to the train station. This particular route seemed longer than normal. Once we had the bags out by the bus stop, we anticipated a quiet ride. Unfortunately we were wrong and the bus was crammed. Fortunately, I met someone on the bus who told us where to go to catch the train once we had gotten off the bus. 

We waited for the platform to be announced for our train. In the meantime a coffee was needed. The kids ate some of the snacks we had until finally we were able to get on our train. We rode for 2 hours to Venice and when we disembarked, the site was gorgeous. I had been to Venice twice, and it still amazes me how they maintain this little island. 

We decided to buy a water bus card for the time we were on the island. It was a bit pricey, but for the amount of times we would use it we decided it was a better value than single tickets. We took the water bus to the area close to the apartment. We made our way to the apartment. Might I add, I am pretty sure before Google Maps arrived in my life I spent many a days lost in a place like Venice. We were greeted by Micheala, who gave us the information about the apartment and some details about the city. 

We went to a little grocery store to buy some provisions. We also stopped at a fruit and veg boat and bought some fruit and veg for our stay. 

Basilica San Marco

Doge's Palace

We then decided to take the water taxi to St Mark's Square and check out the beauty. 

We had the most expensive glass of wine and latte of the entire trip, the kids chased the pigeons (which later we discovered is a big no-no), and we went to see the Doge's Palace, a palace previously used by the government of Venice. It was delightful!

We then came back to the apartment, stopping at the pizza place below our 'home' for pizza and kebabs. Of course we ordered to much, but we did our best to eat every morsel. After dinner, it was showers, cards and then a good night's sleep. 

Dinner at the apartment. 

Saturday morning saw us at the San Marco Basilica in Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square). We were not allowed to take photos, but simply walk through the basilica. It was spectacular, but I suppose to believe me, you will have to come and see it. 

After the basilica we were going to go to the glass factory on Murano island, and then the lace factory in Burano, but in the end we decided to save that for Sunday, and instead spend our day walking around shops and purchasing some more treasures. I bought two dresses and a gorgeous bag. 

Jack got a man bag just like Stuart's but smaller, and my mom bought a dress and another handbag. The day was good but a little hotter than the previous day. We ended up looking at the kiosks along the Grand Canal and my mom bought some art from a local artist. 

We then took a trip up the Bell Tower and viewed the city from a bird's eye view, as you would in New York or Paris, but not nearly as high up. 

St Mark's Square from the top of the Bell Tower. 

It was a wonderful experience, but when we were finished, everyone was ready to head back to the apartment for a bit of rest and relaxation. We stayed at the apartment until just after 6 pm, then decided to head out for a meal. 

We started with a gondola ride, which was wonderful. 

Ah, the love birds!

This was a street performer Jack had to give money to. He's always loved the idea of playing crystal glasses. It's a bit odd, I think, but he loves it. 

We wanted to stay out until dark, but not everyone was keen. So once we had dinner, we went back to the apartment, showered the kids, put them in bed and then my mom and I headed back out into the streets to view the city at night. 

While we were gone there was a power cut at the apartment. Apparently this caused Millie to go a little nuts and when we returned, a little over an hour after we left, she and Jack were still awake. Lovely! They finally did settle down and go to sleep. Then the rest of us followed. 

What a fantastic holiday we have had. Just a few more days and then we will sadly have to bid Grammie and Pop a farewell. This trip has been unforgettable.