Day 32 - Venice & Florence

We walked to St. Mark's Cathedral early this morning to get in line for the opening at 9:30am. We did not have too much time, so we took a fairly quick spin through the cathedral with its amazing mosaics. Then we hustled back to the hotel, got our bags and were off to Florence!

The train to Florence was uneventful except for the hurried train switch in Bologna. It is not uncommon for Italian trains to run a little late, making connections sometimes iffy. We got in line at a deli to get lunch-time sandwiches for the second leg, but decided we didn't have enough time and bolted for vending machine and then the train at the last minute. This train was quite full and we could only find individual seats. Then I ended up giving my seat to an elderly woman and stood in the isle for the rest of the trip to Florence.

Upon arrival, we quickly found our wonderful little hotel and headed out to the Campanile and the Duomo for commanding blue sky views of the city.

We followed Rick Steves' walking tour of Florence to the Uffizi Museum, Ponte Vecchio and crossed the river and climbed the hill to the Piazzale di Michelangelo. My wife found a great deal on a hand-made scarf from a vendor in the piazzale. Then we walked back towards the hotel and found a great little restaurant named Lo Scudo - wonderful food and good wine.