pihanettie
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2013
- Messages
- 81
Today we left our hotel in Tuscany for the 1 to 1 1/2 hour bus ride to the train station in Florence to board our high speed train to Venice. The only movie that was played on the bus was the previous day (Florence). Pinocchio. We were given 3 choices for sandwiches we could have on the train (Tomato and Mozzarella, Ham or Vege), 2 drinks, chips and a choice of a berry or chocolate muffin. Troy and Marco picked up the food as we waited for the train. We travelled first class but in Europe this is not the highest class. The first car was reserved for that class. We had the entire 2nd car and half of the third car for our group.
The train was very nice and had WiFi. The trip took about 2 hours and when we arrived we were in Venice.
We took some pictures and then walked to our waiting gondolas. Some people who were not with our group tried to board them but were denied.
We loaded into I think 6 total gondolas for the 40 minute scenic tour to Venice and were dropped off in the heart of the city to begin our walking tour with our city expert, who was great.
Some of the homes reminded me of scenes from some of the Disney rides.
Our guide pointed out that there is evidence the city is sinking by seeing their version of a leaning tower - in the picture you can see it is not straight like the buildings in the foreground.
We took pictures in St. Mark's square and headed to our hotel, Luna Baglioni, which was about 20 steps from the square. It was lovely with Murano chandeliers, very heavy room keys and rooms that required keys to enter, not electronic keys. The main entry always had this wonderful scent when you entered the hotel.
Our room had a little foyer with a lovely old built-in wardrobe closet.
View from room to canal
Very heavy key
The bathroom door had its own key to lock it.
The night we had dinner on our own and made the requisite stop at Florian's for a late night coffee (world's most expensive coffee) and listen to the lovely music.
The weather was much cooler and we had a short afternoon rain shower. Most everyone agreed this was their favorite city and favorite hotel. The beds were wonderful, esp after the beds in Tuscany which I found to be a little hard.
The train was very nice and had WiFi. The trip took about 2 hours and when we arrived we were in Venice.
We took some pictures and then walked to our waiting gondolas. Some people who were not with our group tried to board them but were denied.
We loaded into I think 6 total gondolas for the 40 minute scenic tour to Venice and were dropped off in the heart of the city to begin our walking tour with our city expert, who was great.
Some of the homes reminded me of scenes from some of the Disney rides.
Our guide pointed out that there is evidence the city is sinking by seeing their version of a leaning tower - in the picture you can see it is not straight like the buildings in the foreground.
We took pictures in St. Mark's square and headed to our hotel, Luna Baglioni, which was about 20 steps from the square. It was lovely with Murano chandeliers, very heavy room keys and rooms that required keys to enter, not electronic keys. The main entry always had this wonderful scent when you entered the hotel.
Our room had a little foyer with a lovely old built-in wardrobe closet.
View from room to canal
Very heavy key
The bathroom door had its own key to lock it.
The night we had dinner on our own and made the requisite stop at Florian's for a late night coffee (world's most expensive coffee) and listen to the lovely music.
The weather was much cooler and we had a short afternoon rain shower. Most everyone agreed this was their favorite city and favorite hotel. The beds were wonderful, esp after the beds in Tuscany which I found to be a little hard.
