Moving From Florence To Venice

Isn’t it incredible how quickly the days pass when you’re having fun?  We woke up on our 7th day away from our babies realising that we only had a couple more nights to enjoy our freedom and experience.  So after falling a little bit more in love with Florence it was time to move on to the very last leg of our trip – Venice.

This time we were leaving nothing to chance and left our lavender covered attic flat bright and early in the morning to catch our last Italian bus to the station.  Coincidentally the name of our local bus stop was “English Well Spoken” which I thought was hilarious.

Once we arrived we found that we had 2 hours to wait until our train left.  Our tummies were grumbling and opting out of using the McCafe that we used the last time, we headed across the road to find something else to eat.  We settled on…  You guessed it – an espresso and an croissant!  We were basically craving it by this point in our adventure, but I could still have enjoyed a good bacon and egg fry up.  While we waited we also checked out a few of the shops on the road next to the station and guess what we found?  Mister Price!

By this point we had gotten quite used to navigating the travel systems in Italy.  The trains are fantastic – once you know how it works, it’s really.  In fact, we felt quite freaking chuffed with ourselves that we managed to totally nail the whole process – feeling almost like the Bear Grylls of the concrete jungle.  Our hour and a half long journey was punctuated with little naps and lots of reading.

The feeling of going over that bridge and into the city of Venice is one I won’t easily forget.  I know that people tend to hype up this city but I really don’t think they’re wrong in doing so.  It really is breath taking.  I knew that there was a chance that by this point in our travels, I would probably feel exhausted.  Which meant that we wouldn’t really take in the city like I wanted to, but in reality I think that low happened on the day we arrived in Florence.

Luckily we actually arrived in time and then got to our AirBnB with ease.  Unluckily this time our host wasn’t really that homely and welcoming.  Actually to be honest it was totally awkward sharing their apartment.  We joked that she was “The Sargent” because of how intense she was.  The accommodation itself was pristine though, so we couldn’t really complain.

We paused to change into something slightly warmer (the wind was hectic and it was the first time that I’d actually felt properly cold during the day).  Then we headed out to grab something to nibble on.

Where Rome was all cars and motorbikes and Florence was all bicycles, Venice was obviously all walking!  We got there early on a Thursday afternoon and was busy.  We stopped at a canal side restaurant to fill up our tummies for all the walking we were about to do.

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring.  There is so much to see, but also you probably see the same thing about a millions times because it’s also SO easy to get lost.  Every road actually looks so much like the last one.  But that said, every single road is absolutely beautiful.  It really is the most picturesque place I have ever seen.

A few things that we noted already from so early on in our stay here was that the churches here (aside from the main one which we hadn’t been into yet), were SO much darker and less adorned than the others we’d seen in Rome etc.  They have little fruit markets on the main roads that are stocked up and brought in fresh on boats every morning.  So bright and colourful!  By this point we were taking selfies in front of any building that looked like it was important even though we had no idea what it was.  Hence our pose for that one haha.  We also had to stop for Gelato because you have to check if it’s the same in every city right?

Part of our exploring was to chase the sunset to the edge of the city.  In hindsight it was not a great idea.  I wouldn’t bother – the sunset on any of the canals is actually just so much prettier.  By this point wed walked over the Rialto Bridge about 4 times without realising what it was!  Haha.  Tourists.

By this time we’d walked another 14km and our tummies were rumbling.  Tripadvisor recommended this little crepe place quite close to where we’d watched the sunset and it was amazing.  Oh my gosh.  SO worth a visit if you are going.  It was absolutely delicious.  But it’s also important to note that this city really is expensive.  Jeepers.  The Rand took a real knock here.  So much so that the first thing we did the next day was buy our train tickets back to Rome so that we knew no matter what, we’d be able to get there.

Then it was time for bed.  But gosh this city is just amazing.  Looking through these pictures again just brings back all the joy and all the vibes of freedom.

FOR MORE ON OUR ITALIAN TRIP DON’T MISS:

• What We Packed In Our Backpacks for 9 Days in Italy
• Leaving Cape Town
• Day 1 – Rome
• Day 1 – A Day In Rome – Photodiary
• Day 2- A Morning in Naples Climbing Mount Vesuvius
• Day 2 – An Afternoon In Pompeii
• Day 2 – A Night In Rome In Search Of the Best Gelato and Caffe
• Day 3 – The Roman Suburb Of Trastevere
• Day 4 – Rome To Florence
• Day 5 – A Morning In Pisa
• Day 5 – An Afternoon Exploring The Cinque Terre
• Day 6 – When In Florence

Day 7: Florence to Venice We’ve made it to Venice!! Woohooo! Although we’ve already managed to do 15km in this city (and we only got here at 3pm) we’ve only just touched the tip of the iceberg. But let’s catch up. Highlights: 1. Venice. I mean freaking Venice! Despite the fishy smell it still lives up to its anticipated awesomeness. Every street you turn is tiny or randomly leading onto a canal! Everything is a picture. 2. We got to the station on time for the train but it was sold out so we had to wait 2 hours for the next one. We had an espresso and some breakfast then literally waited on the floor of the station to make sure we actually caught our train this time. And we did. With ease. We’re basically Bear Grylls in the concrete jungle right now. 3. Our AirBnB situation is weird here. We’re in someone’s home and it’s just a bit awks because they’re not very friendly at all. A host can make or break a stay, that’s for sure. 4. We managed to drop off our bags as soon as we got here though so that was cool – so much easier to walk without them ? 5. The churches here are much darker, with darker art and lighting than the others we’ve seen. 6. We stopped for Gelato because it’s become an every day necessity. ? 7. Chasing the sunset we ended up on the edge of the west side of the city. The view from deeper in the city is better than on the edge though, so don’t bother doing that if you come here. 8. Trip Advisor told us to check out this cheap crepes shop on the way back and wow, it was SO good. 9. It’s cray cray expensive here. But you knew that and what even is money or like, getting back to Cape Town. You only YOLO once and all that. 10. Italians have no rules. Everyone does whatever they want. No helmets to ride a bike, no railings on the edges of all the canals, play loud music on your boat, smoke anywhere, drink on the streets – all things that would totally not fly in Cape Town. Tomorrow is our last full day in Italy ad you bet we’re going to make the most of it!! ?? @verandaresorts check out our profile and take us to #Mauritius

A post shared by Cindy Alfino (@cindyalfino) on May 25, 2017 at 1:46pm PDT