Truffles and a Tuscan Specialty

Friday morning we got up early and went into the city with NK. She headed off to work for an half day and we set out for breakfast followed by the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens. NK recommended a cafe for coffee and pastries just past the palace. We felt like natives as we stood at the bar, shared three pastries and a cappuccino each. One had ricotta and pinoli nuts, another chocolate and the last a fresh soft brioche.

The Duomo, The David, Oh My!

Knowing we were taking the first train from Venice to Florence at 8:27 am the next morning, we checked out the night before. Breakfast didn't start until 8 am, but our hotel's owner didn't understand us not taking the time to sit and eat. The concept of "to go" doesn't really exist for Italians. He kept saying "there's a table in the garden," and "sit for just five minutes."

We had learned our lesson re: reserved seats on the train, got there in plenty of time and took our seats. Easy once we knew what we were doing! We arrived in Florence about two hours later and took a cab to our friends apartment just 10 minutes west of the city center. We were lucky enough to have wonderful hosts for four nights (Thursday - Sunday), NK and MP. We headed into the city center with NK, she headed to work, and we set out to explore the city. First up was lunch. We found a bright busy looking place, Pizzeria Centropoveri, shared a pizza, then enjoyed a cappuccino after our meal. There were only two other tables of tourists, the rest of the customers were workers on their lunch break, from house painters (ate the pasta pomodoro special, a beer each and finished their meal with espressos), to business men in nice suits. Anyone who ordered pizza each had their own with four large slices.

Last Day In Venice

Our plan today was to start by going north to the Frari Church, over the Rialto Bridge, to the Correr Museum, and do some shopping before dinner. The only other couple at the B&B were telling us how the church bells were going all night, at odd hours, keeping them up (we had earplugs). Sure enough, at 7:45 the bells started ringing and again at 8:00. Not sure what kind of clock those monks were using, but our inn keeper stated they ring every hour and never after midnight...sure. It just made the point that Italians have their own time keeping system. Good luck figuring it out!

Sunshine, two brides and a meal to remember

We woke up Tuesday morning at 6 am refreshed from a good night's sleep, and headed to the sweet back garden of our hotel, Casa Rezzonzico, for breakfast.




Out the door by 8 am and on our way to St. Mark's square (the Time Square of Venice), before the masses. Much of the square and St Mark's Basilica were being restored and covered under scaffolding, and on top of that, large billboard sized ads. It's not what you'd expect, but it helps pay for the upkeep of this historic city center.



We headed just south of the Basilica (we didn't go in as they require you to check your backpacks/bags and there was no way we were leaving our camera in a coat check) to the Doge's Palace, took one look at the line and headed to the Correr Museum at the other end of the square to buy our museum pass, then back to Doge's Palace and right past all the sheeple, I mean tourists, in the "fast lane" and went right in. I got similar looks from the people on line that I get from tourists in Brooklyn when I walk past the endless line at Grimaldi's to pick up my called in order and zip past them all - hA ha!

Getting To Venice

Big day today. Long day today.


So we made it to Venice withstanding any complications I tried to throw in to spice up the trip. I probably deserve a gold star however. First we got on the "wrong" train to Milan, as it was fifteen minutes early, but the ticket person assured us it was okay, so we were nervous the entire way that we would miss our stop. Once we did get into Milan I could not recall what to do so an older American couple from Massachusetts helped point us to the metro for the Centrale train station. Trying my best to go south (the wrong way), my better half prevailed and put us on the uptown train. Once at Centrale I hopped into the automatic ticket machine line but had to solicit help from some Italian guy just wanting to get his ticket after me (no reserved seating available - I should have booked this train ahead of time). Then we got onto our train only to get stuck amongst hordes of people trying to find available unreserved seats like us. At this point invisible daggers were sticking out of my back, and hatchets, swords, glaives, halberds, and falchions were en route. I made the mistake of sitting in reserved seats...twice. I was one of those tourists. I then noticed the seat numbers started to repeat on the 2nd class cars as we were among the few left standing. Odd. I had no clue how this whole system worked (not sure I do now either) but I did notice two seats unoccupied except for personal belongings. So I politely asked in Italian if the seats were free and scored us two seats after some of their grumbled replies. One point for the visiting team! One step forward, three steps back. I forgot to punch our tickets before we got on. We were told this is the most heinous crime that anyone could commit and was punishable by severe fines and imminent death in my case. Fortunately my luck was starting to change and the conductor (the first one seen on our trains) gave us no trouble. I think it was because the tickets were for a specific time. That was a close one.

Last Day On Lago Di Como

Expecting (and getting) some amazing weather this morning, we decided to start off early and catch the morning sun from castle Vezio above the sleepy town of Varenna overlooking the lake. Older (or slightly poorer) than Bellagio, Varenna was just getting the sun streaking down over ancient rooftops as we came ashore. Hardly anyone was awake and we had a nice and quiet hike up the mountain path.

The top greeted us with a small church, old ladies praying, a tiny graveyard for locals, and the castle walls. It turns out that the castle is really just a tower surrounded by walls with the best view around. They also do demonstrations with birds of prey that we didn't get to see, but we did see the main characters, including a beautiful owl named Artu and several hawks.

Weekend on Lake Como

Pouring rain Saturday turned to the most stunning fall day today (Sunday). Saturday morning we put on our rain gear and headed out into Bellagio after breakfast at our hotel. There were very few people walking around which made us feel like we had the town to ourselves. We roamed in and out of shops, enjoyed a pizza, some gelato, and later some treats from a pastry shop.