From Venice to Florence

We did not have access to the internet yesterday so we are now catching up!



So here is the train that we took to Florence, not
the old nostalgic train that I was expecting but a high speed, first class 2 hour ride - funny thing,
though - there was nowhere to put any luggage!
Nice ride though and the train station was very
close to our hotel in Florence so that was nice.







This is Piazza Santa Maria Novella, same name
as our hotel. (which is actually on the square)
There are many very old buildings in the area; you can walk anywhere and find something interesting at every corner. There are many open markets and more (former & present)churches than anywhere we've seen, including Ireland - but we haven't been to Rome yet!








The Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore is in the
background, and the round building in front is the Baptistery. Our tour guide informed us that at one time, everone in the area was baptised here,
including herself.












Inside is beautiful, they have these 'tree of lights', we both lit candles for our Moms.
Below floor level an archaeological dig is underway and revealing a previous church (wow! another church!).

Day 2: Doge Palace and Murano Glass

The Doge Palace is on the right. Just left of center is dell' Orologio (Clock Tower).
Note the bell, which is rung by the figures in accordance with the time displayed in the 2 small rectangles below the lion figure: the left is the hour and the right changes every 5 minutes!
Below that is an astronomical 'clock' .
The lion figure with the book is the symbol of St. Mark (San Marco)








Following a morning walking tour (highly recommended since it got us past long lines into the the Doge Palace AND free entry to several other sites) we also got a free boat ride to the isle of fire (where all glass businesses had been relocated ages ago) and Murano glass factory.
The 57 yr veteran master created a vase in about 2 minutes , and then created a rearing horse in about the same time, complete with all features from ears to tail.






Piazza San Marco in the evenings proved interesting owing to Aqua Alta. (high water) Only a few inches deep at most, the rising water showed the irregularity of the square, and indeed all buildings suffer from settlement. If towers appear tilted it's because they are!
The residents (very few) seemed to know when to wear rubber boots. We quickly learned alternate routes to our hotel.

Finally, Venizia!

Planes-Trains & Automobiles! What a comedy-well, we didn't have any opportunity for train problems, but....

The hour-and-a-half drive to JFK took 3 hours, sorry Jess & Randy, but we checked in with plenty of time to spare - yes plenty, we were on the plane and on the runway for a little more than 2 1/2 hours...but we are here and it is beautiful.




A driver was waiting for us at the airport, holding a 'McGovern' sign. We were his only passengers (probably because we were so late)
This is the water taxi station, the second leg of the transfer to the hotel.













Here's Dan's first artsy shot with the new camera, the 'street' off St. Mark's Square that leads to our hotel.
The foot bridge on the left (over a canal leading to a gondola station) is the only ground path to the hotel.
There are simply NO vehicles in Venice; riding bicycles is prohibited.








It's a different and peaceful world without cars. The streets are very narrow and there are surprises at every turn. You can walk for hours; there are cafes and shops along every path - and water everywhere. The weather is mild and the sun is warm, just perfect!











We returned to the hotel after this picture, which was taken at the Dogana da Mar (Custom House) and behind me is the Grand Canal. Now we are going back out to see Venizia at night!

Today's the Day

Hey, Jessi here! As usual, I'm writing the first post and the real authors will be taking over once they reach their destination! Here's a farewell pic of Mom and Dad finishing up the packing process (and you can tell their bags are underweight because they're still smiling). Check in regularly for wonderful trip updates, and enjoy!!!