Friday, October 11, 2013

 

 

Today was a busy day.   We ordered room service for breakfast and were downstairs by 7:15 to catch a bus to Bologna and then we caught the high speed Eurostar Bullet Train to Florence.    When we got to Florence we had a guide take us on a 90-minute walking tour.  Well, the train was fun and much more comfortable and nicer than the Chunnel from London to Paris, but the train station in Florence was CRAZY!  People everywhere, pushing and shoving and dragging their suitcase everywhere.  It was good to get beyond all that and into the older area of Florence and to the domed cathedral known as The Duomo.  

Now our tour guide in Florence was less than exciting and maybe a little condescending.  Our tour guide in Venice was so nice and engaging that I guess we were spoiled.  We stayed through most of the tour but broke off before it was over and sat down at a little café for some Italian food.  The food wasn’t great but we talked with the staff and got several good recommendations for places to go for some shopping and places to visit. We went to David 2 Leather Factory and had so much fun trying on coats and sharing some wine with the owner.  

  

Bob had purchased tickets to see Michelangelo’s David in the Galleria dell’ Accademia.  It was great that we had the reserved tickets because the line was long for those that didn’t have reservations.  It is a beautiful statue and so amazing to realize that it’s over 500 years old.  No pictures were allowed in the gallery so sorry no David pictures.

 

After that we wandered around and took a few more pictures of The Duomo and then it was time to take the bullet train back to Bologna and then the bus back to the ship. 

I do wish we could have done more in Florence and would love to come back sometime.  We did make some nice friends at the leather shop and they come to the US for shows a couple of times a year.  We purchased some lovely leather coats for an amazing price.

 Back on the ship we had dinner and again requested our favorite waiter.  He makes us laugh and takes good care of us. 

It’s nice to be back in our rooms and relaxing.  We’re going to sleep in (hahaha) tomorrow morning, have a late breakfast before we head into our next port, Split Coratia.  We have a Segway tour scheduled for noon.  I hope it doesn’t rain.

 

Until tomorrow!