24 August: Florence to Venice, Firenze a Venezia

It was very special to have a farewell committee waiting when I got to the van, even though it was early for them to be up and around. Quick goodbye hugs and we were off; Max was very chatty on the way to Florence, about 45 minutes, and detoured through the city a little to show me some landmarks. We were at the train station at 9.30; I paid to use the bathroom at Maccas because it was only free if you had a current food receipt – E0.70, handled by a lady who managed at the doorway to the loos.

I found my train carriage and seat and got the last spot for my big bag (very little luggage storage on these trains). Once again, a high speed train. 

A good deal of the travel once you leave the town is through tunnels, so you don’t see scenery for some of the time: still very enjoyable, comfortable, fast. I had two seats to myself.

Venice Santa Lucia station was crazy. I realised I would need either a porter or a water taxi, but the taxis are costly. One porter came up and said “You need water taxi $60 plus E10 for porter to take your bag to the hotel.” This time I’m much more savvy, so I said no. Then another porter came up and said E40 to take my bags to the hotel. The issue in Venice is lots and lots of steps on bridges, so it’s not possible to lug 30kg of stuff on your own, hence the porter. It wasn’t all that far, just a quick 10 min walk. My hotel is the typical tiny, boutique building with a tiny room but exquisite and plenty big enough for a night’s sleep. Have a look at the view from my first floor windows while I sit here writing!

I went out walking, heading towards the Rialto Bridge – a very long way, probably longer than it should have been. It was lovely browsing the shops, keeping my eye out for food suggestions for dinner. I bought a piece of vegetarian pizza to take home (E3), asked for an Americano with milk, large, and got a half-filled cup: why bother? Coffee is such a mystery overseas.... When I’d just about given up, I spotted a stand advertising large iced Americano E2.50! So that’s what I bought, basically a large, cold coffee with milk. Very nice and refreshing after three hours’ walking.