Sept. 28 - "Arrivederci Amici"

It's Monday and our last full day in Florence.  What a great time we've had discovering Tuscany and beyond!  Our travelers have had so much fun together and the goodbyes today come with a little sadness.  Today is for packing and last minute "doings".  Tomorrow is departure day with several going back to the USA, the Harlows going to France and the Daiglers and Smiths traveling by train up to Lake Como for a few days.  I am taking a mini-vacation before the next group arrives on Thursday.  I'll go by train up to Milantoday and from there take a day trip to St. Moriz in the Swiss alps on the Bernina Express Rail Tour on Tuesday.  If you would like to continue watching the photo blog do come back in a few days for the arrival of the October travelers. Thanks for taking your "virtual tour" with us - perhaps you can come to Tuscany in person someday!

P.S.  Be sure to see the Sept. 27 blog page by going to the "older posts" below since there's room for only one posting on this page.

 

 

 

Sept. 27 - Walking on Water

Well, technically I guess we weren't walking "on" water but some of us walked all over the city of water - Venice.  Doug, Suzi, Jan, Ron and I had a excursion to Europe's only truly pedestrian city.  In Venice there are no cars, no motorbikes, no bicycles - walking or floating is what you do there.  After arriving by train from Florence (2-hour ride) we hopped on board a vaporetto which is like a floating city bus.  We moved down the grand canal stopping at every station on the route for a 40 minute ride.  The old palaces, churches, restaurants along the canal are amazing to see, many centuries old.  At St. Mark's Square we joined thousands of other tourists to see the sights there and then we were on our own for the next several hours.   Shopping and eating was the order of the day along with looking at all the beautiful windows full of Murano glass, handmade masks and many other temptations.  Everyone found the train station again in the evening and we were back in Florence at 8:30.  Venice is truly unique - just another star in Italy's crown!  The Daiglers and Smiths took an excursion to Rome today and the Harlows stayed in Florence for museums, etc.  Our two weeks here is winding down now with just one more day before departure.  There will be a "goodbye" post next. . .

Take a look at all the Venice photos here:  https://plus.google.com/photos/106242844572593515289/albums/6199455402712559105/6199456266912585042?pid=6199456266912585042&oid=106242844572593515289