Florence Day Trip

Today we took a Florence day trip. At first we were a bit worried that we would regret leaving Venice for a day, but I think it was well worth it. So, in the morning we got up and ate breakfast and left about an hour before we needed to be there in case we got lost - and we didn't. In fact, we got there in less time than Google maps said it would take - woot. So, we walked around a bit and then met our contact at the rendez-vous point. After getting our train tickets and bus tour voucher, we got on the train and spent the next two hours traveling to Florence. Once we got there we got on the bus and rode around and up the side of a mountain to a nearby village. Then we got some lunch and hopped on a different line for a slightly different tour. On our last 'hop-off' we got off at the Piazale Michelangelo which has a grand view over Florence. It was amazing. While there we saw a Ferrari that you could pay to test drive... but we didn't do that. One, Michelle can't drive manual and I sure as heck was not going to drive a Ferrari with my limited manual practice. Plus, it was just a tad expensive...

We caught the last bus of the day and got off near the train station with two hours to kill. So... we went into a couple of stores and Michelle found this adorable 'girl' necklace (it's literally a little girl made out of beads, material, and little metal arms and legs) and earings. And I saw one I liked but decided not to get it (I needed to curb my spending a bit) and Michelle offered to get it as a belated birthday present (how sweet)!

We decided it might be best to spend the rest of our time waiting in the train station as we weren't doing so well with just window shopping, which led to an interesting and surprising encounter with a bachelor party from Rome. So, this was all happening behind my back, but Michelle saw it all. A group of guys (who were the epitome of attractive) got off a train and 'pow-wowed.' At this point neither of us knew it was a bachelor party, but she could tell they were a hesitant about what their next move was. She told me that they were all kind of looking around and they looked at her, then at me, then around again, then at her, then at me and at this point zeroed in on me (who knows why). One of the guys walked a bit closer to us then returned to the group and said "I think she speaks English."
So, at this point I see a guy come over to us and squat down next to me (we were sitting on the floor). I knew none of what I just described above, all I saw was a guy coming over with what looked like a packet or clip-board. My first thought was, 'Oh great, he's going to ask me to sign something.' But no. He starts off with, "My friend over there is getting married and we have these pictures we have to destroy," (they were just some photocopies of two people - don't know more than that), "and the way we can destroy one is if a girl gives him a kiss and a hug." I'm taken completely by surprise. I was not expecting this and my first question was, "Like, on the cheek?" and he replied, "Where-ever you want. You are free to kiss him here (he pointed to his neck), here (he pointed to his cheek), or here - but that's usually for funerals so that might not be so good (he pointed to his forehead)." I looked at Michelle and back at him and said, "Ok." So, he took my hand and led me over to his friends - specifically the groom-to-be. And, I was so flustered thinking, "He doesn't know I agreed to a kiss on the cheek. What if he goes in for a kiss on the mouth," that instead of being confident and like, I don't know, offering my hand and saying, "Hi. I'm Krista. Congratulations. So, hug and kiss on the cheek, right?" I just went right in for the hug. - facepalm- It ended up being fine, but gah! So, then he asked if I had any lipstick (which I didn't) so he asked if they could take a picture of me kissing him. I said 'sure'. And they took a picture of me kissing his cheek. He and all his friends were really respectful the entire time, so even though I was flustered and it was quite a new experience for me, it wasn't a bad experience in the least. Huh, who'd a thunk.
Finally it was time to get on the train and return to Venice (yeah!) and we returned to see Venice by night. It was beautiful.

Link to Florence Day Trip

Rome City Bus Tour

Success!!! We had a wonderful first full day in Rome. e had planned to get up at 8 and head out by 9:30 but I set the wrong day for our alarm and we didn't get up till 9. But it all worked out and probably  gave us that little bit more of rest we needed to get the most out of our day. We were still out by 10/10:30 and walked over to the Vatican to find the bus stop for our Hop-on Hop-off city bus tour. It took us a few minutes to find the right place, but it worked and we were able to hop on the next bus (perfect timing).
We decided to ride the full tour once and then choose where we wanted to get off, so that's what we did. Michelle took pictures while I took film (link to our second video below), though we switched a few times. It was a bright, hot day - a bit unexpected from the weather forecast, but we had remembered to put our sunscreen on before leaving that morning and were fine. We could have benefited from cooler clothing, but… oh well. After riding the tour for one circuit, we decided to get lunch and ate near the Vatican. Then we walked back to the apartment for a quick recharge (reapply sunscreen, change, etc), gelato (extra dark chocolate and coffee) and headed back to the bus. We had decided to get off at the Fontana di Trevi and Pantheon and that's exactly what we did. Between the two places are lots of little streets full of shops and restaurants and we decided we wanted to come back sometime when we could meander a bit more (the last bus left at 7, so if we wanted to ride it back we had to be at the bus stop in time). Originally we thought we would get off at the Colosseum, but we ran out of time for that and the Colosseum was closed as well.
Riding on the top of a double decker bus is a marvelous way to see a city - unobstructed views, nice breeze, fresh air, and your feet get a break ;)
After we returned to the Vatican stop, we headed back to the apartment (our location really is great - as long as we can find our way back to the Vatican we can find our way to our apartment and it's only about a 7 minute walk - if you speed walk like us) and got gelato again (mango, coconut and mint). Our evening was really nice and relaxing. We prepared dinner, ate, and planned out next day.

Again, here is the link to our second video (on Michelle's vlog) - I'll post pictures at a later time - when I get a chance to sort through them a bit…

Link to Follow me around: Rome, Italy pt. 2