Sadly, our time in Florence has come to an end. We spent the morning finishing our packing, tidying up, and sitting at the window enjoying the view.
It is another rainy morning and quite cool. Having checked out the walk to the train station the other day, we knew we wanted to take a taxi. Our Airbnb host said that he would arrange one for us and that the woman coming to clean the apartment would be there to retrieve .keys. Then came the daunting task of getting our luggage down the stairs. In this case, gravity is our friend. Slowly I was able to carry each bag down the 43 steps to the ground floor. Christine managed the computer bag, which weighs quite a bit with our 2 laptops and paraphernalia. Vika arrived about 11:20 and she was the one ordering the taxi. She couldn’t get through to order the cab, so I asked her to walk down the street with me to the taxi stand at the end of the Ponte Vecchio to help me communicate with the taxi driver. After a few minutes of waiting, and one failed attempt at snagging a driver, Vika asked a driver to pick up Christine and our luggage down the street and we were off to the train station.
We arrived extra early, just in case, and waited about 90 minutes for our train. We were two of hundreds staring at the arrivals and departures board. The trains pull in to about 18 different platforms. The departure platform number isn’t posted until about 10 minutes before departure, so all eyes are on the board and then there’s a rush to the platform. The turnover in people getting off and people getting on is only about 10 minutes and so it’s an ordeal to get luggage up the 3 steps from the platform to the carriage, get it stowed in the bin and then get to your seat. We were in carriage 1, all the way down the platform to the first car. But we got everything shipshape and were seating ready to roll. And before we knew it, we were off to Venice.
Across the aisle from us was a group of 6 Italian middle-aged men who talked the entire 2-hour ride. Never let it be said that men aren’t as talkative socially as women. I said to Christine that these guys acted like teenage girls. Fortunately, they didn’t bother us other than being noisy.
The train ride from Florence to Venice is 2 hours and 5 minutes. Every time I ride in a train in another country, I wonder why we can’t produce the same level of wonderful transportation in the U.S. Our train sped along smoothly at about 135 MPH. It really is a pleasant way to travel.
We arrived in Venice pretty much on time. Our Airbnb host Daniela met us at the train station and immediately began educating us on how to get around in Venice on the vaporetto, the water buses. Since Venice is made up of over a hundred islands, to get anywhere in Venice, one needs to cross water so the best way to do that, and really the only way, is by getting on a water bus. Our flat is on the island of Giudecca, which is south of the central area around San Marco square. Daniela gave us a tutorial on the vaporetto boat numbers, which was hard to take in at the time. We got on a water bus right outside the train station and headed across the lagoon. It’s very crowded on the water bus. We were so glad that Daniella was shepherding us because it is very confusing.
We arrived at our stop, Giudecca Palanca, in about 20 minutes. From there we walked through passageways, zigging and zagging our way through the neighborhood. One nice thing is that there are no cars to watch out for and so the narrow passageways are nicer to walk down. I thought we would never be able to remember how to get back to the vaporetto stop. We came to Daniela’s apartment and we were so happy to see a lift up the 3rd floor. The housing on Giudecca is mostly new blocks of apartments, having undergone a very large urban renewal period that replaced the decaying buildings on the island. Giudecca is much quieter and more residential than the busy central area of Venice. And Daniela’s apartment is beautiful. She has decorated it artistically and everything you could possibly need is available. I’ll take some photos of this gorgeous flat before we leave.
The flat also has a little rooftop terrace, and this is the view.
After soaking it all in and trying to listen to Daniela tell us everything we needed to know, we rested a bit, unpacked, and then took off for the Coop grocery store that we passed by coming to the flat from the vaporetto stop. This was our first venture out into our neighborhood. It was quite fun walking through a courtyard where children were playing and down small little passageways. We actually had no trouble finding the Coop. We made our purchases and returned to the flat, which was a little scarier in terms of remembering which turns to take and which door in the apartment block was ours. But, success!
Since the flat is at the entrance to a canal, we can sit by the floor-to-ceiling windows and watch the boat traffic. We are really wowed by this apartment. Christine found it just after we booked the cruise, so she really picked a great Airbnb. It’s totally amazing to be in Venice and to be in this apartment. We are lucky girls!
Still loving the blog. Now that you are in Venice, where we were a few years ago, I can finally recall what you are seeing. Your blog thou, makes me want to go see all the other places you have been too. You seem to have done such a good job of picking out AirBNBs, which, to me, would take a whole lot of courage.
Hi Eve. Glad you’re still enjoying the blog. Christine is the expert at Airbnb. She researched a gazillion apartments. This place in Venice was the first reservation she made. When she saw the photos and read the description, she fell in love with it. And wow, was she ever right in picking this place. We have yet to have had a bad experience with Airbnb, but you have to do your due diligence to be sure of what you’re getting.
Venice really inspired the photographer. Thanks for the beautiful scenes. John