to Florence

We were awake early (6:30) and left our hotel at 8 a.m. 

Keen to get to our next stop - Florence - we were still eager to see more of Venice, so we stopped here and there on our walk to the station to take some last photographs.

At the station, we sat and waited for two hours for our train. We knew we'd be early but preferred that to rushing. While we sat and waited, we enjoyed breakfast - coffee and a croissant - from the bar.

The train trip was uneventful - a young man offered to lift our cases up overhead for us and we thanked him. He held out his hand and we realised he expected a tip. Gave him a couple of euro. No doubt he got off before the train left, probably does that for a living.

We arrived into Florence at 12:30 and again faced a long wait. Check in time at our apartment was 4 p.m. and as it was only a short bus or taxi ride away, we went over to McDonald's (it seemed to be the only place nearby) to sit and eat away some of the time. It was packed, and nothing like our McDonalds at home - not that I frequent Maccas. However, we hovered for a bit then grabbed a table for two. Lindy sat with our bags while I went and bought us a large fries and a milkshake each - €8.60! 

After we'd finished, we decided to go back to the station to wait - maybe we could find some seats there. Fat chance. We are not pushy people but we ended up doing what everyone else was, hovering until something came free and then rushing for it. Missed a couple of chances - one a man and his teenage son - and ended up sitting on what seemed to be two 'table's between some seats. The seats were definitely not built for comfort anyway. We people watched for awhile and saw an elderly nun forced to stand, an elderly man miss a seat (a young woman dashed in front of him), and a bent over old lady with a walking stick refused a seat a man was minding for his wife! These people had no manners, we thought.

The station was crazily busy and we soon learnt why. There were countless trains running late, both arriving and departing, so many hundreds of people were hovering, waiting. At last, it was 3 p.m. and we decided to join the taxi line. As we left the station, we noticed (when it was too late) that there was a bookstore with a cafe where we could have sat!

The taxi cost us €15 but was worth it, we didn't feel like battling to lift our bags onto a bus. We arrived at the apartment at 3;35, knowing we'd have a bit of a wait, but Antonella, Carmilla's mother, arrived 5 minutes later, with her husband, Sergio. They showed us in, collected the city tax from us, explained everything, answered the couple of questions we had (lots of sign language as their English as limited as my Italian), then left us to it. There was a welcome basket on the table - tea, coffee, biscuits and fruit - and in the pantry some rice and pasta. Tomorrow we will shop.

The first thing we did after Sergio and Arabella left? We put a load of washing on! We've been away from home for 12 days now and have worn some of our outer clothes a few times. We managed to wash our smalls out as we went, planning to find a self-serve laundry in the UK but they were as scarce as hen's teeth. The couple we did find on the net were not open when we were in their area. Lindy is quite relieved that there is a hair dryer here, she was quite missing having one.

The second thing we did? We made a cup of tea and sat out in the garden, listening to the breeze ruffling the leaves in the bushes and trees. The small garden is private and has some fruit trees (too late for us), tomatoes, flowers, and a pond with turtles. Very peaceful place -- we are going to love it here.