Over the past few years Sarah has had some excellent birthday adventures. Four years ago we toasted to her health and happiness in Munich, last year we were having a lovely time staying in Montecatini Terme and buying a purse in Lucia, and this year we are traveling between Florence and Venice, two of her favorite places. Happy Birthday, Sarah, and may we share many more adventures.
There is a taxi strike in Florence this morning. The taxi drivers are upset over Uber and its clones. I can only sympathize. Taxi drivers make an investment in getting their medallions and it seems unfair for usurpers to come in as they have. Since we cannot get a taxi to the train station our landlord’s son, Marco, gives us a ride to the station. We get there pretty early for our train and have to kill time. Since there is a limited seating area we end up in the food court where we buy a little something every once in a while to keep our table and seats. Really, who doesn’t love some McDonald’s fries when you are far from home?
The trains in Italy are punctual and comfortable and fast. We leave Florence on a high speed train at 11:30 and are in Venice at 1:35 PM. We are renting another apartment here in Venice. I have arranged with the agency for a water taxi which meets us and takes us to a mooring close to our apartment where a representative of Truly Venice meets us, walks us to the apartment, and explains all the details. It is a flawless experience.
Our apartment has an efficiency apartment on the ground floor for Sarah and a one bedroom apartment on the second floor (European first floor). It seems nice and we are excited to see the router in the corner of the dining room. Maybe good wifi!?
We decide to take a look around the neighborhood and have a drink overlooking the Giudecca Canal nearby. As the sun goes down, it’s a little cold. We don’t hang out too long looking at the view. Venice is probably 5-10 degrees cooler than Florence. At last all the heavy clothes we’ve brought along can be worn!
We have dinner at Casin dei Nobili. We are looking forward to some seafood and our spaghetti con vongole (clams) fits the bill. We all order it and everyone is pleased.
We have discovered that the wifi here is almost as bad as the wifi in Florence. It is in and out and only works if you sit in the dining room very close to the router. We are going to be spending a lot of time in that room!