Italy Trip – Day 6, Venice to Florence

This year was my wife Eileen and my 25th Wedding Anniversary, so we decided to go to Italy for 17 days in June - spending our actual anniversary in Florence.  I decided not to take my laptop with me, so I wasn't able to blog while we were traveling, so I am now taking the opportunity to tell the story of our "Italy 2008" trip.

Checked out of our hotel and took the Express Vaporetto to the station.  Got there in loads of time for our 10:43am Eurostar AV to Florence.  The train was new and pleasant, but not especially fast - probably as the line from Venice to Florence had not been upgraded for High Speed travel.

We arrived in Florence a few minutes late, and found a tabachi in the station where we could get 2 bus tickets.  I had checked out the Florence bus system (ATAF) and knew that we needed to catch the number 1 bus.  We crossed the station Plaza to the bus stop and after about 5 minutes a number 1B arrived.  Got off 4 steps later (1 stop after the Piazza San Marco) and walked 2 blocks to the "Residenzia Johlea" our home for 3 nights in Florence.

Residenzia Johlea - via Gallo

The Residence (or B&B) was on the 2nd floor of an old apartment building - our room was the second window from the right in the picture above.  It was very pleasant and had a very helpful receptionist.  We settled into our room and did a bit of washing - then headed out for an afternoon in Florence. 

I had made a reservation for the Michaelangelo David and as the reservation was for 8:15am (the next day) we went by to check out the lay of the land.  As it was Monday the museum was closed, but they had a clearly marked reservations entry.

From the Accademia we walked to the Duomo square - visited the Duomo and the crypt, where there was an archaeological excavation of the original 4th century church.  We decided not to climb the 400+ stairs up the Campanile or Dome - discretion being the better part of valour!

The Duomo

We did visit the Baptistry with the amazing bronze door and ceiling frescoes.  Italian cathedrals seem to have separate Baptistries, which are often more ornate than the Cathedral (Duomo) itself.

The Baptistry

We then had to take shelter from a thunderstorm, before heading back to the B&B for a rest before dinner.

We followed Rick Steves suggestion and went to the Trattoria Za Za, near San Lorenzo.  The food was excellent - our best meal so far.  Watched the hostess from the neighboring Trattoria struggle to get customers, while we fill up.  Rick Steves got it right again.

Useful Links:

• Trenitalia – The Italian State Railways – www.trenitalia.it
• ATAF – the Florence Bus and Tram system - www.ataf.net
• Residenzia Johlea – our Bed and Breakfast in Florence - www.johanna.it