Venice.....

We have arrived in Venice. However, there is no internet in this hotel so I have to type this offline and find an internet café to send it off. I will try to do some catching up here first.
Our time In Florence was wonderful. On our second day, we got up and drove to San Gimignano. This is a medieval hilltop town in Tuscany. It was pouring rain again and it was a pretty steep hill…but the view and the shopping was worth it. Out group bought so much stuff in these shops. Jim and I refrained as we still have so much more left to do, and we don’t want to lug it around. I hope I don’t regret that because things are unbelievably expensive here in Venice. Most of us ate lunch there and then we headed to Pisa. It was great seeing the Leaning Tower and hearing the history. But I wouldn’t do that one again. Jim and I had a cappucchino and just sat and looked at the tower and the people… not much there but tourists and JUNK, and a leaning tower. Howerer, as we were getting off our tour bus, our tour director gave out the BROWN ALERT…she pointed at a group of young girls and yelled GYPSIES. Apparently, here in Italy they cannot arrest anyone under 14, pregnant or with a baby. So the gypsies, disguised as tourists in plain black and white clothes, mingle amongst unsuspecting people and rob you of everything in your pockets and purses. They are always with a Mom and a baby and at least one pregnant girl…or one pretending to be, all young girls. Anyway, they glared at her when she pointed them out. Jim was so fascinated by this that he went back to the entrance to sit and watch them again. This time, as another tour bus was loading, the gypsies got on the bus…pushing and shoving thru the crowd. They rob everyone and then hop off the bus before it leaves. The tour director of that group got off and started yelling and pulling the gypsies off the bus…Jim said it was amazing. He liked that more then the tower.
We left there and headed back to Florence for our “included” dinner. We were about 5 miles outside of the city, when the traffic came to a complete stop at a toll booth. There was at least 10 lanes going into the city and no one knew what was happening. Eveyone was getting out their cars and further up ahead we could see the military police. We still do not know if they were there because of the traffic or just caught up in it. Suddenly the rumors were flying…someone said a plane had crashed…someone else said it was a bad accident. Then the word came back that the wait was now 2 hours( we had been there at least 30 minutes already) so all the cars started turning around and going the other way. It was the most amazing chaos I had ever seen. Our bus driver got out and tried to move traffic around us…the tour director was frantically calling her office trying to find out what was going on. Finally, the bus got turned around and by taking back roads…which were also crowded…we got to our restaurant 2 hours later…it should have taken only 10 minutes. Our tour director ordered free wine for everyone because of the mess. What an exciting day!!!!!!!!!!!We have not heard what actually happened…hard to believe it was just bad traffic. There is a couple from LA in our group, and they said they had never seen rush hour in LA that bad.
Yesterday everyone was on their own to explore Florence. Jim and I went to Uffizi gallery. It was HUGE and we could have stayed there all day and not seen it all. But we left after about 2 hours, had a cappucchino under some clock tower. We walked all over Florence and the crowds were UNREAL…I think we are hitting the beginning of the tourist season. Everything had 3 hour lines…so we only did the free stuff and just walked…sat near the Ponte Vechio bridge and walked around the Dromo…sorry about the bad spelling. Then we had the most wonderful dinner. The first night was the most fun one…this was the best tasting one. The people sitting next to us had gone to school in Florence and had come back 10 times to eat there. So we ordered what they ordered and it was fabulous. It was samplers of food…3 salads, 5 pastas, 4 desserts…and in the middle of all that…a Balsamic filet steak…..it was heaven. It was honestly the best food I have ever eaten. We rolled out of there and made a long walk home thru Florence…I didn’t want to leave.
Today we took the fast train to Venice. We were a little nervous at the train station…as there is a train strike…but fortunately it is only affecting trains out of Rome…good thing we got out of there.
Venice is amazing. Our hotel is right next to the train station and our room overlooks the canal…off to the right just a little. I hope to send pics in the next blog of that. We walked all over and got lost so many time out on our own. After dinner we took a taxi down the grand canal to St Marks Sq….the crowds are really thick here…there is a cruise ship or two in port…so we are hoping it is better tomorrow. This is a huge tourist area and is somewhat unappealing from that aspect. But the views are great….we have a busy two days ahead of us so will try to update you as soon as we can. I have never walked so much in my life…but all the pasta and gelato is catching up with me…pants are getting tight despite the added exercise. We couldn’t be having a better time and we are having so much fun with everyone in this group. We miss everyone an can’t believe we still have another week !!!!!