Europe Tour---- Day 10---- Venezia/Firenze----- ( 24 Oct 2011)

Start of Day 10.

We had the day pretty much to ourselves since our train to Firenze was at 3.27 PM.

We got up late ( 8.30 AM), had a leisurely breakfast and then set off again by boat ( what else?) to Rialto Bridge. We wandered around the alleys of Venezia and Sudha bought two handbags that caught her fancy. Venice is really a very romantic city and one can spend days wandering around the churches and canals.Life moves at a very leisurely pace. Oddly, one can’t see a single advertisement for a car here.

After our walkabout, we came back to the hotel, checked out and went with our baggage to Ferrovia.We planned to keep our baggage in the left luggage room and go to Ganesh Ji again for lunch.The charges were 4 Euro per piece so we decided to keep just the two large suitcases. Ganesh Ji again provided us a good meal and the proprietor once again told me that he had charged us for only one lunch even though we were two. ( I really must give a good write-up in Trip Advisor).

Lunch over, we walked back to Venezia St.Lucia ( to give the railway station its full name).The train left sharp at 3.27 PM.Sudha once again had an expresso and once again got a thimbleful of coffee.The train reached Firenze SMN ( Santa Maria Novella--- to give its full name) at 5.30 PM. We followed the directions on the Google map thoughtfully provided by Greeshma and reached the hotel in 10 minutes time.

Balaji ( Travel Corporation) had once again done a good job. The room was luxurious and so close to everything.We kept our baggage in the room and set off to explore the nearby areas. We checked out Deanna’s Bar ( where the next day’s tour was to start), bought a couple of bananas from a roadside vendor and were back in the hotel.

This is the other thing that we thought we were doing very well. At every place where we stayed, we checked out the local supermarkets and stocked up on fruits and yogurt and ( occasionally) potato chips. We learnt how to weigh the fruits before bringing it to the cash counter. At some places, we also bought noodles which Sudha used to heat up in the bathroom sink with ot water. And, of course, Jai Ho to MTR.

That was the end of Day 10.

Europe Tour---- Day 9---- Venezia,Murano, Burano, Torcelli ( 23 Oct 2011)

The day dawned bright and sunny.It was a Sunday but we had to get up early since we had to reach the pick up point by 9.15 AM for the trip to Murano,Burano and Torcello.

We went down to the ground floor for our breakfast and the first sight of Venezia in daylight took our breath away.The hotel was located right on the Grand canal and there were boats and gondolas already plying.Sudha had her customary first photo taken against the backdrop of the Grand Canal.

After breakfast, we walked across to San Stae Boat Station ( 1 minute away) and took Boat No 1 proceeding towards Lido.These Boat Stations are just like Bus Stations with all the stops and the directions mentioned.We went past Rialto Mercato ( Market- since the vegetable and fruit market is located here), passed under the famous Rialto Bridge and then past San Toma , San Marko and San Giglio on to San Zaccaria. We got off here and walked the 30 metres to the pick up point.The other members of the group joined us here and then we set off in a boat to the island of Murano----famous for its glass.

We went to a glass factory and watched a glass blowing demonstration.The glass blower made a prancing stallion right in front of us---- very impressive.We went to a showroom and saw some very beautiful glass articles here. We bought a blue glass bell here.From Murano, we went to Burano, famous for its lace.We visited a shop and watched a lady stitching lace and bought a table cloth and also a Venezia mask.

We then hopped on the boat again for a visit to the island of Torcello. Nothing much to see here except for an old church and old graveyards.We then got back to the starting point of the tour.When we got off, the Venice Marathon was going on and we joined the others in shouting “ Bravo!! Bravo !!” to the runners. We stopped at a café for lunch and met a girl from Chennai who was here on an official trip.She was from Mogappair and was thrilled to meet us.

After lunch, we wandered over to Piazza San Marco and went inside the cathedral.Very nice and the whole piazzas ( like all Piazzas in Europe) is filled with people and has a festive air about it.It was still 3 PM and our gondola trip was at 6.30 PM.So we boated back to the hotel, dumped our unwanted stuff and went back to San Giglio which was the starting point of our gondola trip. At 6.30 PM, we were asked to get into the gondolas.4 people in each gondola and a total of 5 gondolas. One of the gondolas has a serenader and one person who plays the music.All the gondolas start together and go side by side on the Grand Canal.A very nice sight and lots of people watching and taking photographs from the Rialto Bridge.The serenader sings romantic songs and one that I could remember was “ It’s now or never” by Elvis Presley though the words were in Italian. The boats then turn back on the Grand canal and enter into one of the narrow alleys one behind the other. They come out through another narrow alley and stop at the starting point. This gondola ride was easily the highlight of our Europe Tour.

The time was now around 7.45 PM.We  took the next Boat No 1 to Ferrovia ( Railway Station) and walked down to Ganesh Ji Restaurant. I ordered a glass of wine and we then had roti, aloo palak and vegetable biriyani.Ah !!! Heaven!!After the meal was over, I asked the owner for his card and said I wanted this to do a review of the restaurant on TripAdvisor. Whether because of this or because of genuine hospitality, he gave us the bill and said that the wine was on the house.

We then took Boat No1 back to San Stae to Hotel Palazzo Giovanni and a well deserved night’s sleep.

End of Day 9.

Europe Tour---Day 8--- Milano ( 22 Oct 2011)

Today can best be described as “Find Armani” day. Let me begin at the beginning.

We had the day to ourselves at Milano since our train was only at 3.27 PM to Venezia.We got up at around 7 PM, got dressed and packed our luggage since our check-out time was 12 Noon.We finished our breakfast ( same old croissants and boiled egg and cornflakes and fruits topped with coffee).

One of the rituals we have established during this trip is to take a picture of Sudha in her dress before she dons the sweater and shawl and all the woolen paraphernalia. Actually this one picture helps me establish one day from the next.After the picture was taken, we checked out but kept the luggage in the hotel itself.

We walked the short distance to Milano Centrale ( pronounced Chentraale). Our first stop was at Zara’s in the basement of Milano central where we bought lovely green tops for the beauties in our family.Then we bought our 1.50 Euro tickets and took the green line to Cardano, one station past Lanza. Mistake, since our intention was to get to Cairoli, which was on the Red Line.Anyway, the distance was not much ( or so we thought) and we walked the alleys of Milano.There are a profusion of handbag and shoes shops in these alleys and in short order, Sudha bought two handbags.We walked and walked, went to a trattoria and had some coffee and then walked some more in search of an Armani showroom where I wanted to look for some T Shirts for Sachin and Sandeep.We were directed to via Manzoni which was where the Armani showroom was supposed to be but we couldn’t find it.

Tired, we walked back to Lanza Station and came back to Milano Centrale.It was now around 12 Noon.Sudha was dead tired of all the walking. Just as we were about to come out of the station , we saw an ad for Armani in the station and again went in search of Mr.Armani.We were directed to the Mezzanine, the 1^st Floor, the 2^nd Floor but no sign .So we gave up the search, went to the hotel, picked up our baggage and walked back to the station. Balaji of Travel Corporation/Thomas Cook had done a pretty good job of choosing our hotels so far. We wanted hotels within walking distance of the railway station in all cities and this was provided to us.

We waited and watched for the platform number to be announced for the train ( 17.30 Hrs departure)to Venezia, found our Coach ( No 5) and seats ( 13 and 15) and went in. As simple as that.On the journey to Venezia, Sudha ordered a cup of expresso and was surprised when she got just a thimbleful. She was so surprised that she asked the steward “ Is that all?”.He gave a wry smile and said yes.

We went past Verona, Padova ( all familiar names to Shakespeare readers) and reached Venezia St.Lucia at 20.02.Venezia Mestre is the previous station and is on the mainland.Venezia St.Lucia Railway Station is on an island.Greeshma had given us the Google maps from the station to the hotel for all places on our tour but Venezia had her stumped.

When we got off, I left Sudha in the station and went outside the station to find the best way to get to our station.Right opposite the station was the Grand canal with boats in the water. There was an information booth nearby and I showed the lady our hotel address.She told me to take Boat No 1 and the nearest Boat Station stop to our hotel was San Stae which was only 4 stops and 8 minutes away.I also bought the tickets ( 6.50 Euro each)there and went back to the station to pick up Sudha and the luggage.

We reached San Stae by 9 PM and walked out of the Boat Station and into an alley.The alley was dark and there were not many people about.I asked for directions in a shop that was open and we were told to go back to the Boat Station and the hotel was right next door.There was a small bridge to cross, a narrow alley to go through and voila!!! there we were.

The receptionist was most friendly.He had been to India earlier and had spent a lot of time in Sivananda Ashram and had travelled all over India.He bemoaned the horrible way Gaddaffi had died and expressed his admiration for Anna Hazare.Sudha asked about an Indian Restaurant in Venezia and he told us about Ganesh Ji Restaurant close to the Railway Station.He also  gave us directions to our pick-up point next day for the sight-seeing trip and left us in our room.The hotel name was Palazzo Giovanelli and the room really took our breath away ( see the photos later).

We were really tired and hit the sack straightaway.

End of Day 8.