Enjoying lunch from a local deli
Most of today was spent traveling and getting settled in Florence, but we still had some pretty fun adventures and nearly got ourselves into a Taken-style situation. Read on for the details!
Since our bus from Venice to Florence left in the early afternoon, we had some more time to chill in Venice and explore the local area. We went back to the main islands from our campsite after checking out and had the most amazing lunch at a local Italian deli/bakery. We weaved through a group of locals drinking wine and chatting and ordered some freshly-made mini deli sandwiches made with salami, turkey, and other tasty meats. A mini-glass of red wine was only .60 Euros and our entire meal came out to 3.30 Euros.
We enjoyed our lunch on the steps of a church in a nice shade with the cool touch of a light breeze. The courtyard was soon milling with people who also bought lunch at the deli and we people-watched and just relaxed.
Soon I was craving some dessert so I walked about half an hour through the maze of Venice streets to get to Gelato Fantasy at Piazza San Marco just to sample some of their heavenly gelato again. Turned out to be a great decision – half the fun was trying not to get lost and finding my way back to our original meeting point.
Our bus ride to Florence went smoothly, and the bus itself was really comfortable and included wi-fi and power outlets. We arrived at Florence and found our way to the bed & breakfast we booked (prices were about the same as hostels in the area so we decided to give it a shot).
Since we arrived pretty late we had to call the owner to check in. That’s when some seemingly-sketchy stuff started happen. A pretty Italian lady came to the bed & breakfast and told us that there was no more room at the b&b we booked, and that there was another b&b about five minutes’ walk we could switch into.
As we followed her, we exchanged glances because the scene seemed a bit suspicious, almost like a Taken set-up. We didn’t want to get led into a dark alley and then have people jump us/rob us/kidnap us. Luckily James had some international minutes as part of his traveling phone plan, so we called the owner again to make sure, and things took a turn for the better.
The b&b we ended up staying at was a newer one owned by the same guy, and it was much better than the one we’d booked. Better yet, it’s located right next to Piazza della Signoria, one of the most famous attractions in Florence. We’re literally a few steps from it, and my, was the nighttime view of the square magnificent.
Tourists walking alongside ancient Greek statues, vendors selling light-up toys, people riding bikes – this place reminded me of Caesar’s Palace in Vegas, except it was the real deal – no fake sky ceilings here. The Fountain of Neptune was lit up in blue hues with a giant castle-like museum in the backdrop. We spent quite some time just sitting in the square, soaking in the sights and sounds. Looks like it’ll be an awesome two days in Florence!
Stay tuned and read about my other adventures in London, Paris, Berlin!
Steps taken: 20,060 | Miles walked: 6.64
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Liam Neeson at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.
