Author: marionvermazen

Today we had a wonderful day in Venice. This morning we bought stamps and then bus tickets for our bus trip tomorrow. 

Then we wandered towards San Marcos square. On the way we stopped by the beautiful Rialto Bridge.

Venice was founded after the fall of the Roman Empire. People came here to avoid the barbarians in the rest of Italy. Venice became a center of trade between the east and the west. For 400 years it was the richest city in Europe. When we went through  the Basilica it was easy to see some of the results of that wealth. 

Thanks to a recommendation from my friend Marty we made a point of stopping at Cafe Florian on the square. It was established in 1720 and bills itself as the oldest cafe in Europe. We sat at an outside table in the square, listened to the live band and drank some wonderful hot chocolate. It will be a moment that is a highlight memory of our trip. 

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Next we shared clams and pasta. 

We had mixed fried seafood as our main dish. 

And finally ricotta flan. 

It was a lovely day. 

This morning we caught the high speed train from Florence to Venice. 

We found our hotel and then made our way through the narrow streets and canals to Plaza San Marco. Venice is like no other city I have ever visited. We took the water taxi back to our hotel. 

We had a great dinner at Osteria La Lanterna da Gas. 

Florence is a beautiful city. This morning we walked to the Accademia Gallery and saw some of Michelangelo’s sculptures including his statue of David. 

On the way back to our hotel I did some shopping. I didn’t buy anything at these stores although I was tempted. 

In the afternoon we went to the Uffizi Gallery. The building itself which is a Medici palace overlooking the Arno River is worth seeing but it also contains some magnificent sculptures and Da Vinci paintings. 

On our way to dinner I window shopped at some of the designer stores. This is Prada. 

Dinner started with fregula pasta and crustaceans. Duke had spaghetti and clams. Although I forgot to take pictures my second course was pistachio crusted tuna and Duke had beef. We ended with coffee. It was all wonderful. 

This morning before leaving Manarola we had a good talk with the owner of our hotel. His great grandfather owned the building in the early 1900s. The ground floor of the building had a wine press and a olive oil press. He said that back then the hills were covered with grape vines from the ocean to the top of the hills.  Now he said that people who make wine in Cinque Terre do it more as a hobby. The name of the Hotel C’D’Andrean is for his Great Grandfather. It means house of Andrean. We really liked staying there.  I hope we can visit again someday. 

From Manarola we took the train to La Spezia and then to Pisa. We left our bags at the train station and walked about twenty minutes to the leaning tower.  It was all beautiful and fun. 

From Pisa we caught the train to Florence and walked to our hotel which is right next to the Punte Veccio. The bridge is the only bridge in Florence that wasn’t destroyed during World War Two. Today all the stores on the bridge seemed to be jewelry stores. 

We went out for a walk. Florence is so beautiful. It feels like what I think of when I think of Italy. 

I especially liked the wood carvers store. 

I forgot to take my phone to dinner so I didn’t get any pictures. We ate near the hotel at Osteria I’ll Barroccio. The owner was very friendly. We had a great conversation about the joys of travel. 

 Today is our last full day in Manarola and Cinque Terre. It is another beautiful day. During the summer you can take a boat ride along the coast from one town to another. But because it is winter, and I assume because of storms, all the boats are out of the water right now. 

One of the fun things about travel is being surprised by what is delivered to your table. I ordered caffèlatte and toast with jam this morning and this is what I received. The coffee was hot and the pastry was a surprise but it was good. 

Today we took the train to Corniglia the middle of the five Cinque Terre towns and hiked north from there to Vernazza. The route still had ups and downs but it was more along the coast than our other two hikes. In the picture below you can just see Corniglia and behind it on the next point Manarola where we are staying. 

This is our destination, Vernazza. 

When we reached Vernazza we shared a  gelato and then took the train back to Manarola. 

We had a wonderful dinner. We started with octopus and potatoes. 

We then had fresh fish followed by walnut cake for desert. 

As we walked back up the hill to our hotel it was cool and there was no one else around. It is great to be here in the off season.