Month: May 2022

As predicted, our sweet Andrea and his wife were waiting at the bottom of the staircase when I came down with our luggage. They were so kind, hugs and many thank yous later, Mom and I and our somewhat lighter luggage walked away from our favorite location so far. (Also as predicted, I in no way shape or form got up when my alarm went off at 7am to go run.. just so we’re all clear there..).

We took our time walking towards the sandwich shop, since our train didn’t leave until 12:20 and it was just hardly 10am. When we got there, we realized they don’t open until 11:30.. soo, we carried on, looking for a nice spot to have some breakfast. When we came across a restaurant in piazza that had the carousel, we decided to stay. As a plus, right by the restaurant was a taxi stand!

We sat on the covered patio and ordered our coffee. Mom was thrilled when they brought the pitcher thing so she could have instant refills. We then got super giddy, because they actually had pancakes! Oh the little things in life! We each ordered pancakes with eggs and bacon. When it came out, one pancake was covered with cheese. Mom moved her cheese onto her eggs, and I just ate mine how it came-which was actually pretty tasty! You really can put cheese on anything 🙂

We relaxed, ate, sipped, and people watched.. and around 11:40 we paid our bill and walked to the taxi stand. To my utter shock, a man drove up almost immediately, like our luggage wheels hasn’t even fully stopped yet! Within 10 minutes we were already at the train station, taxi fair paid, and breathing a sigh of relief that we had time to navigate the train station. Thankfully, the Florence train station is relatively small compared to some of the ones we’ve been in, so it was quite easy to locate our train number and wait for our platform number to appear.

We took the 2 hour and 15 minute train to Venice. As we got close we started to go over water to get to the island.. there’s something about Venice that just feels tropical-maybe it’s the humidity.. but mom and I got totally giddy like tweens getting to meet a pop star. We got off the train and started to attempt our navigation skills to the water buses-called a vaporatto. I followed my screen shot of the directions from when I had WiFi (at this point, AT&T can just have all my money, it’s annoying to not have service lol).

We get approached by tons of official looking men in their safety jackets with “Water Taxi” and whatnot on it, and after several minutes of ignoring, one guy asks which hotel and says, “ok, €20 and we go by water taxi. I thought that was a fair price to drive us 30 minutes down a canal without having to shove onto a crowded water bus..

Y’all. We got GOT. That little man carried our stuff less than 50 feet to the damn water bus terminal! Hahaha I’m still a little salty about it, honestly. BUT he did give us 2 24 hour tickets to actually get on the water bus, showed us how to validate it and which direction to go.. and I found out once we checked into our hotel that those water bus tickets are €10 each-so technically we just paid him for the tickets.. maybe I should have given him a tip after all. Whoops!

Anyway, we navigated tiny corridor like roads to find our hotel, and there it was, in all its glory! Absolutely beautiful! Inside our room was the tiny space we’ve been expecting of Europe, so we weren’t surprised, and they did accommodate our request for 2 twins instead of one full bed. I’d call it a success! We quickly dropped our luggage and figured no out how to turn the thermostat down from the “Satan’s Undercarriage” setting, and went out to find food and explore.

We hardly walked a tenth of a mile when we came to a pizzeria with outside seating. We got drinks and pizza, the man talked us into each getting our own-we definitely could have shared (even if i did eat all of mine anyway.. yikes). It started to rain and we quickly moved under an awning. Next to us sat a couple from Canada. The wife and I started chatting, thanks wine, and she’s a recently retired RN in Montreal. We had lots in common to talk about while mom and her husband’s eyes seemed to gloss over.

We paid and headed on our way to walk to St. Mark’s Square. It was roughly 1/2 mile away but we zigged and zagged and bobbed and weaved through the canals and hoards of people, up and over bridge after bridge.. we took so many pictures! I’ve never seen a city of canals quite like this, and trust me, pictures just do not do it justice at all. It was just so beautiful, even with all the people in every crevice. Maybe it’s even more special because there are no cars or vespas or scooters.. everyone has to walk or get on a boat or gondola.

The square was lovely and had more space to spread out some. The main church was also made from marble, pink and white, and I am 100% going to crochet a blanket with that pattern. I’m in love with it! The details the people of the 1200-1300 period just blow me away-and to know they didn’t have our high tech machinery.. just.. HOW? How did they create these masterpieces? And how do the Venetian people just live here and see these works of art every day walking to work and not have their breath taken away? It’s beyond amazing. Truly.

Anyway, we walked around until well after 7pm. It was a good thing it was so lovely because it was damn sure hot and humid as hell. Coming from Georgia, we’re used to that-sure-but we’re also used to air conditioning.. like I kinda think if mom and I attempted to set up an air conditioner to our preferred liking, we’d cause a power grid outage across the whole city. Hahaha

We were tired from the heat and our room was only feeling slightly cooler than it was when we left it, so we popped into our bathing suits and made our way to the pool. It’s a little awkward down there. The pool is situated in the middle of a courtyard with just enough room for a few tables and chairs around it.. you walk through the bar area to get to it along with a restaurant style sitting area outside, so we swam while other people sipped their cocktails and snacked on chips.

The water was more like a jacuzzi, and the pool even had jets and a waterfall you could turn on. At first I was afraid that it wouldn’t help cool us down and wouldn’t feel refreshing, but it did both of those things just perfectly. We swam, we let the jets massage our backs, we ignored the stares from the patrons having their pre dinner snacks.

Once dried off, we went inside to change. I put on running clothes, mom put on normal clothes, and we walked back down to the same area where we had pizza earlier. Mom got a seat at a table and I set off for my mile run. It was awkward and I didn’t really have a good lay of the land.. and there were tons of people, so I ran away from where it was crowded, and went down the tiny alleyways instead.. when I found a longish stretch of walkway I just made loops for what felt like forever. Since it was feeling pretty good, I decided to do 2 miles instead of one..I know it sounds silly, but if I hit 50 miles for the month I get “points” on my garmin app, and I’m a bit obsessed with it.. so I’ve decided to attempt to hit that goal as well making sure I at the very minimum at LEAST get the 1 mile a day to keep the run streak alive.
I choked on a few gnats and ran past several restaurants, feeling a little guilty because who wants to see a sweaty weirdo run past their table when eating a fancy Venetian dinner. Sorry, folks. Gotta do what i gotta do! Lol

Now, I’m showered and in bed in this not so cool (temperature wise) room. Mom is snoozing in her twin bed that’s super close to mine, and now that I have this written out, I’m going to try like hell to fall asleep. I don’t know how lucky I’m going to be though. Tomorrow we have a 10 am tour start to see Murano and Burano, 2 of the many islands in the lagoon Venice is situated in. I’m pretty excited about it! Goodnight, y’all!

Welp, I most definitely did not sleep well last night. I had thought I’d get up this morning around 7am to get in a 10k run so I’d get some extra points on my garmin. I was still wide awake well after 3:30am and said to hell with that when my alarm went off.

Mom and I got up and ready for breakfast by 9 am. Since it was included in our stay, we took full advantage of the unlimited coffee and juice. I also made an egg and cheese sandwich, not the best ever, but it served its purpose. I’m going to enjoy a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit when I get home, for sure!

We walked 8 minutes to the meeting point to find our guide. On the way, I kept a close look out for how I can do my run later. Apparently if I had just gone over one of the bridges I was close to last night I would have had a decent straight away! Dangit! Anyway, we were a little early so we took advantage of the bathrooms. When we came out, our personal guide was standing there waiting for us. Our guide (whose name I cannot remember and I feel awful about) looked adorable, in her white linen button up shirt tucked into her navy blue maxi skirt with a matching sun hat!

We followed her onto a water bus and listened to her share some Venetian history with us. The way they built this city is beyond belief, and all to get away from the mainland to stop attacks from neighbors trying to control the area. Pretty impressive and genius. The bridge to connect Venice to the mainland was only created for modern convenience, so way back when, they were secluded and kept safe.

The first island we went to was Murano. It’s known for its glassblowing factories. The story goes that when the people discovered heating the sand at a very high heat, it would turn into glass that they could manipulate into goods once it cooled properly. Because of the ovens eventually required to create the glass, the government moved the glassblowing artisans out to this island to keep the main city safe from fires, explosions, AND to keep their craft secrets inaccessible to just anyone walking through town.

These artisans used to be taught the trade only by family and starting very very young. We got to walk around the town and see the different shops filled with tons of unique glassware-some literally had plates and cups, other had jewelry, some had cute little figurines and Christmas ornaments. From there our guide took us to a factory to have a viewing of the glassblowing by a master glass artisan.

The first one we watched had a man create a vase that was so detailed and gorgeous! Then the owner took mom, our guide, and i into a private viewing where we watched a master artisan that had been doing this for 65 years! He created a vase as well and then a Ferrari horse! The horse had to be manipulated within 60 seconds of the first pinch made. Super impressive!

We walked around the town a little more and then took the water bus to Burano. This little island is famous for its lace and colorful fisherman houses. The history says that while the fisherman were gone all day, the women hand wove lace to occupy their time.. and eventually their talent became recognized and started to become an export for goods and services. The fisherman painted their houses different colors to be easier to spot their homes from the water when they were rowing home.

I loved the lace, but I really loved the houses! We sat and had lunch together, the three of us, at a cafe along one of the canals before our guide let me wander all about and take a picture of probably every single house on that island! Several of them are for sale too. I need to Google those prices, it’s GOT to be pricy! Lol

By this time in the day, close to 3pm, it was HOT. And when I say hot, I mean I was watching the sweat bead up and roll down my arms, I could feel it on my back, and mom looked like she was absolutely miserable. She promised she wasn’t though. We made points to get water and hydrate, but the crowds continued to grow as well, making it that much hotter.

We originally had one more stop on our itinerary, but with it being so very hot we decided to skip it. We would have gotten to visit the green island of Mazzorbo and walk around a family farm with a vineyard. But our guide told us they don’t do tastings on Sundays and there would be no shade anywhere, so we opted out. I think our guide was quite relieved too! She navigated us back to our water bus stop close to our hotel, full of information the entire way, and then we said our goodbyes. While we definitely could have done this trip without a guide and saved some money, it was so much better having her there and getting her input and wealth of knowledge, too.

We walked back to our hotel, changed clothes, and went swimming. There were more people at the pool today, so it didn’t feel as weird as yesterday did. Once we felt cool and revived from the heat of the day, we dried off and got ready for dinner. Dinner doesn’t start until 7pm at the earliest, so we were glad we took our time swimming before getting ready.

We walked around to look for a good restaurant to eat at. Being on the sea, there’s a ton of seafood, which mom won’t eat.. so 2 restaurants we passed were no good for her.. very few non seafood choices. We found a place that she liked, I got spaghetti carbonara, she got a calzone stuffed with all her favorite things! It was perfect 🙂 We ate and laughed and enjoyed our last dinner in Venice!

From there we walked and walked all around, to help me get a better plan for my run. It turned into an impromptu photo shoot because we had on our pretty dresses and the moon was lighting up the sky so beautifully. Mom refuses to let me post any of the pictures of her captured in the moonlight, just know that I have them and I love them, but if she posted pictures I didn’t like of myself I’d be upset, so I won’t do that to her (although I think she’s crazy because she looks wonderful in them. We’re all our own worst critic, for sure).

We got back to the room and I changed into my running clothes.. I was downstairs heading out the door around 10:30 and the concierge from the hotel looked at me sideways.. I laugh and say, “just going for a run, be back soon!” And he looks at his watch, noting the time and says, “ok, I stay right here for you.” And moved towards the hotel front doors. I’ve never felt unsafe, but it was comforting to know that someone else was looking out for me too. Mom had already taken a picture of me in my running clothes and noted the time, doesn’t hurt to be prepared.

My run was one of my favorite ones yet. I did 2 miles along the route we walked to get to the meeting spot for our tour this morning, then turned down the long seafront sidewalk. I came back and did some funky figure 8s around some houses and then made my way down some long stretches along the canals.. all which had several bridges. I walked up and over each bridge, which weren’t long by any means, but I was worried in my hast I’d roll an ankle on uneven stones.

I made it 2 miles and came back to the hotel. The concierge man was standing outside at the door, and I won’t say he was technically waiting for me, but he did come back inside after I did. I said goodnight to him and went to the room, to shower and hop in bed. Tomorrow we have some downtime until like 2pm when we need to get over to the cruise terminal. Google maps says it’s about 40 minutes away, so we’ll pack after breakfast, leave our luggage with the hotel, and either take the water bus to Lido to hang out at a beach or just see if we can hang out at this hotel pool, since it won’t matter what we’re wearing because we’ll surely head to the pool on the cruise ship once we’re all checked in. Wahooo! I’m so looking forward to the next 10 days!

We got up around 9:30 and made it down to breakfast just before 10. Something told me to double check the port information for the cruise, so while I was sipping coffee and eating my goofy egg & cheese sandwich, I looked it up again. The Celebrity Cruises app says “Venice (Ravenna) Port.” I decide to check out this Ravenna.. ummmm.. it’s 4.5 hours away BY TRAIN. 3 hours by car. Excuse me? Surely this isn’t right.

I get to searching, no where on the celebrity cruises website or emails does it say an address for the port. It just keeps saying Venice (Ravenna). Umm, apparently that’s a BIG difference. And then I remember the tour guide from yesterday saying something about how much less crowded it is now without all the cruise lines and more.. and then I start remembering not seeing a SINGLE big boat anywhere in ANY of the water we’ve crossed in the last 2 days. OH. SHIT.

We have to board by 3:30 at the latest. It was 10:04am. I tell mom the situation. I start to panic, and look up train times.. one leaves at 10:20, 10:40, 11:24, and then not u til 12:30. If we don’t get on the 11:24 train we’ll miss boarding! So, mom heads to the room to start to pack, I go to the hotel concierge that was here last night and tell him the situation.. he says, “I don’t want to say run and make you panic, but you should run..” ha. He said it would probably cost some where between €350-500 to get a taxi or private ride to Ravenna from the Venice train station, so the best bet is to get on that train.

I run upstairs and pack like a mad woman. Mom is just about done, I rush back downstairs to check out and then mom and I are lugging our rollerbags over stone worked side walks to the water bus. The man is standing there so I verify which way we need to go, he says, “this bus now or you’ll wait 22 minutes for the next one.” We go to “validate” our boarding pass from yesterday, it glows red and makes a beep when mom did it-I knew it expired about 20 minutes ago (it’s only good for exactly 24 hours from the first validation).. she looks at me and says, “it’s good, right?” I say, “yep! Get on the bus!” As I validate mine and it also pops up red.

Signs everywhere say it’s a €50 fine payable on the spot if you board without a validated ticket, or on an expired ticket. I silently prayed the whole 4 stops that no one would ask to see our tickets. If we had bought new ones, we’d have missed this bus! It was already 10:30 at that time and we are not ones to show up to the train station late! Luckily, no one stopped us! While we were standing there praying, I quickly purchased our train tickets to Ravenna.

Our first train was just over an hour long and had great WiFi. I uploaded pictures and wrote a bit. At 12:20 we got our luggage and stood at the train door.. when it opened at 12:30, we had to dash out, locate the departures screen, which was down a flight of stairs in a weird alleyway.. note our connecting train was on platform 1-haul ass to platform 1, get on the train, pray it was right and all within 5 minutes. Technically, 4 minutes, the door shuts a minute before departure. Mom asked if we were on the right one as it’s pulling away, and I just say, “God I really hope so..” and wait for the bus to pass one of the signs saying “Ravenna” on it. Once it did, I let out a huge sigh of relief!

This train was a regional train, so it made many more stops and had no WiFi-which was maybe a good thing because I had the potential to not get us off in the right spot. At 2pm, we got off in Ravenna, found a cafe to grab something to eat, and went to search for a taxi. Thankfully a taxi stand was in sight just across the street from the bus terminals. I ask the man if he could take us to the cruise port.. and to my absolute delight, he says, “yes! 10 day celebrity cruise today!” Oh my sweet baby Jesus! Someone finally confirmed that this is indeed the correct place we’re supposed to be!! I couldn’t get anyone on the phone to verify this morning AND there was no port address ANYWHERE online stating that yes, this cruise you’ve chosen does actually leave out of Ravenna and not Venice, even though Ravenna is in parenthesis and doesn’t seem that important to know.. haha

He dropped us off just before 3pm.. he was so kind and told us all about how Ravenna is getting much more tourism now because of the cruise terminal being moved here, and then also apologizing for his “bad English” which was no such thing. He spoke so well! I tried my Italian out with him and he laughed but seemed grateful that I was trying, too. We were so grateful to him for getting us there (quickly too, he was flying down some of those roads), that Mom left him a nice tip.

We walked over to the check in terminal. We had to tag our luggage, then show our passports and negative covid test results from yesterday (we took an “at home” test and logged it into an app that came with the test, while we were honest with our results, I can see how it would be so very easy to fake it..) and then our boarding passes to about 3 different people.. before during and after security.

After that, we simply walked down the long stretch to get on the boat.. we sanitized our hands, got a cold wash cloth to wipe our faces and hands with and told we were free to go to our rooms to get our sea passes. We actually got an upgraded room, to our surprise, and everything was right where they said it would be! We got our passes, went to do the safety briefing (a whole 5 minute thing, total), and went to explore the ship.

When we got to the spa and gym area, I was THRILLED! They apparently have a full gym and I was under the impression you can only use the equipment if you pay extra for their classes.. NOT TRUE! I told the man I need to run at least one mile a day and asked him how do to go about doing that.. He laughed and said, “well miss, you come over and get on a treadmill and run your mile or more..” hahaha they’re open from 6am-10pm every day! Yay! No fears of ruining my running streak over an equipment issue 😉 (now a drinking too much issue is a totally different thing!). I decided to stay and run 2 miles then (I was already in shorts and a tank top), and mom ventured back to our room on her own to get ready for the pool.

After running, I went back to our room and changed into my bathing suit. Mom was already ready, but we were getting a little hungry, so we checked out the food situation by the pool, got cheeseburgers and then laid in the sun for the rest of the afternoon. The water is super cold, but they have several hot tubs too.. which are very hot.. Sooooo, I just stuck to the pool. Just a quick, refreshing dip is all I really require to be happy anyway. Around 6:30 we planned to go to the room, shower, and go to dinner.. but as we walked by sushi restaurant, the man said he’d set us in our pool cover ups-so-we let him!

The sushi was great, no Thaicoon on the Marietta square for sure, but great all the same. The lady tried teaching mom how to properly use chop sticks-it didn’t work.. haha she got a good laugh out of it before she gave up on it! We ate and laughed talking about silly things that the two of us tend to do and find funny. We are so very similar in so many ways, which is phenomenal most of the time, but beware if one of us is ill! Lol the other good thing is we tend to get over things quickly, at least when it’s just the two of us. For anyone else, we’ll probably hold a grudge until we die.. Lolol

Mom was able to get our room attendant, Jackielou to find her a box fan for our room.. trust me, it benefits me too! So now, we’re laid up in our twin beds, freshly showered and full. Hopefully here comes a great night of sleep! We don’t have any plans for tomorrow except to lay in the sun at the pool and eat the free food! I’m already excited about it!
Goodnight!