Thursday, May 24, 2012

Our bags were ready for transport by 7:00 but we didn’t leave the hotel until 9:45. After we had checked out, most of us gathered in the lovely sitting room in the hotel.
Our hotel is a former convent and there are all sorts of quiet, private sitting areas. There was a huge vase of lilies in the room the first night – the stems were so long I couldn’t believe they were real. Even after making a slight accidental tear in a leaf, I just had to see if the pollen would rub off. It did! I kept forgetting to take a photo but remembered today. The lily is a symbol of Florence and I’d sure like to get my hands on some of these bulbs.

Our train was about ten minutes late leaving Florence. Pat and I both had a window seat today but the first half hour was almost all through tunnels. When the countryside opened up it was beautiful – very green and lush looking. Much of the land was put to use for farming. We saw people working in the fields so I think they are probably like market gardens (although we didn’t see greenhouses like we would in BC).

We were an hour late arriving in Venice but what a treat to see the water of the Grand Canal lapping at the bottom of the steps at the train station. We had lunch as soon as we arrived and, once we were checked in, we headed to another lecture. Pat and I had to duck out early as we were off to the opera at the Teatro La Fenice. Of course to get there we had to take a vaporetto. The system is very much like the Seabus in Vancouver, but the sights are much prettier.

Our first sightings of the gondoliers was exciting – we will have a chance for a gondolier ride in the next couple of days.

We didn’t have too much trouble finding the theater, and once we figured that out we did a bit of exploring in the area. The theater was spectacular and, although I didn’t understand a word of it, La Boheme may become my favorite opera (I’ve seen two operas in my life and I liked this better than the first).

The ride home on the vaporetto was jammed – much like SkyTrain after a concert. When we were within a few steps of the hotel it started to rain. We ducked into a shop and had some pizza (while Bon Jovi sang over the sound system) before heading back “home”.

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