The Hochmuth Adventures 2019 - Discovering New Places, Rediscovering Old Ones: January 2019

Trip to Italy - Monday, January 21, 2019 - Day 9 - Venice to Amsterdam to Detroit to Syracuse

Took the ATVO bus which had a direct route to the airport. It was only 8 Euros and took only 20 minutes. Got our flight to Amsterdam with no problem but we had to move to make our flight to Detroit. We had 55 minutes but thankfully the gates weren’t too far apart. The passport control machines weren’t working well though but we made it with a little time to spare. We had to claim our suitcases in Detroit and go through customs but we had a four hour layover so there was no need to hurry. Our flight to Syracuse went off without a hitch and we got picked up by the van at Candlewood and were in the hotel by about 12:30 am. It was a great trip. Now we have a week until we fly out of Buffalo for 3 weeks in Sacramento. Can't wait to see Chris, Jason and CJ. Love being able to travel but it is always good to go home too. How lucky we are!

Trip to Italy - Sunday, January 20, 2019 - Day 8 - Venice

Our meeting spot today was just across the Grand Canal on the steps in front of the train station, where we came in yesterday. Our guide Vanessa outlined our morning which began with a boat ride to the island of Murano for a glassblowing demonstration and some time to shop. On the 40 minute ride over there she gave an informative talk about Venice and it’s history. The master glass blower was fantastic. Of course he was 80 years old and had started learning his art at the age of 10. Child labor laws now would prohibit that. We didn’t do any shopping and actually are probably still suffering from sticker shock. The items are gorgeous but pricey. There were some people in our group though that made purchases. From Murano we took the boat to Piazza San Marcos. There our local guide Manuela, wound us through the streets of Venice explaining things like why there were so many churches and how the water system worked. She really brought the history of Venice alive. We finally ended up back at St. Marks Square admiring the beautiful edifice of the Cathedral, the bell tower and the Doges. After the tour Ron and I stopped to split a pizza and some wine. Then we went to see the interior of the Cathedral. From there we walked around the promenade which follows the Grand Canal. Ron bought me a purse along the way and we made some other purchases later in the day. It was nice to walk through other parts of Venice beside the busy square and Rialto Bridge. We got back to the hotel and again rested as it was too early to go to dinner. At 7:30 we went out and found a cute little trattoria and had linguine alla pescatara - seafood linguine- yum yum! It has been a wonderful week in Italy tomorrow we fly out. We really saw lots of the tree cities. We averaged 8.5 miles of walking each day and that’s with having a couple of half days of travel. On to the next adventure!

Murano glass factory

Master Glassblower

Samples of Murano Glass

Someone from our group requested that he make a horse and he did

Church where Vivaldi was baptized

Site where Marco Polo used to live

Lunch

Basilica della Salute

Basilica della Salute

Fritelles

Trip to Italy - Saturday, January 19, 2019 - Day 7 - Florence to Venice

Ate, gathered our belongings and called a taxi to go to the train station. Our train left at 10:54 and we arrived in Venice at 1:00. Our hotel is just across the canal from the train station so we walked. If it was the Amazing Race, we were Team 2 getting to our hotel in Florence from the Train Station (I won't blame it on our lady driver 😉) but in Venice we were team 1. Although I feel as though I've been in the same clothes for a week - not really but not much variety- it has been much easier getting around with the small bag. I know some of the others paid to have their bags taken to the hotel that was only .2 miles from the train station! We dropped off our bags and by 1:30 we were wandering through the streets of Venice. It reminds me of Toledo and Florence where I always feel as if I'm lost but it is better than Rome and Florence because you don't feel like you are going to be run over by their drivers! We basically were just exploring since we get a 4 hour tour tomorrow which will take us to Murano and then hit the Venetian high points. We did get to the Rialto and San Marcos Square. We saw the Bell Tower and the many beautiful buildings including the Cathedral of San Marcos. You truly don't know where to look because there is so much beauty in the architecture. We did stop at 4:00 for something to eat. We didn't get in our average of 9 miles a day today but we were out from about 1:30 - 6:30 and got in around 7 miles. Want to be ready for our last big day tomorrow so we'll probably make it an early night.

The Train Station right across from our hotel

Our Hotel - the Charlton on the Grand Canal

One of the many bridges in Venice

El Rialto

San Marcos

The Doges

Venice at night

Trip to Italy - Friday, January 18, 2019 - Day 6 - Florence

Ate breakfast and then took a leisurely walk to the Piazza Della Signoria by the statue of Perseus to meet our tour guide. We were early but at 8:45 there were only 12 of us there- 14 were late. At 9:00 we started and our guide Ricardo did an excellent job of pointing out some of the many high points of Florence and their historical significance. We wandered through the courtyard of the Uffizi, saw the Ponte Vecchio, walked along the River Arno, and viewed the Piazza Santa Croce, the Bargello, the Duomo, Bell Tower and Baptistry. It is amazing for such a relatively small city, 400,000 people, the importance that Florence has in the history of Italy and to the world in terms of art. Since we had been to Florence on our trip to Tuscany we didn't tour the Uffizi, the Duomo, Baptistry, Bell Tower or the Academy of Fine Arts with the statue of David. Although if you haven't seen them they should be your first stops in Florence. Instead we crossed the river and went to the Berini Gardens where we could get panoramic views of the city of Florence. From there we passed Fort Belvedere, went to the Boboli Gardens and saw the outside of Pitti Palace, home of the Medici. We crossed back over the river and wandered the city center for awhile. Since we worked up a thirst we stopped at a Pub for a beer. As I said before, walking makes you thirsty. We have been averaging nearly about 9 miles of walking a day with the travel days pulling our average down. We then stopped at the church of San Lorenzo. We went back to the hotel to drop off some purchases and rest and then went back out to dinner later. We were going to go to a restaurant close by but when we looked at the menu the choices seemed too heavy for what we wanted. So we went back to Enjoy the restaurant we had gone to the day before. This time Ron had a Calzone and I had his black pasta. Great day in Florence tomorrow on to Venice!

Piazza della Signoria