Today we took the train from Cinque Terre to Florence. On the train to Florence, we met a family from Pittsburgh. The man's life could have been a movie; he grew up in Italy, moved to Pittsburgh at a young age, he didn't know any English or American ways, he got beaten up... It was amazing to hear what he had to say. Now, he was taking his family (4 kids aged 8, 10, 13, and 16 and wife to meet their extended family. The last time they were there was 17 years ago, and many people have passed on. There is a chance he will buy some of the land near by, depending on how his family reacts. He said it is very rural, not what they are use to...they were traveling with large luggage, but it seemed they were doing well. We'd love to hear how that all turns out, but we won't. We just wish them well and are glad to cross paths with so many interesting lives.
When we arrived in Florence, we got a map. I loved Florence, it was very green and rich if you walked past the main part of the city. Trees lined the sidewalks. We stopped at a bench to eat and look over the city, which was an amazing view. Because we only had a few hours in Florence, we walked quickly and ended up at a few market stalls. We bought two of the many different masks they had. We were all the way across the city, so we walked very fast back to the train station... Without getting lost! from Florence, we rode to Venice. It was insane to be coming into Venice with water on both sides of you. Walking out of the train station, we saw the Grand Canal. Boats were everywhere; water taxis, gondolas, motor boats, public transportation boats... It was crazy! We had to take the bus to get to our B&B though. The woman who runs the B&B was very nice, but talked MORE than a mile a minute.

This morning, the 17th, we rode bikes to the bus stop. After locking the bikes up, we bought Nutella from a market across the street and waited for the bus. While waiting, we met a family from Vancouver, Canada who were spending a year in Europe. They have a blog also; http://www.travellinglloyds.blogspot.com/ It's very cool and informative if you are interested. They were on their tenth and a half month. Their son and daughter were taking online school so they could make this trip happen. The bus arrived, and we rode it to the bus station. We scheduled today to be our boat riding day, and we followed it through. We rode the public boats all over the city, and ended up in San Marco Square. It started raining and turned into a thunder storm. The thunder was ear drumming; every time it boomed it made you jump. We looked in shops along the alleyways to stay out of the rain. Once the sky had cleared up and turned a soft blue, we took a boat to the island of Murano. We looked in the shops that lined the streets, trying to find the perfect gifts for family made out of Murano glass. We ended up buying from a store with the address of 47; both Kylee's and my lucky numbers put together.
Back on the mainland, we walked through narrow alleyways and wide streets to get to a tavern that our B&B host recommended to eat at. They let kids come into taverns and bars in Europe, unlike most of the United States. There, we had strawberry daquaries for their happy hour which allowed us to eat as much food as we wanted. They had pasta, of course, this very yummy rice dish which had everything in it, and other hourdeurs. We took a boat back to the bus station after we finished dinner. On the bus, we ran into the family from Vancouver again. We talked to them, and they gave us some gelato tips. We took their advice, and walked the very short walk to the store. I got coconut and chocolate, so that I could have a Mounds bar gelato. It was absolutely, positively delicious. As I finished the cone, we unlocked the bikes and rode them back to our B&B. Tomorrow is our last day in Venice.