Day 10

I woke up this morning with the goal in mind to get some last minute shopping done. I had my breakfast and did not put the chair fabric in my lap this morning thank you very much. I went to my room and unpacked, folded, and repacked everything in my suitcase in an attempt at some form of organization. I got everything in and was even able to pull the zipper all the way around that sucker. With thirty minutes left before the water taxi was scheduled to pick us up, I ran down and out of the hotel. To the waterside kiosks! I was in pursuit of a crystal necklace I had first seen for 8 euro in a store by the hotel, but had later discovered for 4 euro somewhere else. Turns out, it wasn't where I thought it was. However I did discover some really kickin' bracelets at a waterside kiosk for 6 euro. I thought I could find a better deal somewhere else, so back to the sidewalk shops I ran, counting down my minutes. I couldn't find anything better anywhere else though, so I ran once more to the water side shops and convinced the kiosk owner to sell them to me for 5 Euro instead of 6. I ended up buying my crystal necklace for the 8 Euros anyhow and am happy I did so. I made it back to the hotel just at the water taxi was pulling up.

Last pictures from our hotel window

here's a picture from our 70 Euro taxi ride






After lugging our bags and my grandmother into the boat we had our last views of Venice on the way to the train station. The train ride was about 3 hours long, and we got off in Florence under grey skies and took a cab to our modest hotel, which is not the most amazing but is near the town's hot spots and doesn't cost and arm and a leg for internet, which is good news for all of you people. After a cat nap we wandered around in search of food and found a restaurant where we had spaghetti under the eyes of a copy of Michelangelo’s David and various other famous statues in an energetic piazza. Rain dampened our walk home but the view from our window is nonetheless beautiful. A full day of activities is on the plan for tomorrow, including the search for a food market and authentic Italian pizza.