Highlights-Florence Day 1 (arrival)
Today was focused on relocating from Venice to Florence. No impact from the transit worker strike. Viking manages last day transfers, whether from the ship or at the end of a cruise extension, with high reliability. Show up at this time for a specific form of transportation (air, train); boat taxi arrived soon after; Viking rep at the station guided us inside and explained Train Travel 101. Wow! It was very classy and thorough. The same was evident throughout the cruise experience. The train from Venice to Florence didn’t require a transfer. The AirBnB apartment in Florence was on a quiet side street, less than a block from the Piazza della Signoria. I stayed in Florence 19-25 May.
This is going to hurt me more than it is you
I don’t think the guy below is buying it
How would you know?
Who goes into a shop thinking, “I’ll just waste someone’s time”?
The Universal Icon
A burger and drink with a straw
A Laudable Sentiment
But you can’t make tacos with a tank, which is what makes war so appealing.
Notable Items
On the platform for the Italo train to Florence, an agent explained the boarding process entirely in English. Either the Italians already knew the boarding process or she knew that the majority of the riders were English speakers. Most of the people in the car where I sat were foreigners like me, so the agent was on to something.
A man passed me with two wheeled trunks the size of U-Haul trailers. He bypassed the luggage area at the end of the car, rolled them to his seat, and deadlifted them to the overhead rack. It didn’t look easy.
I think that international, non-tour travel is a good way to maintain cognitive flexibility. There are so many unexpected puzzles to manage. Getting on the train’s Wi-Fi was one of them. After I checked the box for “I assure you that I’ve read the information that no human being understands and entirely agree with it on penalty of death” (small print), nothing happened. It required what my brother likes to call, “experience-based tinkering.”
At supper, I successfully rejected the 3€ bread basket (twice!). I was burned by this several times in Venice. The cost wasn’t the issue. What I disliked was the practice of charging me for something I didn’t order. It feels like taxation without representation, which is sure to get under an American’s skin. To top it off, the bread is tasteless (saltine crackers at least have salt!). While I respect Tuscan tradition, I don’t need to chew it. The management made up the lost revenue with a cover charge.