Highlights-Florence Day 1 (arrival)
There was a water taxi from the hotel to the train station and a Viking rep guided us inside and explained how to read the departure screen. That was very classy and thorough, both features I saw throughout my cruise experience. Viking operates with near military precision, but they keep most of it in the background so it isn’t overbearing. I noticed, however. On the platform for departure, an Italo train agent explained boarding entirely in English. Either the Italians already know or the majority of the riders are foreigners. Most of the people in the section where I sat were foreigners like me so the agent was on to something. I saw a man bypass the end of car luggage area with two suitcases the size of an SUV! He deadlifted them to the overhead rack (it didn’t look easy), which was wide enough that there wasn’t a large overhang. I used the train’s wifi, but getting it to work was a puzzle. The “connect” button didn’t work, but there wasn’t an error message. I had already checked the box for “I assure you that I’ve read the information that no human being understands and completely agree with it on penalty of death” (small print). The only thing on the page that accepted human input were those boxes so I unchecked and rechecked one. Shazam! Connection. It was brainless, but it worked. This is what my brother refers to as “experience-based tinkering.” I was ready for the “bad bread that you don’t want but we’ll charge you” routine tonight at supper. I refused the bread basket (twice, the staff were persistent). It worked: no charge for bread. There was a “cover” charge that wasn’t mentioned outside or on the menu. It was the same price as the tasteless bread. I’m starting to think that only sandwich places and gelato shops in Italy don’t run this scheme. I’ll be in Florence 19-25 May.