Athens to Florence, Oct 2023

octobre 2023

Charlotte and I travelled to Athens with Maureen and Lesley for 3 days and then boarded a Viking cruise to Venice.
After they flew home, Charlotte and I stayed in Venice for 3 nights then took a train to Florence for 4 nights. En savoir plus

Date ascendante

Voyageur Athens to Florence, Oct 2023
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- 18 oct. 2023, 10:10
- ☁️ 12 °C
- Altitude: 10 m
- Italie Veneto Venezia Rialto Campo San Luca 45.437191, 12.3345945°26’14” N 12°20’5” E
Jour 12–15
Venice, Italy (Disembarkation Day)
18 octobre 2023, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
We disembarked the Viking Jupiter this morning. Viking provided a bus (at a surcharge) from Chioggia port to Venice's old cruise port. From there, it was a 3 minute walk to the "People Mover" train that took us into Venice right near the train station. We had pre-purchased a 3-day pass for the vaporetto (public water taxis) which made it cheap and easy for us to get around. We hopped on a vaporetto to Rialto stop and walked 5 minutes to our hotel. It was a fun adventure!
After settling into our apartment, we visited St. Mark's Square, went inside St. Mark's Cathedral, had a break at the iconic Florian Cafe and made our way home for an early dinner then bedtime.En savoir plus
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Voyageur Athens to Florence, Oct 2023
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- 19 oct. 2023, 10:11
- ⛅ 13 °C
- Altitude: 10 m
- Italie Veneto Venezia Rialto Campo San Luca 45.437191, 12.3345945°26’14” N 12°20’5” E
Jour 13
Venice, Italy
19 octobre 2023, Italie ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
We took a vaporetto to the island of Murano to visit the glass shops and have lunch. Spent the day riding the vaporettos to different sites as there was a strike planned for the next day and none of the water taxis would be running.
We loved Murano! So pretty and less touristy than St. Mark's Square.
We took a tour of the Dodge's Palace on our own (rented an audio guide) and it was awesome! We crossed the bridge of sighs and saw the prisons and sensed how awful conditions must have been for the prisoners there. The ruler of the time sure lived in luxury.En savoir plus
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Voyageur Athens to Florence, Oct 2023
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- 20 oct. 2023, 10:12
- ☁️ 19 °C
- Altitude: 10 m
- Italie Veneto Venezia Rialto Campo San Luca 45.437191, 12.3345945°26’14” N 12°20’5” E
Jour 14
Venice, Italy
20 octobre 2023, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
First stop today was the Rialto Bridge for a photo opp. We then visited the Aqua Alta (High Water) Bookstore that features books in gondolas and bathtubs. It has 2 resident cats and a staircase built entirely out of books.
Later in the day, we dressed up and went to a performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons (one of my favourites) at the church where Vivaldi wrote the piece.En savoir plus
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Voyageur Athens to Florence, Oct 2023
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- 21 oct. 2023, 10:12
- Altitude: 66 m
- Italie Toscana Florence Fontana del Nettuno 43.769871, 11.25557643°46’12” N 11°15’20” E
Jour 15
Florence, Italy
21 octobre 2023, Italie
We said goodbye to Venice this morning. Took a vaporetto to the Santa Maria train station and took an Italo train to Florence. The trip to Florence was just over 2 hrs. We booked the "Prima" coach which provided larger seats and a snack. Glad we did as it we ended up having a very late lunch!
We stayed at the Eco Urban B&B in Florence for 4 nights. It was centrally located - about 5 minutes from the train station, 5 minutes to the Mercato Central where we ate several times and only 20 minutes by taxi to the airport.En savoir plus
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Voyageur Athens to Florence, Oct 2023
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- 22 oct. 2023, 10:12
- Altitude: 66 m
- Italie Toscana Florence Fontana del Nettuno 43.769871, 11.25557643°46’12” N 11°15’20” E
Jour 16
Florence, Italy
22 octobre 2023, Italie
Our first day in Florence, we tour a 4hr guided tour of the Accademia Gallery (where David's statue resides) and the Uffizi Gallery. It was a lot to take in! One could spend a week in the Uffizi Gallery alone but we saw the highlights.
That evening, we took a 2 hr "Dark Side of Florence Tour" and ended with a stroll across the Ponte Vecchio and a lovely walk home under a moonlit sky. A great day indeed!En savoir plus
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Voyageur Athens to Florence, Oct 2023
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- 23 oct. 2023, 10:13
- ☀️ 15 °C
- Altitude: 66 m
- Italie Toscana Florence Fontana del Nettuno 43.769871, 11.25557643°46’12” N 11°15’20” E
Jour 17
Florence, Italy
23 octobre 2023, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
Today, we took a wine and olive oil tour of Tuscany. We visited two different family-run vineyards that produced wine and olive oil. The food and olive oil were excellent and Charlotte reports that the wine was good too! (I don't drink). We had a hoot on the bus on the way home! Later, we went to the market for my new favourite pastry - a flaky pastry with chocolate cream filling!En savoir plus
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Voyageur Athens to Florence, Oct 2023
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- 24 oct. 2023, 10:13
- ☁️ 20 °C
- Altitude: 66 m
- Italie Toscana Florence Fontana del Nettuno 43.769871, 11.25557643°46’12” N 11°15’20” E
Jour 18
Florence, Italy
24 octobre 2023, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
On our last day in Florence, we visited the Santa Maria Basilica. It was beautiful on the outside but not as impressive on the inside. We didn't climb the dome or the bell tower because after 18 days of going non-stop, our legs and feet were done!
We also visited the Leonardo Da Vinci Interactive Museum which was super interesting but too crowded with noisy kids for our liking.
Before we left, we had to try the iconic Florentine Steak. It did not disappoint. We enjoyed the food very much in Italy.En savoir plus
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Voyageur Athens to Florence, Oct 2023
- Afficher le voyage
- Ajouter à ma liste de choses à faireSupprimer de ma liste de choses à faire
- Partager
- 25 oct. 2023, 10:13
- Altitude: 66 m
- Italie Toscana Florence Fontana del Nettuno 43.769871, 11.25557643°46’12” N 11°15’20” E
Jour 19
Florence, Italy
25 octobre 2023, Italie
We took a taxi to the airport for our 10:25 am flight home. First we flew from Florence to Frankfurt. We had 1hr 15min layover there. Very different experience from Toronto Pearson airport. We got off the plane in Frankfurt and were bused to the main terminal which took at least 15 minutes. Then there were elevators down and up and long moving sidewalks in between. Everything had signs but it was still a lot to navigate with a short layover between flights!
We were very fortunate and got upgraded to Business Class on the Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Toronto. The waiting area and onboarding process in Frankfurt was confusing as there was a pre-boarding passport check that needed to be completed. The only reason we know about it was that Maureen and Lesley shared the intel with us after their flight home a few days earlier. Anyway, we figured ourselves out and were on our way home. The Lufthansa business class was much older looking than other flights we've taken but the service and food were much better. No complaints at all and the upgrade was free!En savoir plus
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