Cornetti con crema al pistacchio (pistacchio cornetto) and a cappuccino at Caffè Degl’Innocenti We were up early to visit the Opera del Duomo Museum (Museo dell’Opera del Duomo di Firenze), the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (aka Duomo di Firenze, aka The Duomo), and the Crypt of Santa Reparata (Santa Reparata Cathedral ruins that lie beneath the...
Trains and Water Buses We took the 9:20am train from Florence to Venice. Good thing we pre-booked, as the train was packed! It’s only a 2 hour and 15 minute train ride, with brief stops in Bologna, Ferrara, and Padova. Once we arrived in Venice, we took a vaporetto (water bus) from the train station to our hotel (Hotel Cà d’Oro), which is charming. We...
Early Start to the Day We were up very early, before our hotel breakfast started, so we took a walk and found a caffè that was open early. The best part about getting up early is the empty streets. So peaceful! By the time we got back, it was almost time for the hotel breakfast, so we went back to the room for a bit before enjoying second breakfast. Libreria Acqua...
Teatro La Fenice We started the day with a fantastic self-guided audio tour of Teatro La Fenice (The Phoenix), a very famous opera house in Venice. It rose to fame in the 19th century when it became the site of many famous operatic premieres at which the works of several of the four major bel canto era composers – Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi – were performed...
Departing Venice We began the day with an early (6:30am) walk through a deserted Venice. After coffee and cannoli at the only open caffè we could find, we returned to finish packing, then had a more robust breakfast at our hotel. We finished just in time for the water taxi that we booked the night before (with the help of the front desk). They picked us up on the...
Santa Margherita Ligure We began our first full day in Genoa by leaving town. We took the train from Genoa to Santa Margherita Ligure where we were meeting a guide to take us to Portofino, which is a 15-minute ferry ride from Santa Margherita Ligure. It was just us and 2 other couples in the group. Breakfast at the hotel before we left, and although there were many...
One of the reasons we decided to visit Genoa, aside from the fact my family came from Genoa, is the town of Cervo is a short distance up the coast. We’ve recently learned, after hiring genealogists in Genoa to research our family, that my great-great grandfather (who came to America via Genoa) was an orphan. It’s unclear if he at some point was taken in...
We caught an early train from Genoa to Milan. Our hotel in Milan was a 6 minute cab ride from the train station. We couldn’t check in until 2:00pm, so we dropped off our luggage and found a caffè to get some breakfast. After breakfast we bought hop-on-hop-off bus tickets and used those to explore the city a bit. (We were originally supposed to fly out of Milan...
Trip Overview We had been discussing doing a family trip with my dad, step-mom, sister, and brother-in-law. None of us had been to Croatia, and a friend of my sister had just gone and raved about it. While Teresa and I (as well as my sister and brother-in-law) don’t really do organized tour vacations, we thought having everything taken care of would be helpful...
Since Zach turned 25 this year (as did his girlfriend Allison), we said we’d take them to Europe as a combined birthday/Christmas gift. After some discussion, we decided on Christmas Markets in Austria and Northern Italy. After the first week of the trip, the kids flew home and Teresa and I continued on to Rome for six nights. Here was our itinerary: Vienna...