It didn't matter that we had a 6:15 am wake-up because Steve and I
were up early thanks to the birds singing outside.
We got ready, I caught up
on my travel journal and we put our bags out at 6:25 and headed up for
coffee and breakfast. This was our only 1 night stay on the tour.
We took advantage of the quiet to enjoy the view
alone for a few minutes.
 |
| One last selfie with the incredible view |
Breakfast didn't have the range of choices as
in Rome but there was enough good things to make a meal. Again, the
runny eggs!
I had coffee (lots), a very delicious granola (with chocolate!), chocolate croissant, ham and cheese.
We
walked down to the coach about 7:35 am and left promptly at 7:46 for
Spello. It was about a 25 minute drive there where we met Marco.
Spello is now our third walled city (Rome and Assisi are the first
two).
 |
| Portal Urbica |
We started walking and I couldn't have told you which streets we
took for all the money in the world. We kept going up and through
little alleys. Marco told us about the architecture where we could see
three layers.
 |
| Roman gates |
The roman floor, the medieval floor and the renaissance
floor. You could see the layers and the main difference other than color
was the windows.
 |
| Public water source |
We saw beautiful plants and flowers.
One lady opened her window and through Marco chatted with us. She was adorable!
 |
| Marco |
 |
| Our charming lady |
The
church,
Santa Maria Maggiore, is so plain outside that I was shocked to see
the baroque decorations and chandeliers inside.
 |
|
Entrance to Santa Maria Maggiore |
It was over the top.
We weren't allowed to take pictures of the frescoes but I did get the
sculptures on the wall.
 |
| church rectory gardens |
We continued walking through the town.
Then Marco gave us 20 minutes
to use the public restrooms, shop or wander around. We bought a
couple of half liters of water at a coffee bar and looked through a store
before meeting up with the group.
This tour took almost two hours
and was worth every penny, oops I mean euro to me. Steve didn't care for it but I think Marco's storytelling style annoyed him.
The
rest of the tour group was waiting with the bus outside the city walls
and we headed for Venice. The scenery in Umbria was incredible (sorry
but I'm running out of words).
 |
| Insight Vacations bus has nice onboard restroom |
Right after noon, we stopped for a lunch
break at a roadside restaurant. Steve had a giant hamburger and I had
red wine, cheese ravioli and a green salad.
Along
the way, Brad described the rest of the itinerary and remaining optionals.
We selected them all except San Gimignano because it conflicts with
tickets to the Uffizi Gallery.
We stopped again
after another two hours for a restroom/snack break and then finished
the drive to Venice. Right before getting to the parking area, we
passed the Fincantieri shipyards and saw the newest Holland America ship,
Koningsdam, in the yard.
 |
| A view of Venice from the Parking area |
Our luggage was quickly
offloaded and headed to the hotel before the group. We had four water
taxis (10 people each) which drove us right up to the hotel's dock.
 |
| Our luggage arriving at the hotel dock |
We
are staying at the
Eurostars Residenza Cannaregio. It is a former
monastery and hundreds of years old.
We once again have room 101
and I think its because of my last name. We were the first key called.
It's much larger than the first hotel and even the second which is
nice.
Unfortunately were on the bottom floor and don't have much of a
view and it's dark. On the plus side we have wood beam ceilings and
cute arched windows.
 |
| building across the way |
After a 90 minute or so rest, it was
time to meet for dinner. We walked to a nearby craftsman, Fabro, who had a
metal workshop.
 |
| Brad and Fabro |
This man was the last of his family to work the craft.
He mostly does gates and fences now, but also work for artists.
They're not allowed to use the foundry anymore due to safety
regulations.
We continued on to the restaurant
for the included dinner. We sat with Sue and Dan from Nashville tonight.
 |
| Scene on the way to the restaurant |
 |
| vegetable display across from the restaurant |
 |
| barbershop directly across from the restaurant |
 |
| street in front of restaurant |
Dinner was
a pasta course, followed by veal with potatoes and zucchini, with panna
cotta for dessert. We had a choice of one wine, beer or soda included. We liked it all.
Afterwards, we took a water taxi to St Marks Square along the grand
canal to kick off the magical Venice optional.
 |
| Rialto Bridge |
It
was wonderful seeing all the palaces and sights along the grand canal.
 |
| Lollipop art at Centurion Palace |
 |
| Santa Maria della Salute |
Once we arrived at the square, Brad oriented us to the square and told
us not to walk between the columns (harbinger of death).
It
was pretty chilly so I was ready to head back when it was over. We took
water taxis back to the hotel retracing our steps. It was so beautiful
seeing the lit up hotels, etc.
These types of moments were when you want to pinch yourself to see if you're awake. Was I really riding a water taxi in the Grand Canal?
We continued
the practice of taking our shower before bed so we're up quickly in the
morning. While in the shower I did a little laundry so they'd dry by the time we left the hotel.
The
bathroom got flooded by the time I was done but we found out the next
day, it was impossible to avoid with the bad seal on the retractable
door.
STEPS: 10,804 for 4.44 miles
Breakfast didn't have the range of choices as
in Rome but there was enough good things to make a meal. Again, the
runny eggs!
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