Day 68 - Mestre (Venice) - Florence
Friday September 7th, 2018.
We had to get to the bus station for our bus to Florence at noon. Plan A was that Gregory would drive everyone to the local bus stop, return the car, and walk to the bus stop to join us. In 10 minutes, we would be at the bus station, wait for the bus to Florence, and be on our way.
When we woke up, it was raining. The rain only got worse, and Plan A went out the (wet) window. So we turned to Plan B, calling a taxi. Uber would have been our first choice, but it's outlawed in Italy thanks to taxi unions and probably some dirty money. Lili thought this would be like Mexico, where you call to reserve a taxi and it shows up at the time you requested. If only.
We found the number for the Mestre taxi service. It said you could call or text to reserve. Gregory texted 3 times. No reply. So, we called. An operator answered after a few minutes and Lili requested a taxi for 11am. But that was over an hour from the time she was calling, so we couldn't reserve. The operator told us to call back when we needed a taxi.
A few minutes before 11, we called again, knowing the taxi would be late anyway, so we might as well call early. After a few minutes on hold, we were told that there was no taxi available, call back later. At this point, Lili started to panic, remembering all the irritations we experienced 20 years ago. We could sit around and wait to see if a taxi became available, or we could revert to Plan A and wait in the rain. We called five minutes later, just to check, but still no taxis available. Oh, how we miss Uber!
We looked out the window. The rain had lessened a bit and we would only have to wait for a few minutes in the rain. So we went back to Plan A. We threw everything in the car, piled in, and Gregory drove us to the bus stop. He drove home, dropped off the keys and came to meet us. The bus came, less than 10 minutes late, and off we went. Lili hates to transfer with luggage, but we took a mom's advice and hopped on the tram, which went directly to the station.
The long distance buses don't stop at the central bus station, they stop around the corner but the bus showed up right when we went to look for it. We got on and a few hours later, we were in Florence -- but not quite. The bus station in Florence is way out in the sticks, about an hour by car. Luckily, there is a new tram in Florence that goes to the center of the town. This is not marked, nor is the train station marked, but we found it anyway -- Lili by asking people around her, Gregory by checking the map on his phone.
At the train station, Andrea was waiting for us. We were very happy to see him. He hadn't changed at all. As much as I wanted to take a walk in downtown Florence, we went home because poor Sunshine was not feeling well at all. We arrived at their home 10 minutes outside of Florence, got settled, and waited for Cinzia for dinner. Wow, they were super nice and prepared a delicious meal for us. It felt so nice to be so welcomed that once again, I promised myself to be the best hostess when we go back home and have guests! We finished dinner late, went to bed at midnight.
We had to get to the bus station for our bus to Florence at noon. Plan A was that Gregory would drive everyone to the local bus stop, return the car, and walk to the bus stop to join us. In 10 minutes, we would be at the bus station, wait for the bus to Florence, and be on our way.
When we woke up, it was raining. The rain only got worse, and Plan A went out the (wet) window. So we turned to Plan B, calling a taxi. Uber would have been our first choice, but it's outlawed in Italy thanks to taxi unions and probably some dirty money. Lili thought this would be like Mexico, where you call to reserve a taxi and it shows up at the time you requested. If only.
We found the number for the Mestre taxi service. It said you could call or text to reserve. Gregory texted 3 times. No reply. So, we called. An operator answered after a few minutes and Lili requested a taxi for 11am. But that was over an hour from the time she was calling, so we couldn't reserve. The operator told us to call back when we needed a taxi.
A few minutes before 11, we called again, knowing the taxi would be late anyway, so we might as well call early. After a few minutes on hold, we were told that there was no taxi available, call back later. At this point, Lili started to panic, remembering all the irritations we experienced 20 years ago. We could sit around and wait to see if a taxi became available, or we could revert to Plan A and wait in the rain. We called five minutes later, just to check, but still no taxis available. Oh, how we miss Uber!
We looked out the window. The rain had lessened a bit and we would only have to wait for a few minutes in the rain. So we went back to Plan A. We threw everything in the car, piled in, and Gregory drove us to the bus stop. He drove home, dropped off the keys and came to meet us. The bus came, less than 10 minutes late, and off we went. Lili hates to transfer with luggage, but we took a mom's advice and hopped on the tram, which went directly to the station.
The long distance buses don't stop at the central bus station, they stop around the corner but the bus showed up right when we went to look for it. We got on and a few hours later, we were in Florence -- but not quite. The bus station in Florence is way out in the sticks, about an hour by car. Luckily, there is a new tram in Florence that goes to the center of the town. This is not marked, nor is the train station marked, but we found it anyway -- Lili by asking people around her, Gregory by checking the map on his phone.
At the train station, Andrea was waiting for us. We were very happy to see him. He hadn't changed at all. As much as I wanted to take a walk in downtown Florence, we went home because poor Sunshine was not feeling well at all. We arrived at their home 10 minutes outside of Florence, got settled, and waited for Cinzia for dinner. Wow, they were super nice and prepared a delicious meal for us. It felt so nice to be so welcomed that once again, I promised myself to be the best hostess when we go back home and have guests! We finished dinner late, went to bed at midnight.
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