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Trip Report - E. Med. on Celebrity Equinox – summer 2012 w/ lots of pictures


wismergirl

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This is going to be a super long trip report as I’m trying to include as much detail as I can remember to help cruisers plan. I’m also trying to include as many pictures as possible to help you “visualize” the attractions and the info. Last year when I wrote about my 2011 Alaska cruisetour on Radiance of the Seas I spent weeks just on posting my report and replying to responses:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1467693

Hope this review with 1-week pre-cruise train tour around Italy, 11-night E. Med. Cruise on Celebrity Equinox and 4-day post-cruise in Rome is informative and helpful enough for those who are planning on a cruise to Italy, Greece and Turkey.

 

There were 2 teacher couples (to be precise, all 4 of us are teachers or have been teachers at some point of our lives) in our party, all in our 50’s celebrating our 25th anniversaries. Though it’s the summer of 2012 (7 months ago) that we went on the East Med. cruise, I gathered that it’s now a good time to start writing this trip report to help fellow cruisers plan and, for myself, to relive the many memorable moments since I am not going anywhere during this March Break.

 

July 16, 2012 (Day 1) – Toronto to Rome

The long-awaited trip to East Mediterranean has finally begun! We were so glad that our 9-hour Air Transat direct flight from Toronto to Rome was cheap (just $1000 in the summer) and on time. The meals were good and the seat was comfortable…way more spacious than most other airlines. As an added bonus, Air Transat offered us a $99 coupon (reg. $384) for Park’N Fly’s Valet Parking for our 22-day trip.

 

July 17, 2012 (Day 2) – Rome to Florence

We arrived Rome just after 12 noon the following day and managed to pass through customs & get our luggage without a long wait. Watch the pickpockets at the airport! My colleague and her DH are Italians and they didn’t use wallets in Italy. Their money and credit cards were all in different pockets of their clothes and bags. They said even if some get stolen, they still had some left. It’s really interesting to see that every time they’re trying to get their money, they had to pull out a whole bunch of papers like receipts, bills and credit cards before they got the right amount amidst those things. After we got our luggage, we split up with them as they were going to a resort for 3 days before joining us in Venice.

 

DH & I boarded the Metropolitan FM1 train from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport to Roma Tiburtina Train Station at around 1:15 p.m. By not going to Termini Station we saved €5.50 per person (train fare was €5.50 instead of €11.00 to Termini by the Leonardo Express) and the train journey was 48 minutes long (train to Termini was only 30-minute long). It was a little bit complicated trying to figure out which platform to go to for our train to Florence (Firenzi S. M. Novella) as there were MANY slow regional trains going to Florence. We paid only €9 per person (reg. €39) through http://www.trenitalia.com to pre-book the high-speed train and secured our seats. We thought that even if our flight was delayed, there was only €18 to lose for the 2 of us so it’s better to take a chance than to line up and buy the train tickets upon our arrival. We finally managed to find the correct platform and matched the train number with what’s on our tickets. The journey was fast and comfortable. We arrived at Florence in 1 ½ hours just before 5 p.m. ONE IMPORTANT THING WE HAD TO REMEMBER WAS THAT WE HAD TO VALIDATE OUR TICKETS AT THE TRAIN STATION EVERY SINGLE TIME BEFORE BOARDING THE TRAIN.

 

The fast and comfortable high-speed train at Firenze S. M. Novella Station

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Taking a cab from Firenze S. M. Novella Station to our hotel, St. Regis Florence (Tripadvisor’s Travellers’ Choice 2013 #1 Luxury Hotel in Italy) was only a short 5-min journey for €10.00. My husband & I were celebrating our 25th anniversary so we decided to go luxury on our hotel accommodation in Florence, Venice & Rome. Once we stepped off the cab at St. Regis, we started to be treated like VIP’s. So many different St. Regis personnel greeted us to take care of our luggage, led us to the check-in counter, showed us where we could use their complimentary phone service and where the concierge was. As a Gold Starwood Preferred Guest I was upgraded to the elegant Premium Deluxe Florentine Room (we only paid US$300 for a €480 room) with beautiful Arno River View. The décor and the amenities were totally amazing and you could tell from the pictures below why the St. Regis Florence was rated as #1 luxury hotel in Italy.

 

The warm and home-like lobby of St. Regis Florence

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Premium Deluxe Florentine Room

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Very spacious closet area

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TV on bathroom mirror

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July 17, 2012 (Day 2 con’t) – Florence

 

Since it’s already late in the afternoon, we took a cab to start our sightseeing in Florence. Our first attraction was the Accademia Gallery to view The Statue of David. We read from other reviews that the wait time could be over 2 hours so we just went to try our luck since it’s only 30 minutes before closing. Luckily we got there AND THERE WAS NO LINE, we got in and saw the original Statue of David. Lots of security guards were around, making sure that NO visitors would be taking pictures of ‘David’. There were replicas of David in some other places in Florence, like the one in the public square of Palazzo della Signoria in front of the Palazzo Vecchio.

 

Here is another one that was in the courtyard of the Accademia that we saw through the window

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After viewing David, we walked to the nearby Florence Cathedral (Duomo) soaked in beautiful sunset

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Opposite the famous Cathedral is the Baptistery

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Firenze Baptistery’s bronze doors are world-famous

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Our first dinner in Italy was at the Palazzo della Signoria with average food but very romantic atmosphere

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Then we walked to Ponte Vecchio (the famous Old Bridge) to enjoy its beautiful night view

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Perhaps we were too excited so we didn’t feel tired even after a 9-hour red-eye flight. We just went back to the hotel after 11 p.m. and had a good night’s rest. Looking forward to our BIG DAY on July 18…our 25th anniversary!!

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July 18, 2012 (Day 3) – Pisa

 

Another beautiful sunny day…excellent weather for taking a trip to Pisa…first let’s enjoy the beautiful view of the Arno River from our room

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Off we hopped on a taxi outside the Westin Hotel opposite the St. Regis and in no time we were on the regional train from Florence to Pisa. The journey was only 50 min. long and we used our credit card to pay €7.80 per person using the ticket machine at the station. The English instructions were clear and easy to follow. The trains ran every 10-15 minutes and you didn’t have to specify which train you took. We just walked to the platform and took the first train to Pisa. Again, we remembered to validate our tickets at the platform before boarding the train to avoid a heavy fine.

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We were going to take a bus when we arrived at Pisa Centrale Station

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While we were waiting, we talked to a young couple who were also waiting for a bus to view the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Then we decided that we’d just share a taxi and each couple paid €5 with tips…a quicker and easier way to go to the Piazza del Duomo rather than standing and waiting under the scorching sun.

 

In 5 minutes we arrived at the entrance of Piazza del Duomo and I was quickly attracted to the numerous stalls along the pavement. I bought a lace fan with drawings of Pisa attractions for €2 and amazingly it lasted for the whole trip before it broke in Rome after the cruise. I thought it would fall apart in 2 days!

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The Leaning Tower, the Cathedral & the Baptistery (aka the Piazza del Duomo - “Field of Miracles”)

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The trip to Pisa would never be complete without the Leaning Tower

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We decided not to pay extra and waited in the long line so we didn’t go up the tower. After spending over an hour there to take photos and walk around, we went to the bus stop across the street and bumped into the same couple that we shared a taxi with. We would have shared a taxi again but a bus just pulled in so we boarded the bus and paid €1.10 each for a single bus ride to the station.

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Wismegirl

 

Finally! Your trip report is what I have been waiting for. I'm doing my planning/research to book a 2014 11 day itinerary from Rome on the reflection. Hopefully the same as your 2012 cruise. So I am so excited to see your review especially the pictures.

 

My wife and I did a 12 day Italy vacation in 2011 by train. Toured mostly the norther part by train (Zurich, Cumo, Italian Rivera, Rome and Venice) The train is the way to go. Returning this summer for 14 days down around Rome and Naples.

 

Can't wait to see the rest of your trip report!

 

Thank you!

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July 18, 2012 (Day 3 con’t) – Florence – our 25th anniversary

 

We got back to Florence just after 5 p.m. and decided to take a taxi for €10 to go to Piazzale Michelango to view the replica of the Statue of David.

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The view of Florence from Piazzale Michelango was also amazing. The first bridge was the Ponte Vecchio and our hotel was by the 3rd one.

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View of Duomo and the city from Piazzale Michelango

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The day being our 25th anniversary, we got back to St. Regis and changed for dinner at the hotel’s award-winning Etichetta Restaurant.

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We were served by the restaurant manager and another waiter and we were also given our personalized menu to take home. They served us with complimentary “Happy Anniversary” dessert.

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There was live piano music at the restaurant but the pianist was way below par. As a piano-major university graduate, I asked the manager if I could play some romantic piano music for my husband while he was enjoying his entrée as “an anniversary gift”. The manager agreed and I played for 10 minutes during the pianist’s short break and when the pianist returned he played like a different person…this time with professional standard!! I was so glad that we finally had some pleasant and romantic live piano music while we enjoyed our dessert. DH (who is also a pianist) said I should have asked to play the piano earlier so we could have REAL music when we started our dinner. The food there was above average, though not the best, but the service was definitely incredible! We really enjoyed our anniversary dinner there.

 

In order to digest the food more, DH suggested more night shots so he went back to the room to change into his comfy everyday shirt and shorts while I still wore my fancy cocktail dress with heels. We strolled along the Arno River bank and took more beautiful shots of the Ponte Vecchio. Here is one of them:

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I LOVED MY SILVER ANNIVERSARY!

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Wismegirl

 

Finally! Your trip report is what I have been waiting for. I'm doing my planning/research to book a 2014 11 day itinerary from Rome on the reflection. Hopefully the same as your 2012 cruise. So I am so excited to see your review especially the pictures.

 

 

Can't wait to see the rest of your trip report!

 

Thank you!

 

I need to go to church now. I'll post more after the service.

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July 19, 2012 (Day 4) – Florence

 

When we first arrived at the St. Regis 2 days ago, we asked the concierge to get us tickets for Uffizi (€11 per person). It’s so worth it to pay an extra €4 per ticket to skip the line. We managed to get tickets for the first entry to the gallery at 8:30 a.m. Though we have visited many world-famous galleries and museums, like the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Louvre in Paris & the National Gallery in London, Uffizi was still one that we quite enjoyed and found it worth visiting. One thing not so good being the first guests of the day was that the air-conditioning was not fully on and it was a very sweaty visit. Besides, DH broke his bi-focal glasses and was just wearing his ordinary glasses as a replacement so he had trouble reading about the paintings. He had to take his glasses off and SMELL the description in order to read what’s written. Good job I brought 2 extra pairs of glasses for him, otherwise he’d have to go blind for the rest for his trip!!

 

It took us just over 10 minutes to walk from our hotel to Uffizi and on our way we went past Ponte Vecchio.

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A different view of Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi

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Having spent almost 2 hours at the Uffizi, we still had a couple of hours before our 12 noon train to Venice, so we walked to Palazzo della Signoria to see the Statue of David again.

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Palazzo Vecchio and the statues were worth visiting.

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As we didn’t have breakfast yet, we paid €2 each to get a yummy and warm ham & cheese Panini.

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It’s sad to leave the beautiful city of Florence! Next time I need to plan better so I could visit Lucca & Siena while we are in Florence. Farewell, St. Regis Florence, our favourite hotel in Italy!

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July 19, 2012 (Day 4 con’t) – Florence to Venice

 

We took the 12-noon Frecciargento high-speed train from Florence to Venice and again paid €9 for each ticket. The journey was only 2 hours long and there was plenty of storage space for luggage on the train.

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We arrived at Venezia S. Lucia at 2 p.m. and started to explore Venice, the MOST INACCESSIBLE CITY IN ITALY!! Despite how much I LOVE Venice as I still find it the most beautiful, romantic and unique of all the Italian cities, my #1 tip would be: VISIT VENICE WHEN YOU HAVE NO BIG SUITCASES. Although I have read TONS of reviews from various sources before I booked the Hotel Papadopoli (an MGallery Collection Accor Hotel), no one ever told me the number of stair steps I had to walk on while making the way from the train station to the hotel! I loved DH even more after that walk as he had to carry both big suitcases as I could only handle the carry-ons!

 

Bear with me while I explain why I chose Hotel Papadopoli instead of the 5-star hotels near St. Mark’s Square:

1) It’s the only decent 4-star hotel near the train station within walking distance (only a 5-minute walk from the station). For all other hotels along the Grand Canal we need to take a water taxi which is very expensive and the journey could be over 30 minutes long. To save time and money, Hotel Papadopoli seemed to be the only choice.

2) I had to pick up my colleague who was on a walking cast and her husband at the train station on the 2nd day that we’re in Venice so it made sense to live close to the station.

3) Our party of 4 had to take the very early 6:55 a.m. train from Venice to Milan for a day trip. Living closeby made it easier for us to control the time without waking up super early.

4) It’s at the end of the Grand Canal, which made it easier to get a good seat for picture-taking on the vaporetto.

5) I had a super excellent deal to pay only €150 per night for a Junior Suite when Accor Hotels offered the promotion with a 50% discount. It’s too good a deal to miss!

 

Here is our huge and beautiful junior suite on the 5th floor

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It also offered a nice view of the tiny Tolentini Canal from the super long balcony which spanned the whole length of the room.

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Upon arrival at the Venice train station, we each bought a San Marco Venice card for €24.90 with a 72-hour Travelcard for €35 plus a round-trip Grand Canal Cruise (€10) with commentary. We should have bought everything online rather than waiting for over half an hour at the tiny & crowded Tourist Info Centre right outside the train station. The staff there had very limited English and their explanation to the different types of Venice cards, museum passes and transportation was more confusing than helpful. I suggest that cruisers should go online and do the research. Basically, we could get the Venice Card from the Hellovenezia red booth right in front of the station. That’s where we boarded the Grand Canal Cruise which ran every 30 minutes.

 

This is the Grand Canal Cruise boat with less than 20 people when we took the 4:30 p.m. trip.

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We could move freely on the boat so we were able to get the best view of the canal.

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Here is the famous Rialto Bridge

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July 19, 2012 (Day 4 con’t) – Venice

 

I need to back track a bit and talk about how we got to the hotel from the station. If I knew before hand that I could use the newly-purchased Travelcard and took the vaporetto (water bus) for 1 stop from Ferrovia (Train Station) to P.le Roma (Bus Station), my DH would love Venice even more! This link shows a very clear vaporetto route map: http://www.venice.nu/vapmap/vapomapLatest.jpg

 

As a civil and structural engineer, DH really liked the look of the very modern huge bridge that spanned across the Grand Canal.

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However, instead of having a ramp, the bridge had nothing but over 100 steps without even one wider platform or landing for pedestrians to stop at the top. As we were each carrying 1 big suitcase and 1 carry-on, we needed to take everything in one go, since there would be no one watching the luggage if we wanted to take a break in the middle. We saw seniors and people with strollers try to use the bridge with great difficulty. Sometimes we saw porters with buggies waiting at the end of the bridge trying to help people with their luggage. DH and I both agreed that the Italians were very smart on job creation!! After that huge bridge, there was a tiny bridge over a small canal with only about 10 steps in order to get to the hotel, so that’s nothing!

 

After checking into the spacious Junior Suite, we needed a shower after the huge workout before setting off to St. Mark’s Square. We were very happy with the location of the hotel, but it’s indeed VERY OLD. The elevator was so small that only 2 people with luggage could fit there, and the doorway was so narrow that if you’re a plus size you need to use the stairs:confused:.

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After unloading our bags, we could literally RUN up and down the huge bridge with no problems to get to the train station in 5 minutes. There we took the Grand Canal Cruise and went all the way to the other end of the Grand Canal where St. Mark’s Square was. The journey took almost 40 minutes. We got off at S. Marco just after 5 p.m. and bought tickets (€6 each) to go up the Campanile (Bell Tower).

 

View of Doge’s Palace and Venice Campanile

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Since it’s late afternoon so there was no line to go up the Bell Tower. The view was stunning and totally worth the €6. We could see St. Mark’s Square.

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After dinner at St. Mark’s Square, we took Vaporetto #2 (fewer stops than Vaporetto #1 so the journey was only 25 minutes long) to get off at Piazzale Roma then walked back to the hotel. Since I was a Silver Accor member, we were offered free drinks at the bar. I ordered a mint cocktail and that was good. DH had some local beer. Having sat at the bar and relaxed for over half an hour, DH was very eager to gather his tripod, filters, lenses and camera to set off for some lovely night shots in Venice. During our hour-long walk, we spent half the time helping tourists locate their hotels. One could definitely get lost in Venice!

 

This picture is my favourite night view of a canal with gondolas

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Great review, love the photos. We did Florence post cruise last year and it was wonderful.

 

Glad my review brought back wonderful memories for you! We'd like to go back to Florence some other time to visit Lucca, Siena & other parts of Tuscany.

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Especially enjoyed the pics of Florence. Haven't been there yet and have now decided it warrants a visit in the near future!

 

IMO, Florence is more cultural and less commercialized than Milan or less touristy than Venice.

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July 20, 2012 (Day 5) – Venice

 

Today we visited many of the San Marco museums since we bought the San Marco Venice Card. As the line was not very long to go to the balcony of St. Mark’s Basilica (only a few euros’ extra cost), we decided to do it before visiting the Doge’s Palace.

 

St. Mark’s Basilica

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The view was really beautiful from the balcony and there was a lot to see inside too, especially the golden mosaic.

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The bronze horses (replicas) on the balcony…the real ones were inside the Basilica.

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The visit to Doge’s Palace was very interesting too, especially when we walked past the Bridge of Sighs.

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Grand Canal view from Doge’s Palace

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Gondolas outside Doge’s Palace

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After lunch, we went to more St. Mark’s museums but there was nothing special. We took the vaporetto back to the train station and picked up my colleague & her husband. Now there were 4 of us taking care of 2 people’s luggage so the job was way easier. We bought the 48-hr. Travelcard for my friends and hopped on the vaporetto to Piazzale Roma. They checked into a Deluxe room at Hotel Papodopoli also on the 5th floor and we could help each other take pictures from our balconies. Though their room was smaller than our suite, the room size was pretty big by European standard. The best amenity that I found in the suite was a charging station that could charge our phones, iPad, cameras, laptop and netbook all at the same time. In other hotels we had to use a European adapter for each device and we only brought 2 of those adapters so it took us a long time to charge everything.

 

We took the vaporetto to St. Mark’s Square again and had dinner there. My Italian colleague knew how to get yummy but cheap Italian food, so we only paid €30 each for a meal with starter, pasta, entrée, dessert, coffee and wine at Trattoria Alla Scala near St. Mark’s.

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July 21, 2012 (Day 6) – Milan

 

In order to minimize travelling with so many bags and suitcases, and to keep the wonderful hotel deal in Venice, we opted for a day trip to Milan instead of an overnight stay. As Christians, we went there mainly to view The Last Supper. It was also great to visit the upscale designers’ stores where DH bought a well-fitted silk suit. There were €9 tickets only for the return trip so we had to pay €19 for this outbound journey. Our train left Venice at 6:58 a.m. and arrived Milan in 2½ hours. Milano Centrale Station was very clean and modern.

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We had breakfast at Burger King there before buying a €4.50 24-hour Pass for unlimited use of public transportation in Milan. The Metro was easy to use and we first went to Milan Duomo.

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Inside the Milan Duomo

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Then we went to the upscale shopping mall Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

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As a music teacher, I wouldn’t miss the famous La Scala Opera House, so we walked there and bought some souvenirs for my daughters. We could not get into the main opera house but just had a peek of the foyer.

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July 21, 2012 (Day 6 con’t) – Milan

 

 

From La Scala, we took a bus to Fashion Quadrilatero where the most prestigious boutiques and showrooms were. It’s very easy to know which bus to take as the bus route was posted at every bus stop. The four streets of Fashion Quadrilatero were Via Montenapoleone, Via Sant’Andrea, Via Della Spiga and Via Manzoni. Most of those streets were pedestrianized, making that area perfect for an easy stroll. My colleague bought some leather gloves there and DH bought a designer silk suit for only a quarter of the original price. The stores were very professional and efficient as they prepared all forms and receipts in a package for us to claim tax refund at the airport. The receipts must be over €180 before tax in a single store. We got 18% cash back as tax refund while claiming it at the airport. Another highlight (other than the silk suit) for DH was the beautiful Ferrari driving by. DH felt proud to be able to get a quick shot.

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I wanted to buy some leather goods like shoes, wallets and bags but didn’t have any luck. That gave me a chance to go back soon:p. We took the bus to continue our sightseeing at the Sforza Castle. From Sforza Castle we went to the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie for the viewing of The Last Supper that we reserved the tickets through Tickitaly 4 months in advance. We were not allowed to take any picture while inside the refectory where the painting was. I never knew that the painting was actually on the wall of the refectory until I saw it and also learned that later on people put a doorway where Jesus’ feet were. That’s why we couldn’t see His feet on the painting now.

 

The Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie

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It’s almost dinner time so we took a bus to go back to Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo) and had dinner at La Locanda del Gatto Rosso inside the shopping mall Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. As soon as we entered the mall, there was a huge torrential downpour but it only lasted for about half an hour.

Big thick black clouds taking over the beautiful blue sky above the Duomo

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Amazing reflection of the Duomo after the rain

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After dinner, we took the Metro to get back to Milano Centrale train station and boarded the 8:05 p.m. €9 train to Venice. We got back to the hotel just before 11 p.m. and enjoyed our last night in Venice at the beautiful Hotel Papadopoli.

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Thank you so much for posting this, as I'm planning a trip this summer.

 

Your photos are beautiful

 

DH took most of the beautiful photos. If you see blurry ones, blame me :( !! (like the one for the restaurant in Florence)

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July 22, 2012 (Day 7) – Venice to Rome

 

We woke up to another beautiful day. Since we had a morning to spare before taking the 1 p.m. train to Rome, we decided to take the vaporetto from Piazzale Roma to Rialto Bridge and had breakfast by the Grand Canal. In the picture below you could see the Grand Canal, the breakfast place under the red canopies beside the Rialto Bridge, a gondola and a vaporetto (water bus) packed with people.

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View of Rialto Bridge from where we had breakfast

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It’s time to get back to the hotel, check out and take another €9 train to Rome. The journey from Venezia S. Lucia to Roma Termini was 3 hours and 45 minutes long. As I bought many €9 train tickets, it’s actually cheaper than buying a rail pass. A 5-day train pass in Italy (used any 5 days within 2 months) would cost me €200 but my total train fare was only €70 for 5 days.

 

We used Starwood points to stay at St. Regis Rome which was only 5 minutes away from Termini Station. We were lucky enough to get a taxi van that could take all of our luggage plus the 4 of us. Though St. Regis Rome was also a luxury hotel, we found that the one in Florence was way more superior, especially in terms of service. Here we were also upgraded to a nice Deluxe room but we didn’t feel like VIP’s or welcomed. The front desk staff was too cool and we didn’t feel the friendliness. Nevertheless, to celebrate our anniversary, the hotel gave us a complimentary bottle of champagne and some fresh fruit.

 

This was our room with beautiful décor

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The bathroom with upscale amenities but no TV on the mirror

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Most restaurants in Rome that accepted reservations were closed on Sunday night, so we just took the subway to Spanish Steps and had a walk around before the restaurants opened at 7 p.m.

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After dinner at Trattoria Gigi located on a little side street off the Spanish Steps, we took a night tour on the bus and went to the Colosseum.

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When we went back to the hotel, my friends gathered at our room and enjoyed the complimentary champagne and the fruit. We thoroughly enjoyed our week-long pre-cruise trip, and we were really looking forward to cruising the Equinox the following day.

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Your Hubby is quiet the photographer. Great pics. Love the hotel. Great digs. Can't wait to get back to Rome this summer!

 

I'll have more about Rome when it comes to the 4-day post-cruise. Right now I'm writing about Ephesus. I'm afraid you need to wait patiently!

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