Day 5

Up at the butt crack of dawn to see the Tuscan sun rise, Roberto picks us up in his taxi and drops us at the train that takes us to Pisa, then to Florence, and finally to Venice! Venice is even more beautiful than you can possibly imagine. We stepped out of the train station and were gobsmacked. Went and caught a water bus to the hotel (Hotel San Moisè) which we somehow managed to find on our own, then went out for a stroll and to Piazza San Marco.
Everything in Venice is just gorgeous. The best we've seen of Italy. We stop for dinner and I finally get pizza! Margherita, to be exact, and a bottle of wine that's delicious, followed by tiramisu and cannoli that we bring back to the room. Nicole is so thrilled that I'm letting her drink. I'm the square aunt who doesn't let the girls get away with anything. But technically she is legally allowed to drink in Italy so I don't feel too guilty.
Our hotel is adorable and the room is absolutely charming. Anna at the front desk was beyond sweet and oh-so-helpful. While Nicole reads, I manage to watch an episode of Prison Break - in Italian, of course. However, Stacy Keach's voice is perfection and whoever was dubbing it just did not compare. Oh! And then they had Storage Wars in Italian, too! It was silly and ridiculous and I was very happy.