Thank you. So far so good

Hi everyone. To all those that helped me with my planning and numerous questions etc etc... After a year of planning, we are now in Italy. Currently in Venice. We will take a train to Florence on Saturday hoping to leave before 9am and buying tickets on the day when we get to Santa Lucia station. This will be a real test but thanks to Ken for all his advice and Roberto for driving routes. We returned the car to Piazzale Roma with no problem. We did not enter the garage and just parked on the roadside and I went to tell Europcar that the car is there and was directed as to where to park. All went well. No added expenses. We drove from Ortisei in the Dolomites . We love the Dolomites and we will return. We stayed at Hotel Grones and it is a 10/10. I have never stayed in a hotel so clean. The welcome the breakfast and 5 course dinner. I believe most of the hotels in Ortisei offer breakfast and a choice of half or full board. Full board is breakfast lunch and dinner but we opted for half board which is breakfast and dinner. I cannot fault anything in this hotel. My husband did a lot of hiking and we met up with Richard and Cathy whom we met through this forum. Before that we were in Lake Como and stayed at hotel Eremo Gaudio. A lovely friendly hotel but you need to ride a funicular to your rooms. Depending which room you are given. Not for those who can't walk up the hill as it is a steep hill to the hotel. Not far from Varenna town centre. We did not visit any villas in Lake Como as we are not into that sort of thing but we walked a lot and took the ferries to Bellagio Menaggio Como and cadenabbia. All good places to walk and sit and have meals. Ferries are easy 15 euros for an all day pass and you can hop on hop off anytime you like. Venice is VERY crowded at the moment with cruise ships.. To have pictures taken without too many people is to get up very early like 6am for us today and we took good pictures. Later we went to the islands Burano Murano and Torcello. And now back at our apartment hotel for a siesta. I would like for now to thank everyone for all your help. I will post more reports in a few days time..moh in Venice we are staying at Al Bailo Venezia. It has a kitchen and sleeps 4. Close to supermarket and st.marks square but in a quiet area. Bye folks