After being subjected to the tender loving care of THREE extra hours delay at JFK we finally boarded the plane for Venice around 10 PM... You’d think they’d be ready but no! We sat at the gate for an additional two hours before takeoff!! Needless to say we had less than a full day here today :( This is a beautiful city and region, we can’t wait to spend more time exploring tomorrow.
Interesting sidenotes:
1.The Venice area airport (is not in Venice proper as the man-made island city is WAY too small) is called Marco Polo International after the famous explorer (not the game!)
2. As noted above, though very near the shore, Venice is completely surrounded by the waters of the Adriatic Sea. It was built this way for defensive reasons, back in the day is was virtually impregnable to land attack and with commanding LONG range heavy guns, difficult to attack by sea. Ambling through the winding streets this evening I pondered the extreme difficulties attacking soldiers must’ve faced were they fortunate enough to make it past the guns, water and relative isolation.
3. There are no cars in Venice, you get around by walking or on the water. Even the police, fire and ambulance use boats. Cool.
4. “house wine” is sold by the carafe and is considered lesser than bottled wine for that reason, this is a fallacy but don’t tell the Italian restauranteurs, this is a bargain and tend to be a lovely very drinkable (almost too drinkable) red served chilled and consumed with gusto, in strength and large quantities. The place we dined tonight has the best “house wine” I’ve ever tried.
~S
I have had three oversea flights... one to Portugal, one to Hawaii, and now one to Italy. I hate flying... it is one of my least favorite things. But Stanley and I scored an exit row, Delta gave us some warm blankets and pillows, and we also bought inflatable neck pillows as a last moment purchase before boarding. These things, along with my iPod full of beautiful piano music made my flight one of the most enjoyable ever. I slept almost the entire flight and it was wonderful!!!
We arrived in Venice this afternoon at about 3:00pm local time. We breezed through customs, easily located our luggage, rented our snazzy Ford Fiesta (no, sadly they didnt have any Smart cars for us to rent), and proceeded to drive through the streets of Mestre looking for our hotel. We got lost many times, but we finally made it and the hotel is actually pretty nice. Very tiny room, decent private bath with a bidet and a shower, and a relatively comfy bed. The front desk lady was very nice and extremely helpful. She gave us directions to Venice and advised us to take the bus since it is only one Euro instead of paying parking for two and a half Euro’s an hour. Ick! So, we walked to the bus stop and rode on a 10-15 min bus ride to the drop off for Venice.
You have to park and walk in... no cars allowed in the city. So bussing was the way to go! We arrived, walked right in and our first sight was a smaller canal under a pretty stone bridge. The streets of Venice are so beautiful. Small, thin, stone corridors leading down mysterious paths in every direction. There are many options for directions to walk and if you prefer, you can rent a gondola (we didnt, but maybe tomorrow) or a boat taxi. The Grand Canal was amazing also and even more amazing than what we all see in the movies (or Vegas!) There is amazing architecture here... old buildings with intricate carvings... very Romanesque. We walked past many very yummy smelling cafes and bistros and finally came upon a delightful outdoor restaurant which caught our fancy. We sat down and enjoyed some of the best bruchetta I’ve ever eaten, and the most delicious red house wine. Yum!!! Afterward we walked to the main bascillica, San Marco. Wow - this was amazing and left me almost speechless. It was dark outside when we got there, so I’m looking forward to seeing it in the day tomorrow.
Tomorrow morning we’ll wake up early, enjoy our complimentary breakfast in the restaurant downstairs, then head into Venice for more exploring and a taste of real Italian Gelato before we head on our way to Milan. ~M
No comments:
Post a Comment