Day 1 (and 1/2) - Venice!

It seems like this trip started days ago! It did, in fact, start about 28 hours ago, most of which we have been awake, which may explain why it seems longer than it is.

We left Minneapolis about 11 am, CST, and flew to Philadelphia. We arrived 30 minute early and, having rented a car, we were buoyed with plans to see the Liberty Bell AND to share a cheesesteak from Phil's on our 4+ hour layover. Alas, a rainy Philly day combined with rush hour traffic and bad GPS directions, and we were actually lucky to make it back to the airport with a mere 40 minutes to spare. Sadly, we never once left the car during our driving tour of the City of Brotherly Love. On the upside, this was one instance where my years of Mario Andretti school of driving training was appreciated by Andrew!

Running on the the plane at the last possible minute, we were so happy to be on board that the crowded seats and long flight seemed completely bearable. Working with physicians does have one perk - we were able to get a prescription for 6 Ambien tablets. That helped us get about 3.5 hours of sleep that would have been otherwise impossible.

One thing I will mention about the flight is the food. It has been so long since I have flown on a flight that provided an actual meal that I forgot what a gift the airlines are giving us by withholding a hot meal. We both opted for the "chicken" option, which consisted of "chicken", mashed potatoes and broccoli. All of which was the same color. Seriously. Shockingly, Andrew ate it all, even the broccoli, and proclaimed it to be "fine". I now better understand and am no longer offended that he does not particularly like my cooking.

7 m brought sunrise over the Alps - gorgeous!


We landed in Venice about 8:30 am (30 minutes ahead of schedule), and breezed through customs (before we even claimed our luggage)! We were pleased to see that all luggage arrived, relatively in one piece. Once out of the baggage area we had to search a bit for the booth to pick up the tickets for our private water taxi in to Venice. We should have known it would be the longest line! Here's a photo of Andrew about 30 minutes in, and still about 30 minutes from the front.



Once we finally had our tickets, it was a short 5-minute walk from the airport to the water taxi dock, where our driver was waiting for us with a smile. Andrew had arranged for the driver to take us to our hotel stop through the Grand Canal and we were actually in Venice!

The inside of our water taxi.

Andrew on the Grand Canal.

Lorenzo, our B&B host, greeted us at the taxi stop and we followed him for 5 minutes on foot before arriving at the door. I tried to count the number of times we turned a corner on that 5 minute walk, but I gave up somewhere around 30. As we arrived in the morning we had to wait about 90 minutes before our room would be ready so Lorenzo pulled out a map and, in rapid-fire broken English, gave us a run-down on the area. When he left us we had a map with a lot of pen marks on it that meant nothing to us. Oh well, let the adventure begin!

To secure our internal GPS, we first retraced our steps back to the water taxi stop, which also happens to be right near St. Mark's Square. We then found some lunch at a nearby restaurant, followed by gelato! We were then able to get in to our room, and we were jubilant to discover that we could actually find our way! After a shower and checking email (love the free WiFi in our room!) we grabbed all three maps we have, our bus (which are actually boats) passes, and set out to find a cell phone store Andrew had researched on line. The bus was surprisingly easy to navigate, although slow, and about 40 minutes later we were standing in front of the said store. Which was closed. Of course. Never fear, some entrepreneurial savant opened his own version with expanded hours two-doors down! Ten minutes and 15 Euro later, we had our own Italian phone number and a week of unlimited data streaming! Ahhh - like we never left home! Except for the fact that we're constantly lost.

By this time it was almost 4 pm and all the locals were starting to flood the streets for their after-work stroll and snack. We decided to join them and it was heaven to meander down the narrow labyrinth of Venetian streets surrounded by the musical lilt of Italian voices. The shops were in full swing. Andrew noted that they seemed to go in this order...food, fashion or jewellery or leather, then food again. The windows were full of pastries, breads, gelato and pannini. Produce sellers had small stands selling muscat grapes, zucchini blossoms and figs. Ah - to have a kitchen! We even happened upon the famous Rialto bridge - one of only 4 bridges to span the Grand Canal.

Andrew on the Rialto Bridge, with the famous Rialto Hotel behind him.

About 2 hours later we were nearing the neighborhood of our B&B, so we stopped in to a small grocery store to purchase dinner. Two pannini and a bottle of wine later (10 Euro total, including the wine!) we were back on the street. We made one additional stop to pick up a giant meringue cookie to share for dessert! Who wouldn't want to live like this?

As I type this and sip my wine, the window of our room is open and the sounds of many languages wafts up through. Our plan is to head back out shortly for a little evening stroll, then turn in early and try to get completely on "Venice time".

View from the window of our room.