First Day in Venice

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Ahh... Venice is beautiful!

We were met by a beautiful Italian travel professional holding up our name the minute we cleared security in Venice. What a great reception. Then it was off to a private water taxi just a few hundred yards away and we were in the canal (or whatever it is). A nice British couple on their 40th anniversary took the picture you see from their seat on the boat. Kelly and I are both struck by the beauty of the city and the unusual nature of a town that seems to be floating in the sea and is only accessible by boat.

We got off our taxi and walked a few blocks to our hotel. The Kette is beautiful and typical of nice European hotels. I will try to take a picture for a future post. Our room is very nice with a 20 foot ceiling and a Venitian chandalier. It is by no means large, but the bathroom met Kelly's clean test which is no small challenge. We are very close to San Marco which is the tourist haven and surrounded by great shops - exactly where we like to be.


Upon settling in our hotel, we both took an afternoon siesta to try and get ourselves in good enough shape to go out and look around after a couple of hours of very hard sleep, we made our way out to San Marco and some shops surrounding the area. Kelly had pretty much recuperated from her airsickness and was seeking pasta with a vengeance. We found a quaint little sidewalk café just off the piazza and were quite happy with the food.

Kelly found a couple of beautiful shawl type things in one of the stores and I got to negotiate a two for one deal when I found a spot on one of them. It made us both happy and will probably thrill Jamie who will no doubt take a few turns wearing them.

While the little bit of shopping perked her up, jet lag set in and we were back to the room after a couple of hours. I wandered around a bit and found the Rialto bridge which another beautiful location in this city of great scenery. I also scouted out where I could possibly get in a run the next morning while finding all the good spots listed in Susy Gershman’s Born to Shop Italy for tomorrow’s adventure.

While Kelly could barely stay awake, she did issue an order for some chocolate chip gelato. I search several ice cream shops before locating the flavor and figured she would be fast asleep and I would get to finish it off. To my chagrin, she rose from her sleep to slurp up the whole cup and I had to resort to some previously acquired Toblerone to satisfy my desert cravings. For those of you wondering, Dr. Atkins did not join me on this trip. I will be feasting on carbs to celebrate my 25th anniversary and will just try to run extra to make up for it.

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