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Published: September 21st 2009
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After a whirlwind taxi ride to Camucia station, and a ticket machine in Italian only, we managed to secure ourselves two tickets to Florence (it was either there or Rome and that was in the wrong direction…). Mind you, I lost 12 Euros in the process as the machine did not give change!!! But we managed to haul our luggage down the stairs and back up the other side and then up steps onto the train. Talk about buggered before you even get anywhere!
Florence was absolutely packed and once again we encountered the language barrier. Finally I found a small desk hidden away from the main area, where a woman spoke some English and was able to sell me two tickets to Venezia. I am not sure what kind of deal it was but it cost 74 euros compared with the 12 or so it cost to get there!!! Anyway, there was no sense arguing as I didn’t have a clue how to get them any other way. The train turned out to be a Trenitalia, which was a faster train, so we got there in just over 3 hours - which was a good thing as I started
to feel as sick as dog within the first 5 minutes of pulling out from the station and very nearly didn’t make it! Any longer and I would have definitely been on the toilet floor!! I had been fine on the other trains so maybe it was because it went so fast???? Or that we were in the end cabin being swung all over the place!!!!
Arriving in Venice at the San Lucia station was effortless, and we caught a water taxi from there straight to our hotel room - which I have to say was the best thing we could have done and so worth the money as we would never have found the hotel! The taxi drivers carried our bags all the way to the hotel door for us. The sun was shining, the water sparkling, and we were in Venice!!! What more can I say!?
It has been so beautiful here that we extended our stay by one night (we would have stayed longer except that Venice is SO expensive!!! Two toasted sandwiches, a beer and a water on arrival cost us 28 euro!!!) Oh, and the other reason why we extended our stay was
because we hadn’t booked anything after Venice, and not having had internet had not had a chance to do so. The only flights leaving on the day we were supposed to leave were up by 200 euro - each!!!!! So as expensive as Venice is, it was worth it to stay the extra night.
We have done all the touristy things here, as you do, including visiting San Marco’s square, the Rialto Bridge, the Bridge of Sighs, the Dodges Palace, the Grand Canal, and of course having a ride at dusk on the canals in a Gondola. We have also just spent time people watching in the square (and there have been a LOT of people to watch!), walking through the streets and across bridges and generally just getting lost, although never far from some landmark to point us back in the right direction. There are so many shops selling so many things that I would like to buy, if I had the money and the room in my suitcase! We have eaten so much pizza and gelato that I think we will be right to go without it for a year when we get back! (although it has
been delicious!).
Oh, and I shouldn’t forget to say, that one member of our party (who shall STILL remain nameless), got up to his tricks again! I was sitting quietly in the room reading when the phone rang. The man from reception sounded very concerned and kept asking if everything was alright, madame, to which I kept replying yes, its fine, I’m fine…before he said “Its just that your alarm has gone off in your shower madame”! Sincere apologies were given, then questions asked of the said person in the shower, who had pulled the cord ‘wondering what this does’, despite there being a large sticker on the shower wall next to it saying “Alarm, pull cord in an emergency”!! The only question that could come to mind was
“Are you 5???”
Venice is such a beautiful city, especially as we have seen her on hot sunny days. It is interesting to watch the canals change as the tides do, and to see the water line rise above the doors and steps that were once above the water. You can actually see that she is sinking, and nowhere more so than in San Marco square, where makeshift platforms
are set up for people to walk across during high tide, when the water bubbles up and covers half of the square.
Tomorrow we will say our farewells as we head to Paris, but I know that I will be back here again some day.
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European Escapades
Diane
I'm sure it will Linda...a few more years and the kids will be off your hands...or you can 'farm them out' to us if you want to go sooner!! lol