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Published: April 6th 2009
It's been days since my last entry...much has happened!
OK. Going back a week, to Sunday, March 29. My last entry had Nancy & me at the train station in Rome. It was raining...and it didn't stop. We had no trouble getting to our carriage...we had sprung for 1st class, which was a smart thing to do; the carriage was clean, uncrowded and relatively quiet (apart from the sweet little girl who sang for the entire trip...), We had room to stretch out during the long ride to Venice. Even on the fast EuroStar, the trip took over 4 hours I think.
Unfortunately, the clouds were low and visibility wasn't great...we weren't able to see much of the countryside, but it was still interesting and SO different from what we are used to at home.
We arrived on time in the POURING rain. Our carriage was waaaaay down the track; we were walking as fast as we could, dragging our heavy suitcases behind us, to find Diane & Laurel and trying to stay dry. Thank goodness we both brought our Irish rain coats! Finally, there in the distance, we could see an arm waving frantically -- and there was Diane, with Laurel right beside here, both grinning to beat the band, despite the ugly weather.
Big reunion hugs on the platform...then the nasty reality of getting our big suitcases through the unbelieveably crowded station, down the mess of stairs (no ramp), and figuring out which water-bus we needed. By the time we finally got on the water-bus, we were wet and our luggage was soaked...it was as if God was pouring water out of a giant pitcher, right on Venice.
The water-bus was crowded and to be honest, it wasn't a great introduction to Venice. Getting our luggage on & off the water-bus was a one-act play. I was cranky, Nancy was exhausted and it seemed like a very long trip. When we finally reached our stop, Il Giaradini Station, we had to drag our bags up and down the bridge crossing the canal before we could get to our rented apartment. At least there was only one canal!
Diane had rented the apartment online and it was terrific. Small, but very comfortable...AND ON THE GROUND FLOOR!! No stairs. Thank God.
We dried off and Nancy stretched out to have a much-needed rest, while Diane, Laurel & I headed out in the rain to explore. Laurel & Diane had already been there a day, so they were excellent guides. The apartment was out of the ultra-busy San Marco Square area, which was great. It took about 15 mins or so to walk to the big square, which was under water. The combination of high tide and days of rain had the entire piazza in about 6" of water...boardwalks had been put up to enable the public to walk without getting their feet wet. Quite a process!
We joined the queue to the main church there (name escapes me now)...even the church foyer was under water! Then by the time we had shuffled along the boardwalk with the 18,000 (or so it seemed) others wanting to do the same thing, we found out we couldn't actually get into the church.
OK...definitely NOT a great way to start our Venice Adventure. We had walked for about 2 hrs at this point and decided to just go back to the apartment and see how Nancy was doing. It was late afternoon and we picked up a couple of sandwiches & a bottle of wine to nibble on before dinner...Laurel & Diane had slept in and had to run to pick us up - they hadn't eaten all day and were starving.
Lovely apartment...but no corkscrew! (My wine club pals must be groaning....) We tried the old college trick of pushing the cork into the bottle...either corks are stronger or we are weaker - couldn't do it. Gave up and just enjoyed the sandwiches as we sat around the little kitchen table and caught up on what the others had been doing.
It was strange and wonderful to be sitting in Venice with my 3 sisters, while the rain poured non-stop. We were cozy and our coats were drying...it felt great. We set out about 8pm for dinner...the closest restaurant looked just perfect - we didn't want to walk any further in the rain, which was still pouring down.
Tomorrow will be sunny! I just know it!! Stay tuned....
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Terri
non-member comment
Drowning
I hate to say this....but your misery is my amusement!...especially the way you're writing it. I can completely picture poor you and Nancy schlepping your bags in the rain in the train station trying to find Diane and Laurel amongst the people. Then the trekking up and down stairs with your suitcases in the definitely not wheelchair ramp city....welcome to Europe! I hoping your next entry does bring the sun...and should I let you know that we are experiencing one of the "Spring has come to Vancouver" days?...:)