Venice Day One

Venice Day One

We were up at 6 to get ready. At 6:30, our guests began arriving for the sail in. It had actually started a little but the channels were narrowing. It was cold and windy on the front of the ship. There was a haze and overcast so it had a horror movie warmth about it.

There it is!

Suddenly Sam pointed out the very familiar scene of the church where the two waterways split in a V; this is directly across the Grand Canal from the Piazza San Marco. I couldn’t believe it! This large ship was actually going to sail through Venice! We took the canal to the east of the Grand Canal. Well you can imagine the views. Not only unobstructed but from higher up. What an unexpected treat!

And our dock was near the train station from the mainland! Eventually we get off and begin to learn our surroundings and make choices about transportation which is a real challenge in this city of waterways and peculiar alleyways.

People Mover

Eventually we find this. We could see it from our balcony but it’s different on land. It was 1.5 Euros each for one way. This is almost laughable as it’s only about ¼ of a mile. Then we get off and start “discussing” how to get to San Marco where we had agreed to meet Lisa at 10:45 am.

Walking Venice

To condense a very long story, I wanted to walk as we had been told it was possible to walk to the Piazza. It is a loooonnnnggg fwalk (Ed says we did 9 miles of walking yesterday; I think that’s an exaggeration but it is a long walk.

Find the right bridge.

The advantage is that you get to see areas otherwise unknown to you. And finding bridges to get you across from one piece of land to another can be fun/challenging. Along the way, we wound up in front of the Church of St. Rocco (close enough) and met two others from the ship who thought they knew where thing were. Big Smile here. And the older man was very chatty and you know how Ed likes to talk. I just wanted to get on our way. I asked some folks along the way; some instructions were more definitive than others; some more accurate than others.

Separated

At some point Ed was so far ahead of me, the alleyways were so narrow and there were so many people that we got separated. Interestingly this didn’t bother me much as it was daylight, lots of people around and my destination was a well known public site where most people went to.

Rialto Bridge

Eventually I did find this which is a crucial landmark in walking to the Piazza. We had stayed at a little closet of a hotel near there years ago. So on I trudge asking “Piazza San Marco? Now and then and getting pointed fingers and occasional good English monosyllabic answers. Now and then there is a sign high on the walls which has an arrow (brown on yellow not so easy for me to make out) “per San Marco” or “per Rialto” so eventually I emerged in the square.

Meeting point

In my naiveté I had assumed that the piazza was be as bared as our other ports where we had been “out of season”. What a laugh. It is near Holy Week and every high school kid in Italy is here on a field trip. You could not see the pavement for the kids; occasionally now and then an adult would appear.

Police presence

I want to mention this because I thought it was so subtle. I didn’t notice them until one came to a guy and told him to take some stuff off of a fountain. Thus ensued a stereotypical Italian exchange where the policeman stood his ground and eventually, begrudgingly, the guy obeyed. In the US his butt would have been in jail long ago.

There are Venice police and some in beret and camouflage. It makes sense when you thing about the iconic status of Venice.

Meeting up

So I texted Ed where I was: on the west side of the Cathedral San Marco near the fountain in the shade. How did I know it was the west side? Because it was morning and the sun was coming right across the piazza so the shade would be west.

Lisa and Ed are in touch and since his directions can go on indefinitely and it’s 20 cents a minute to call gave Lisa two point directions and she comes waving to us.

After wandering around and finding a bathroom and then getting a clear set of information, we board a water bus for Murano island. As we step off, there is a factor tour right ahead and we got with the small group to see a demonstration. No documentary or verbal description can describe the skill this takes; you have to see it in person. And alas, like so many other crafts these days, it is a dying art.

We looked around the amazing things for sale; none in my price range! And besides it would just join other dust catchers.

Lunch

Around the bend we found a restaurant that looked promising and had an extension out into the waterway where we could eat and feel we were experiencing the full Venetian experience. We all had very good salads and soon were on our way to the Murano Glass Museum

So across yet one more bridge and the entrance fee for old codgers is 7.5 Euros which Lisa elbowed her way past Ed to pay for. They are funny together: He so tall and older; she so tiny, dark and younger.

Glass Museum

You can’t imagine what’s in here. One of the Doges had a complete crystal model of the city made in his day. Every imaginable thing is here and no two alike. The designs are amazing and range from very old and discolored, to bright modern designs.

And oddity: in the garden or forecourt, there is a small pond with the oddest sound emitted from it. It is a steel sea monster of some kind; it looks like it’s right out of Jules Verne.  What it has to do with glass I cannot imaine.

Back to the Piazza

Lisa navigates us on the water busses and we return to the original scene of the crime. No so many kids but still plenty of bodies in the Piazza.

One thing is different this time: we saw no flooding in the Piazza even though the elevated tables they use for walkways during such times were stacked around. Lisa speculated it might be a seasonal phenomenon. Could also be some engineering strategies we had seen described on a documentary.

Lisa’s hotel

We wind our way through a maze of upscale shops following her black hair and eventually she turns into a hole in the side wall and up we go on very steep, red carpeted stairs to the “lobby”: actually you can’t call it that as there is only a one way path there. And then we begin climbing and turning even more. Only because there was only one path down did I make it back to the street.

Her room has a cute view over other living spaces and it is about the size of a “cell” in a monastery. Clean neat bright with a tiny TV mounted on the wall almost to the ceiling. She resorts her clothing and such as we are bringing her largest bag back to the ship.

The ride back

Lisa got in the front of the water bus and took great pics along the Grand Canal At the end of the line, we get off and walk searching for the People Mover (thanks to the help of a policeman and then fellow passengers). At the end we can see the top of the ship and so after a few wrong turns, we were at the terminal. Finding which entrance to use this time (not the same one from which we emerged this morning) we arrive on the ship. We are OK but we need to get Lisa signed in. As we entered the port, She had to show her passport, boarding pass and we vouched for her. The man says he’s doesn’t speak English but another man came who said nothing but they called the ship and she was allowed to pass.

We got through another level of scrutiny: ours is only the cruise card and government issued photo ID. She has to show everything and the ship gives permission for her to continue.

We have to strip down and send everything through the magnetometer. Thankfully, the personnel there lifted her huge bag at every point. And we wind our way up the gangway to the ship.

Another security check. The lady from Passenger Services arrives soon after with Lisa’s cruise card and takes her passport to make a copy.

To the room

We have created a little niche for Lisa and get her luggage perched on a chair. I don’t think they have luggage racks here; no one seems to understand when I ask. We introduce her to folks along the way.

It is getting dark by this time and so we act like protective parents. She reminds us she’s travelled all over the world alone with no problems.

I go to the dining room as it’s going to close soon and Ed takes her out to the port gate. He joins me at dinner.

Our bodies

Ed looks terrible and reminds me how awful he feels so I tell him it’s an early night (mercifully perhaps no MSNBC?). He wants to stay away until 10 (some superstition I presume) and we did totally sleep well. However this morning our feet know we overused them yesterday. I definitely won’t get him to take the same route back today when we meet Lisa in the Piazza at 10 am to see the Doges Palace to begin.