May 21-23
I am actually back home in Alameda as I write this last entry in my blog.
May 21
Our last day in Venezia and our last day in Italy. We got up and headed out for our customary Italian breakfast. We wanted to go and explore Burano - one of the 117 islands that make up Venezia - known for its lace making and colorful buildings. Before heading out, we made a quick stop at the Museo Musica. Venezia has a rich and colorful music history with amazing musicians and produced many operas. The museum had some of the instruments made in violin making shops and other very old instruments. We then headed back to our room and packed up our bags for our trip home later. The company that rented us our home in Venezia was kind enough to let us store our bags in their office for the day.
With the trusty iPhone Google maps guiding us through the streets, we headed to the water taxi, exploring and taking pictures as we went. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny with stunning blue skies. Arriving at the water taxi stop, we decided to have a piece of pizza and another cappuccino. We had pizza at this restaurant earlier and the simple cheese pizza was absolutely delicious. We had to stand in line and wait a while to buy tickets for the water taxi and then there was a bit of a wait for the taxi so we spent the time exploring some more of the streets by the water. So many of the streets are so narrow and the buildings so tall that you have no idea where you are and your sense of direction gets turned around quickly.
The water taxi ride to Burano was beautiful and provided dazzling views of the islands. It took about an hour to get there and when we arrived, the beautiful colored buildings greeted us as promised. What an interesting and amazing place. We walked through the marketplace and admired the lace creations. We almost talked ourselves into buying something but not quite. It is hard to pay the astronomical prices for the things in Italy and then think about hauling them home. We had yet another cappuccino and enjoyed some of the amazing pastries baked in Burano. The displays of baked goods never cease to amaze. It was now time to head back across the water and start the very long trek home.
We headed back and collected our luggage and had yet another cappuccino. We then boarded the water taxi and headed to the train station. We quickly realized that no matter how many people were on the water taxi, there was room for more. More and more people boarded the taxi with every stop it made until we were packed like sardines. We started to get real uneasy about tickets for the train as we realized all these people were headed to the train station to go home. The entire island had been buzzing with people the entire weekend and when you listened to the language people were speaking, the huge majority of them were Italians. It seems Venezia is a place for Italians to vacation and it was Sunday, time to head back to work.
Arriving to the train station, our fears were realized. The train we needed to board was sold out except for premium tickets. We had no choice as we had to travel on this train to get to Rome for our flight home the next day. Oh, dear. Our spontaneous ways were expensive some times. We both swallowed hard and bought the tickets. We did get a lot of wonderful food and drink in the premium seats on the train and we took full advantage.
Finally, we arrived in Rome. Amazing to us, restrooms are not nearly as prolific in Italy as they are at home. At 10:00 pm, the only restroom available in the train station was closed even though trains would be coming for many hours yet. Too bad, we continued on and navigated our way to a taxi who would take us to our hotel close to the FCO Airport. This taxi ride was horrific. We sped around corners, braking as hard as possible at regular intervals. The taxi smelled terrible and by the time we got to our hotel an hour later, I was very close to losing everything in my stomach. We got checked in and the bed was probably the worst yet. Oh, these Italian beds. I do not like them. It was a very rough night for me. David was having a horrific snoring night and I tossed and turned and finally ended up dragging the mattress of a roll away bed in the room into the bathroom and shut the door to drown out the noise and got a few hours of sleep.
May 22
We got up and headed out about 9:45 to the airport. Another horrible taxi ride......ugh...but at least not as far. We got our last wonderful cappuccino at the airport and I finally made myself open up my work email and catch up on emails while we waiting for our flight to leave - it was delayed. The flight to Paris went quickly and after a short layover, we boarded the biggest plane either of us had ever seen. It was a double decker with 50 rows of 11 seats on each level. The flight to New York was long and I was so happy to be done with the plane. More time on the tarmac, more time waiting for luggage as they had made us check our bags saying they were too big for Air France and then time getting through customs for the United States and finally by 10:00 P.M., we arrived at our hotel in New York. This was the same hotel we stayed at on our way to Italy and it is wonderful. The people are all so nice and it has a great little restaurant as well. The bed felt like heaven literally - and we both slept well.
May 23
Headed on the final leg home! Our flight home was uneventful but the Uber ride home from SFO was awful - traffic was horrific and once again I was in the back seat with a driver hitting the brakes intensely and me feeling like I was going to lose my lunch. I was never so happy as to see Alameda and get out of that car!
What a trip. We figured getting home took 24 moving hours - this is not counting all the waiting. Traveling is not for the weak of heart. But what a wonderful time we had and how fortunate we are...until the next one, God willing.
I am actually back home in Alameda as I write this last entry in my blog.
May 21
Our last day in Venezia and our last day in Italy. We got up and headed out for our customary Italian breakfast. We wanted to go and explore Burano - one of the 117 islands that make up Venezia - known for its lace making and colorful buildings. Before heading out, we made a quick stop at the Museo Musica. Venezia has a rich and colorful music history with amazing musicians and produced many operas. The museum had some of the instruments made in violin making shops and other very old instruments. We then headed back to our room and packed up our bags for our trip home later. The company that rented us our home in Venezia was kind enough to let us store our bags in their office for the day.
With the trusty iPhone Google maps guiding us through the streets, we headed to the water taxi, exploring and taking pictures as we went. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny with stunning blue skies. Arriving at the water taxi stop, we decided to have a piece of pizza and another cappuccino. We had pizza at this restaurant earlier and the simple cheese pizza was absolutely delicious. We had to stand in line and wait a while to buy tickets for the water taxi and then there was a bit of a wait for the taxi so we spent the time exploring some more of the streets by the water. So many of the streets are so narrow and the buildings so tall that you have no idea where you are and your sense of direction gets turned around quickly.
The water taxi ride to Burano was beautiful and provided dazzling views of the islands. It took about an hour to get there and when we arrived, the beautiful colored buildings greeted us as promised. What an interesting and amazing place. We walked through the marketplace and admired the lace creations. We almost talked ourselves into buying something but not quite. It is hard to pay the astronomical prices for the things in Italy and then think about hauling them home. We had yet another cappuccino and enjoyed some of the amazing pastries baked in Burano. The displays of baked goods never cease to amaze. It was now time to head back across the water and start the very long trek home.
We headed back and collected our luggage and had yet another cappuccino. We then boarded the water taxi and headed to the train station. We quickly realized that no matter how many people were on the water taxi, there was room for more. More and more people boarded the taxi with every stop it made until we were packed like sardines. We started to get real uneasy about tickets for the train as we realized all these people were headed to the train station to go home. The entire island had been buzzing with people the entire weekend and when you listened to the language people were speaking, the huge majority of them were Italians. It seems Venezia is a place for Italians to vacation and it was Sunday, time to head back to work.
Arriving to the train station, our fears were realized. The train we needed to board was sold out except for premium tickets. We had no choice as we had to travel on this train to get to Rome for our flight home the next day. Oh, dear. Our spontaneous ways were expensive some times. We both swallowed hard and bought the tickets. We did get a lot of wonderful food and drink in the premium seats on the train and we took full advantage.
Finally, we arrived in Rome. Amazing to us, restrooms are not nearly as prolific in Italy as they are at home. At 10:00 pm, the only restroom available in the train station was closed even though trains would be coming for many hours yet. Too bad, we continued on and navigated our way to a taxi who would take us to our hotel close to the FCO Airport. This taxi ride was horrific. We sped around corners, braking as hard as possible at regular intervals. The taxi smelled terrible and by the time we got to our hotel an hour later, I was very close to losing everything in my stomach. We got checked in and the bed was probably the worst yet. Oh, these Italian beds. I do not like them. It was a very rough night for me. David was having a horrific snoring night and I tossed and turned and finally ended up dragging the mattress of a roll away bed in the room into the bathroom and shut the door to drown out the noise and got a few hours of sleep.
May 22
We got up and headed out about 9:45 to the airport. Another horrible taxi ride......ugh...but at least not as far. We got our last wonderful cappuccino at the airport and I finally made myself open up my work email and catch up on emails while we waiting for our flight to leave - it was delayed. The flight to Paris went quickly and after a short layover, we boarded the biggest plane either of us had ever seen. It was a double decker with 50 rows of 11 seats on each level. The flight to New York was long and I was so happy to be done with the plane. More time on the tarmac, more time waiting for luggage as they had made us check our bags saying they were too big for Air France and then time getting through customs for the United States and finally by 10:00 P.M., we arrived at our hotel in New York. This was the same hotel we stayed at on our way to Italy and it is wonderful. The people are all so nice and it has a great little restaurant as well. The bed felt like heaven literally - and we both slept well.
May 23
Headed on the final leg home! Our flight home was uneventful but the Uber ride home from SFO was awful - traffic was horrific and once again I was in the back seat with a driver hitting the brakes intensely and me feeling like I was going to lose my lunch. I was never so happy as to see Alameda and get out of that car!
What a trip. We figured getting home took 24 moving hours - this is not counting all the waiting. Traveling is not for the weak of heart. But what a wonderful time we had and how fortunate we are...until the next one, God willing.
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