October 3 Venice

The flight from Philadelphia wasn’t too terrible, in spite of coach seats and a 6 hour time change. Entry into Venice is via a “speedboat,” a long low craft seating about 50 people.

You walk to the dock, cruise for about a half hour through rain and gray water, then alight in Venice. As Rick Steves would say, it’s a back door entry, rolling the bag over bridges with stairs and through narrow “streets.” There are no cars, trucks or motorcycles. As we walked to the hotel we saw a garbage boat and carrier boats with bottled water and printer paper.

Our hotel is off the beaten path in Costello. After a nap we set out to find St Mark’s and the Rialto. We did find them many hours later after exhilarating but confusing walking.

We did eventually find our way back with the help of obliging waiters who would circle where we were on our map. Supper was extraordinary pasta for Mike and zuppa de pesce (bouillabaisse) for me on the plaza.