July 7 – Venice

We were up very early to catch our 6:00am pick-up for the airport.  Check-in and the flight were uneventful.  The flight took us over the Alps where we were able to see snowcapped mountains from our window seat.

  

After wandering around the airport a bit we finally found the ticket counter where we could pick up our pre-arranged water taxi tickets.  Then we went to stand in a small line to catch our taxi.  These taxis look a lot like a regular motor boat and there were a lot of them zipping across the estuary.

We caught our water taxi transfer to Venice but that was a bit problematic.  The person entering the taxi stop on our ticket entered the wrong one so we landed far from where we wanted to be.  However, with some questions and persistence we finally found our way to the correct stop and connected with Raffaela, our AirBnb hostess. She escorted us to our new home for the next four days.  It was down a narrow alley just off the main street running through Venice.

It is very hot and humid in Venice.

We had lunch at a local pizzeria that she had pointed out to us…very good pizza. Then we decided it was too hot so we old folks took a nap while Chloe read.

After our refreshing naps we headed out and found a local market where we picked up foods for breakfast for the next few days.  After storing everything in the mini-fridge we headed out to explore a bit of the streets, bridges and canals of Venice.  It is really a lovely city and, because it is July, it was packed. 

We eventually ended up at the iconic Rialto Bridge in the evening,

We found a square not far away that was right on the Grand Canal.  We picked out a restaurant with tables out in the square and had another great meal.  The square was right along the canal so we got to watch the gondolier’s coming and going with their tourists on board. 

After dinner we picked a gondolier and we took a gondola ride.  It was pretty darned hot during the day but by the time we hit the boat ride, about 8:00 pm, the weather had cooled and the breezes on the water were very refreshing.  The back canals of Venice are almost as lovely as the main canals.  Lots of bridges, laundry hanging from windows to dry, flower boxes…and lots of other gondolas and boats plying the waters.