Well, for some it already has begun as Steve & Lori and Bubba and Tracy left for Rome yesterday. They would be staying there until Saturday then driving to Tuscany to meet up with Connie and I. We traveled to Venice today with just a short two hour layover in Amsterdam. No worries about missing anything in Amsterdam though as we'll be staying for a few days on the return trip.
Our flight leg to Amsterdam was uneventful
. We were happy that we paid the extra $20 each for the extra leg room seats, which put us relatively good comfort for the whole flight. We flew with KLM and the staff and flight was excellent and highly recommended. In Amsterdam we had to cover quite a bit of distance, but still had time to check out the duty free before boarding for Venice. The duty free in Amsterdam was far better in terms of selection of booze, cigars and general stuffs. In fact, there was no cigar selection at all in Toronto and in Amsterdam there was an actual walk-in humidor. Once we were suitably laden with cigars, rum & Grey Goose, lipstick and perfume we made our way to the boarding area.
While sitting there we received a text from Tracy with a pic of Steve and Bubba, tequila and beer in hand, from Rome. They had made it there safe and sound and were already obviously enjoying themselves. Shortly after were loaded up for Venice. This leg was on a much smaller plane, so legroom for my 6' 3" frame was limited, so it was a good thing it was only a 2 hour flight
.
Once in we arrived at the airport on the mainland outside Venice it took little time to gather our bags and make our way to the Aerobus for the trip to the island city of Venice. The bus was articulated and we sat in the rear, which was quite a ride as we were tossed left and right with a slingshot effect as the driver raced around the roundabouts along the way. A short ride across the causeway and we arrived at the bus terminal. From there we boarded a vaporetto, one of the boats that serve as buses that service the city as there are no wheeled vehicles anywhere in the city of Venice.
The vaporetto ride to our hotel was tres cool and gave us a good idea of what we would be seeing for the next couple of days. We had selected a hotel that was right on the main waterway, so we had only a 50 foot walk to the door of the hotel and it looked to be a very nice place. They put us in a ground floor room and the porter brought all our baggage to the room and turned on all the fans and lights and showed us around
. It was a very large and well appointed room, so all looked great. We were pretty wiped from the trip and time change so we took a short catnap so we would have energy to wander about later on.
By 3pm we were re-energized and went out to see the streets and waterways of Venice. What an amazing place! The best way to see Venice is to just start walking. You can't really get lost and it's far smaller than one would think. That said, you could literally find yourself walking in circles as the pathways wandering throughout the city twist and turn and before you know it you're right back where you started. We had a map for general reference which did help somewhat. Shops, little bars and restaurants are everywhere. We walked for hours and covered almost a third of the city finally stopping at a restaurant by a canal for supper. Then we made our way back to the hotel to change before going out to see the Piazza San Marco at night without all the tourista.
What's that smell? It's fantastic!
Apparently rule number one is to not get a room on the ground floor in Venice. The smell in the room was like raw sewage. We talked to the concierge to get another room but he couldn't accommodate us until the next day. He said the smell was due to the rising tide waters. So we went out for an evening stroll and an ice cream then back to the room where we slept all night with the fans on. It was fortunate that we were extremely tired from the flight and the afternoon/evening of walking about.
The adventure begins
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
Other Entries
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1The adventure begins
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2Ooh ooh that smell, that smell that surrounds you
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3Venice to Toscana
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4A day of penance
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5The Castle Tour
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7Chianti wine tour
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8Happy Birthday Connie!!!
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9To Pisa and beyond!
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10Last day in Tuscany
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11Our first day in Stuttgart
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12The Cannstatter Volksfest
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13Recovery Day
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15Last Day in Stuttgart
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16Off to the city of Red lights and Coffee Shops!!!
Oct 0115 days laterAmsterdam, Netherlandsphoto_camera34videocam 0comment 1 -
17Is Amsterdam more than just red lights?
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18Back in Venice, Steve & Lori were havin fun
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19The last day
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Comments

2025-02-15
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Joe
2015-09-19
So I'm reading the first few paragraphs and found myself wondering if Venice smells like a sewer and thought to ask. Second guessing myself as I thought I would be perceived as a jealous PR. Well...thanks for answering that. So do I mind that it smells like a sewer...nah, I'm not there! Grrrrr.
Connie, great job securing that passport.