Nov 7

Today we head to Venice.

Alarm at 6, then 6:30, up at 7, shower, pack, breakfast, finish packing, downstairs to check out. Our bill for 4 nights, one meal, some postcards, my bar tab, and a few phone calls came to 758E ($1138). This exchange rate hurts!

It took about 15 minutes for a cab to come (Wednesdays seem to be bad days to get a cab, as the Pope grants audiences, so all the cabs are at the Vatican). Cab ride to Termini was 12E. I realized after we got out that the cabbie had asked me if I wanted to be dropped at the train…the alternative being dropped at the ticket office. So we had to walk a way to get our tickets. The agent spoke excellent English, and 2 First Class Eurostar tix to Venice ran us 148E ($217). Here my lack of planning once again bit me. The train pass that I could have purchased in the States would have cost me $244 per person, and given us 3 first class train rides over 60 days. But they had to be bought in advance! I figured that I could buy them at the last minute and have them E-Ticketed, but noooooo. They had to be paper ticketed and mailed or Fed-Exed. That seemed strange to me in 2007, but that’s the way it was.

After we returned, I added up our train travel and realized that I had done well. The exchange rate was 1.45. For our three train journeys I spent 330E, which translated to $478.50, or $239.25 per person. So I actually saved a little bit of money buying point-to-point tickets. However, if we had taken one more train trip, I would have been behind...the prepaid pass lets you add trips to the initial 3 for only $30 per leg.

We checked the monitors and decided that the train was on track #4, but it was not as obvious as I would have liked once we got there...there were no signs out on the platform confirming which train was which. We were able to figure where our coach and seats were, but I was still not fully convinced that we were on the right *train*, and the conductors don’t check your tickets until you are underway (IE too late). So I hopped off and looked around for some help. I could not find anyone in a TrenItalia uniform, but I did find a cop, and confirmed that we were on the right train.

Sacked out.

For some reason not readily apparent, the ticket agent sold us seats across the aisle and caddy corner to each other. There were plenty of empty seats. However, when we reached Florence, quite a few more people got on, and we found that our seats were all that had been available. I changed seats with a young Asian man, letting him sit beside his lady, and putting me beside Lana, although across the aisle.

The ride was smooth and comfy, and I entertained myself by playing with the GPS to see where we were and how fast we were going. The fastest I saw was 135 MPH.

The weather got grayer as we went along, and by the time we made our destination, the skies were overcast.

First view of Venice, walking out of the train station.

The train made 5 stops total before we reached Venice, and the trip lasted 4.5 hours. At the station we found the tourist office, bought a detailed map and tickets (3E per person) for the valporetto (motor launch) to take us to the dock nearest our hotel (Ca’ D’ Ora). The ride was pretty and Lana shot plenty of photos.

Notice the seaweed-covered steps and seawall. Venice is sinking. Some buildings have seawater in the first floor on extreme high tides.

I had the hotel set in the GPS, but we still had a bit of a problem finding the hotel. The Frommer’s guide said that the Venitian streets had been numbered “by a madman”, and the folks at Garmin obviously hadn’t figured it out yet. Solution? Ask a little Italian man running a tobacco shop. He couldn’t speak English, but he could point really well.

They string out the platforms on the right to walk on when the streets flood.

The Hotel Giorginone was quite nice and pretty, with a room larger than what we had in Rome, a king bed, big bath (but still small shower only), and was 40E per night cheaper than the hotel in Rome. We were disappointed to find that their “internet point” consisted of a house computer that was somewhat crippled due to people downloading viruses, and no wifi.

After we checked in and got settled, we went looking for a wi-fi hotspot. The first shop we found was right around the corner, but the guy said that we had to use his computers, and said that some kind of regulations kept shops like his from renting wi-fi. I didn’t believe it, so we went to another shop and found that they had a strong signal for 2.50E for 15 minutes. Better than nothing, we bought a little time and checked in.

Later, a little searching revealed a fairly good open wi-fi signal on a street corner just down from the hotel. I used it a few times to check email, sitting out in the cold.

I learned to keep an eye open for young people hanging around on the streets with computers. That was a sure sign of an open wi-fi connection in the area. We saw one guy with a laptop and a headset, using Skype to make phone calls on a stray signal.

At some point I was standing near the reception desk, waiting for Lana. The hotel phone rang, and Andrea, the tall, handsome young Italian man who worked the desk, answered. For some reason I was paying attention, and noticed him pause, roll his eyes, and then wait, patiently, for what seemed like a loooong period of time as the caller spoke. When Andrea got the opportunity, he said “Do you speak English?” Pause. “It would be better”. I laughed out loud as he smirked. Seems like it’s smarter to try your native language first, rather than butcher the language of the locals!

Later, back in Rome, I called a hotel. The desk answered in Italian, and I responded “Bon journo”. The clerk immediately switched to English. Guess I need to work on that accent.

The rest of the day was spent wandering the city. Venice is a great place. No cars, no scooters, very few bicycles. Just pedestrians and boats. Some of the streets were so narrow that three people could not walk abreast. If a home or store or hotel is not right on a canal, all of their supplies have to be offloaded at the nearest dock and hand-trucked to where ever they need to go. The streets were full of people pushing hand-trucks loaded with all sorts of stuff, yelling “Attenzione! Attenzione! Hurry up!” to clear a path.

We were surprised to see that the streets were crowded. This was off-season? It seemed like a repeat of Rome on All Saints Day, except there was no holiday. San Marco Square was buzzing, with an orchestra playing and people everywhere. With the crowds we saw this evening, we would sure not want to be here in summer...plus, we hear that the canals stink in warmer weather.

San Marco Square, after the crowds died down. Lana made this photo without a tripod, she balanced the camera on her knee and held her breath while the shutter stayed open.

Back at the hotel, we were delighted to find that one of Rick Steves’s favorite eateries, Bepi’s, was just steps from our hotel. They didn’t open until 7, so we went back to the room for a little while, then out to dinner. Surprised! They never opened. The guidebook said closed Thursdays, and today was Wednesday, but oh, well, it’s Italy. We ended up at another Steves recommendation, Osteria da Alberto, and had a very nice (but not cheap, 78E) meal. The clientele was mostly local, and the staff were young, energetic, and were having a lot of fun, which made for a great atmosphere.

We were in bed by 10:30.