We're back from Venice, and it was... incredibly cold. Actually that's not totally fair. On Friday, when we arrived, it was nice, and Saturday was beautiful and sunny. Sunday, however, was so cold that Dennis said "Maybe we're just going to have to go to a museum, because it's too cold to walk around outside..." When Dennis suggests a museum, you KNOW it's cold.
I made a mistake on the way home from dinner on Sunday night, and mis-read the Vaporetto (water taxi) sign. I thought any boat that pulled into the stop would go in the direction we wanted (this is not an uncommon event, as the stations usually serve boats in one or the other direction). Unfortunately, the next boat that came was not labeled, and as soon as we got on it it did a 180, leading us away from our hotel. We got off two stops later, and waited 15 minutes in the freezing, windy cold for the next bus. It's one of the only times in my life where I was actually glad to be huddled against someone for warmth, not just because it felt good.
But the worst was the next morning. In order to economize, I booked a 7:20am flight from Venice to Paris on Monday. It saved us quite a bit of money, and it wouldn't have been terrible in normal circumstances. But when I woke up on Monday morning (at 4:00am), it was snowing. I showered, woke Dennis up, got dressed, and we were waiting for the Vaporetto at 5:00am. While we waited, the milk-boat made a delivery at our stop. We were only waiting for 8 or 10 minutes at that stop, but it could have been forever in the howling wind and snow. The water was choppy, it was dark, well, it was 5am.
That boat took us a few stops to the place where the OTHER boat comes, to take us to the airport. We waited about 20 minutes for that one, and then once in the boat, we endured a 50 minute ride to the airport. The inside of the boat, while not heated, was a LOT better than outside in the wind. We got to the airport, grateful for central heating, checked our luggage, quickly downed espressos and chocolate croissants, and then boarded the plane. Oh yeah... There was ice on the plane. Dennis had another great thought while we were waiting for them to de-ice the plane. He said "It's not like they have to do this every day. It's not like we're in Chicago. They must have one de-icer, and they must be saying 'Uh, how do we use this thing again?'"
Here's a great picture (that we didn't take) of the snow on the day we left:
We stayed in a very nice hotel for not much money at all. It was out of the main drag, but right next to a Vaporetto stop, so we could either walk or boat to most of our destinations. We ate excellent pizza twice at the same restaurant, had awesome gelato twice at Nico (a famous gelato destination) and had a few other fantastic meals. I'll save the food for the next post. For now, I'll show you some pictures.
Most everyone has seen a picture of Saint Mark's Square. D took this great shot of the Basilica and the Campanile:
We paid 3 euros each to go up into the museum on the second floor of the Basilica, but what's coolest about it is that they let you go out on the roof! Here are pictures we took from there:
The Doge's palace, up close:
One of the domes of the Basilica:
Dennis took other great pictures while we were there, including one in the plane on the way out, of the Alps. Mmm. I miss skiing...
And a few classic views of Venice:
I'm glad I got to share it with D. The trip was relaxing and romantic when it wasn't freezing. I hope he liked it too. Next trip will (hopefully) be to someplace warmer!
--Aimee
I made a mistake on the way home from dinner on Sunday night, and mis-read the Vaporetto (water taxi) sign. I thought any boat that pulled into the stop would go in the direction we wanted (this is not an uncommon event, as the stations usually serve boats in one or the other direction). Unfortunately, the next boat that came was not labeled, and as soon as we got on it it did a 180, leading us away from our hotel. We got off two stops later, and waited 15 minutes in the freezing, windy cold for the next bus. It's one of the only times in my life where I was actually glad to be huddled against someone for warmth, not just because it felt good.
But the worst was the next morning. In order to economize, I booked a 7:20am flight from Venice to Paris on Monday. It saved us quite a bit of money, and it wouldn't have been terrible in normal circumstances. But when I woke up on Monday morning (at 4:00am), it was snowing. I showered, woke Dennis up, got dressed, and we were waiting for the Vaporetto at 5:00am. While we waited, the milk-boat made a delivery at our stop. We were only waiting for 8 or 10 minutes at that stop, but it could have been forever in the howling wind and snow. The water was choppy, it was dark, well, it was 5am.
That boat took us a few stops to the place where the OTHER boat comes, to take us to the airport. We waited about 20 minutes for that one, and then once in the boat, we endured a 50 minute ride to the airport. The inside of the boat, while not heated, was a LOT better than outside in the wind. We got to the airport, grateful for central heating, checked our luggage, quickly downed espressos and chocolate croissants, and then boarded the plane. Oh yeah... There was ice on the plane. Dennis had another great thought while we were waiting for them to de-ice the plane. He said "It's not like they have to do this every day. It's not like we're in Chicago. They must have one de-icer, and they must be saying 'Uh, how do we use this thing again?'"
Here's a great picture (that we didn't take) of the snow on the day we left:
We stayed in a very nice hotel for not much money at all. It was out of the main drag, but right next to a Vaporetto stop, so we could either walk or boat to most of our destinations. We ate excellent pizza twice at the same restaurant, had awesome gelato twice at Nico (a famous gelato destination) and had a few other fantastic meals. I'll save the food for the next post. For now, I'll show you some pictures.
Most everyone has seen a picture of Saint Mark's Square. D took this great shot of the Basilica and the Campanile:
We paid 3 euros each to go up into the museum on the second floor of the Basilica, but what's coolest about it is that they let you go out on the roof! Here are pictures we took from there:
The Doge's palace, up close:
One of the domes of the Basilica:
Dennis took other great pictures while we were there, including one in the plane on the way out, of the Alps. Mmm. I miss skiing...
And a few classic views of Venice:
I'm glad I got to share it with D. The trip was relaxing and romantic when it wasn't freezing. I hope he liked it too. Next trip will (hopefully) be to someplace warmer!
--Aimee
See our photos on Flickr!
About me
- I'm off2paris
- From Paris, France
- off2paris at wonky point org
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