2015 ITALY Venice 39 - On to Venezia

Early get up with yogurt, peaches, and bananas provided by the inn for breakfast. We could see the snow-capped peaks of the Alps, a result of the rains from last night and the high altitude. It was clear now, but nippy.

At the train station we chatted with a fellow from Singapore. He took our photo, one of the few of us together that we acquired along the way.

The station was pretty original with all the old-fashioned signals, alerts, bells, and whistles still in use from years ago. There was an old black and white marble fireplace "mantle" that I wanted to stuff in my luggage to take home.

This first leg to Milan is a local route. The train was quite crowded and we did not have reserved seats. We had to stand for a few stops until we nabbed some spots from folks getting off. One very cute dog sat perfectly at his owners' feet. They were from Argentina and we chatted with them a bit about our adventures.

We had a 2-hour layover in Milano, so grabbed cappuccinos and croissants before re-boarding. We transferred to a high speed train with reserved seats. It was quite plush after the first leg. Along the way we saw lush green fields, new crops, sweeping hills (but no mountains), at least four Ikeas and a McDonalds!, a few vineyards (but not near as many as farther west). We weren't hungry, but we scarfed up the prosecco offered along the way.

As we got closer to Venice, we saw the Venato Lagoon and the Adriatic Sea.  Ships moored along the industrial waterways and oil refineries. There were numerous tracks dedicated to freight and passenger trains. The pace slowed while crossing the bridge. We shared that thoroughfare with auto traffic. This gateway seemed incongruent compared to what we were expecting of Venice.

The end of the bridge was the end of the line at the Santa Lucia station on the main island in Venice. We hopped off the train, walked a bit, and onto the vaporetto (water bus). Things instantly changed to the romantic scene we had pictured in our minds.

The "bus" was packed, mostly with tourists (many Asian) and their luggage. A young gentleman helped us with ours. I guess that is one advantage of being older. Often the young whippersnappers offer to help. WE used to be the helpers!!

The vaporetto we used is like the yellow bottom board in the middle of this pix by the other big boat. All manner of water vehicle shared the canal for every use--deliveries (DHL package delivery boat below), garbage pick up, personal transportation, tourist gondolas, and more.

At the fifth stop we disembarked and followed the rest of the directions several "blocks" on foot to the hotel. I say "blocks" because there are no straight line streets here. This took us past the famous fish market, onto several bridges over canals, and down a side street.

The hotel door look unassuming. We were unsure if we were in the right place, but the house numbers matched our notes. We rang the bell and a fellow came down to met us.

We entered into a long, open and a little intimidating vestibule and looked upward at the daunting stone steps. These stairs had been around for almost a century and were well worn, dipping in the center from untold numbers of footsteps. We learned later that the building, or at least part of it, was constructed in 1823. The meet-and-greeter grabbed our bags and said he would see us at the top. Ooooookay. Up we went 4 flights (72 steps). He seemed to bound up. We labored our way.

Francesca checked us in at the period desk. No computer. Looking in books for our handwritten name entry. Up more steps (maybe 20) to our mansard garret room. We had reached today's destination--the Mondo Nuovo (new world) suite at La Villeggiatura Maison de Charme (holiday house of charm).

We did not do much more that late afternoon than walk around the nearby streets to get the lay of the land. We scoped out some shopping possibilities and just enjoyed the wonders of Venice's architecture, canals, and people.

For our leisurely dinner we enjoyed an onion-anchovy appetizer, arancini (deep fried rice balls stuffed with fresh mozzarella), caprese salad, green salad (I had been really craving this), marinara pasta, eggplant  parmigiana, wine, bread, and olive oil for dipping.

After dinner, we strolled and got lost, but soon hit water and found our way back. Can't get too lost on an island. Love was definitely in the air. We saw a beautiful bride and groom romancing by the water.

We returned to our room to study our maps of Venice and figure our strategy for this visit. Again, we did not have a particular agenda or formal tour set up, except to see Piazza san Marco and Rialto bridge.