Something that I did not know- ALL OF EUROPE goes to Venice at the end of July and beginning of August apparently, so it was rather crowded much of the time. No, not much of the time. The entire time. But we were so excited to be there! Here are some of our adventures:
The whole notion that Americans are rude? Well, I can't deny it, but nowhere near as rude as many of the Europeans we encountered. While we were on the cruise, we were seated at a table for breakfast with some Italians who were rather put out that the Romanian waiter could only speak Spanish for a romance language and treated him horribly. Thing is, I don't speak Italian, and my Spanish is very limited, yet I could clearly understand the unkind things they were saying about him. Another time, we were going to cross a bridge, but noticed a happy German family taking a picture, so we paused to let them take the picture. While they were preparing for the dad to snap the shot, a colorful Spanish women literally stood in front of them while her companion took a picture of her. I'm not saying every single person in Europe is ill-behaved; I'm saying that I think they are the pots calling the kettle black.
Enough of that. Our travel agent clearly had no idea what she was doing, because she booked our pre-cruise hotel "right next to the port." Yeah...not so much. Because the Husband is, shall we say, VERY FRUGAL, we got a car taxi from the airport and then walked over (with our luggage for two weeks) every single stinkin' bridge ever built in Venice. OK, maybe not every one, but after a really long travel time, it sure seemed like it. I will give her this- it was next to a place where boats came and went. But it was the ferry station. Had we stayed at a hotel near the land taxi drop-off, we would also have been right next to the port where the ships dock, and more, importantly, I would not have developed a blister walking to the other side of the city.
This is very complainy so far, but it really was exciting. We mastered the public transportation pretty quickly, and really enjoyed exploring this beautiful city.
When you grow up in America, you get a skewed idea of what is "old" or "ancient." The Husband grew up in Gold Country, and it's really neat to go and see the culture of the nineteenth century, and know people who live in homes built then. When one goes to the East Coast, it's easy to be in awe of colonial buildings and settlements. Yet, when you're standing in a church that was built a millennium and a half ago, it is very humbling.
Being the geeks we are, we really enjoyed checking out the various architectural and artistic time capsules. While in St. Mark's, we admired the Byzantine-style mosaics, and noted the way the art changed as the church expanded. There were people in the church worshiping, and I wondered if anyone would ever tour my little stained-glassless box-shaped church and admire the bulletin board in the hallway. Learning about the early church was very interesting as well. We were both raised Baptist, and so had not been exposed first hand to many Catholic traditions and practices. It was really fascinating and more than a little creepy to this Protestant the reverence for saintly corpses and body parts. I will say this, though. Catholics know how to decorate. I suspect it stems from an interpretation of proper monetary stewardship, but many Protestant churches just don't have the amazing art that every single church we visited in Venice displayed, and I think this might be too bad.
Something that both disappointed and amused me? The myth that a couple can take a romantic gondola ride. Unless your idea of a romance is trusting your gondolier to never slam into any of the other romantic couples who have packed the canal. I admit to being impressed that there weren't a string of Three's Company-esque mishaps! Not one person fell into the canal while we were there (though we did see a very unhappy and soggy cat once)!
If you make it to Venice, visit the glass-blowing factory. It was really fascinating to see the skill performed to make beautiful objects. Of course, you should visit St. Mark's, and be sure Google the story behind it. The Doge's palace was stunning, and the prison made me pleased to never have been an outlaw in medieval Europe. Don't go to Burger King no matter how much you think you want a familiar American meal, because it's not. Oh, take a water taxi to and from the airport. It's expensive, but SO worth it. Once there, get a three-day pass for the water bus, which is their public transportation. It was very easy to use, plus every time you went anywhere, it was almost like getting a tour built in. Don't believe the maps. And most important? Eat the gellato.
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