Italy - Arrival in Venice!

The landing at Marco Polo Airport did Not come fast enough!  Sometime during the night I'd felt the plane really speed up & the ride smoothed out.  I had tried to sleep, but being in the 38th row back, was just miserable.  I even folded the blanket they gave us & put it & the pillow on my seat to relieve the pressure on my spine.

About an hour before landing - Courtney called the stewardess over.  She took one look at me & suddenly several crew members were at our row.  A nurse came from first class.  If you paint a mental picture of what Mrs. Santa Clause would look like - this lady fit it perfectly!  A jolly smile, gold rimed glasses, curly blond hair & to top it all off - an apron!  She ordered oxygen & once I had air, I felt better almost immediately.  We were asked to stay on the plane until the other passengers had disembarked.  A wheelchair had been ordered for me!  I of course told them;  "NO, I'm fine to walk out!"  But I got a wink from one of the stewardesses who said;  "Take the wheelchair!"  OK, I wasn't going to make a scene.

We walked to the front of the plane, the Captain wished me well & a young, handsome Italian man  had me in the chair instantly.  He asked for my passport & away we went!  Courtney had to jog to keep up!  We passed literally hundreds of people lined up to clear customs & went to the front of the line!  He asked Courtney what form of transportation we were using to get to Venice & took us right to the boat dock.

On the waterway to Venice ~

Well... a Water Taxi sounds like fun, until you're on one.  The day was unseasonably hot & the passenger cabin was very low, with a glass top that made it into an oven.  Every time another boat would approach, our Captain would slow almost to a stop until it had passed.  I was at the very front & saw that there was a latched window with a rope on the handle.  I unlatched the four latches & opened it.  There was a huge sigh of relief from the other passengers as the fresh air flooded in.

Venice in the distance~

 What we thought would be a short trip, seemed to take forever & my recovery was becoming very short-lived...  Courtney & I decided that we would get off at the very first stop!  We didn't care where that was, any solid ground would do!

The other passengers weren't getting off, but we did!  Courtney had her I-phone & a map app that she used to plot our course through the city.  Pulling our already too heavy suitcases, we started our trek.

Iron work~

Amazingly, Hotel Foscari Place wasn't far at all!  We were checked in quickly & made reservations for dinner - that a included a cruise on the Grand Canal.  The hotel had it's own private deck right on the canal.  I declined the cruise.

Courtney~

 We went to our room;  spacious, clean & very old world with huge hand cut beams that ran the width of the high ceiling. Courtney went straight to the shower.  The bathroom was the size of most motel rooms in the states & all marble!  I couldn't get to a bed & lay flat fast enough!  We were warned not to sleep upon arrival, or suffer from jet lag.  I did have a brief nap before Courtney woke me.  A shower felt so good & soon - we both felt recovered & ready to walk the town.

Walking town~

An incredibly stunning city.  So many amazing buildings, so many new sights & sounds.  Almost overwhelming in it's grandeur.  Water, water everywhere!  I started taking photos of all the small canals, but soon realized that there were too many!

Lover's locks~

Courtney had read about the custom of people buying locks, some very elaborate & inscribed with their initials to lock onto the iron railing of the pedestrian bridges.  Eventually the city has to come along & cut them all off. Too many weigh down the bridge.

Murano Glass~

Shops lined both sides of all the narrow streets.  Dazzling displays fought for our attention.  Glass, one of my favorites, tempted us in to view all the treasures.

The Candy Store!

The candy store was one of the largest I'd ever seen.  Every kind of candy imaginable by the barrel full!  Since candy was something consumable, we of course had to buy a taste or two!  Italians do love their chocolate & their sweets!

Rollers of dripping chocolate~

 Each & every store had something amazing to draw you in.  Leather, Italian leather - some of the finest in the world.  The usual tourist type items, t-shirts, hats, fans, you name it, it was yours!  The street vendors were a very mixed group.  Many nationalities & wares from almost everywhere But Venice.

Street Vendors~

The narrow cobblestone streets were at times - so full of people that you could hardly make your way.  At one point, we decided that a cruise ship must have unloaded it's passengers.  There was a wave of people coming at us.  We'd duck into some little shop that was completely empty & within minutes it would be full of people who'd followed us in.  We did turn down one more secluded street, drawn by the color of the church on the corner.

Each building seemed to have a personality of it's own~

The town exuded the feel of it's long & colorful history.  We hadn't gone much farther before we were stopped by a very polite man who told us we were now in a private area.  How sad that residents have to pay personnel to keep the tourists away.  We apologized & turned back.

Who's the tourist?

After every few blocks, the streets would open into some type of square with a statue.  We gave up taking photos of all of those too :-)  Dinner is no earlier than 7:30 in all of Italy!  We were starved & a table by the water, attended by a suited waiter, was the perfect end to the day.

Our first dinner in Italy~

Dinner - also consists of several courses - each & every one better than the last!  The dinner wines were so much better than anything I'd tried before.  Never a connoisseur of wine, I think I could become one here.  The final course was some type of citrus & cream dessert.

The Grand Canal at dusk~

The gondolas were so beautiful & quiet on the water.  So much nicer than the noisy, motorized craft full of tourists, that monopolize the waterway during the day. Courtney was soon escorted to the dock to depart on her evening boat ride on the Canal.  I'd had more than enough of being on water, so retired to our room.

From our window~

I walked out on the small deck overlooking the street.  A beautiful city, day or night & it felt so strange yet welcoming.  Our hotel had a sister hotel just a short distance away with a room available for Sunday night.  We'd already decided to delay our departure to the villa & stay another day.