Tuesday and Wednesday, 2-3 November 2010: Coming Home


Tuesday: Leaving Venice

As I described in an earlier entry, leaving Venice is an experience in itself—although it would have been even better if it hadn’t been raining. We have pre-arranged to be picked up by private taxi and hostess and the small boat is docked at the hotel’s pier at 7:30 am. The boatman take care of the luggage, and then literally lifts each of us up over the side of the boat (the top of the dock is partially under water from the rain) and deposits us inside the warm, cozy cabin. We get a final tour of the canals as we head out into the open waters of the lagoon for the 20-minute speedboat ride to the airport. It’s just like a jet flight before the jet flight.

The actual flight is long and boring—even with four (count ‘em) mindless movies to watch, but we arrive at JFK almost on time and get wheelchair help for me and a skycap for the luggage and we are whisked off to the car waiting to take us back into Manhattan for another night at Helen’s on 15th Street.

Wednesday: The Flights Home to Tucson

It’s a lovely, cool morning in New York City, but it’s almost anti-climactic to think about another day of travelling home. Although we are worn out by travel and time changes, we are happy that our flights leave and arrive on time. Anita and Chris pick us up at the Tucson Airport and we are soon home with Jake and Luke, both of whom have grown a little pudgy while we have been gone. But we ALL need to lose a little weight after vacation. We are very grateful to Loretta, who, as always, has taken good care of the house and cats. It’s really nice to be able to travel and to not worry, because we have someone so caring and trustworthy to look after things at home.

Posting Pictures on Kodak and the Next Cruise

I’m in the process of editing the many, many photos from the trip, and I will start posting them on the Kodak website as soon as I can.

In the meantime, I can dream about the next cruise . . . 17 May 2011 on Holland America’s ms Rotterdam—28 days from Ft Lauderdale. After an eight-day Atlantic crossing, the cruise will visit Cork, Dublin, Liverpool, Ilfracombe (GB), Cherbourg, Dover/London, Zeebrugge (Belgium), Rotterdam, Copenhagen, Rostock/Berlin, Tallinn (Estonia), St Petersburg (2 days), Helsinki, Stockholm, and end in Rotterdam. Can’t wait!

Monday, 1 November 2010: 
Another (Rainy) Day in Venice


Morning in Cannaregio

What is it about Italian coffee? Every morning at home I dutifully warm the milk and pour the liquids with both hands to make the proper blend—but it just doesn’t come out right. We enjoy several cups of this ambrosial concoction along with the buffet breakfast at the hotel. Then it’s off to explore Cannaregio, the sestiere that extends eastward from the central train station. Although the Grand Canal offers a convenient geographic landmark for tourists, it is very easy (and mostly pleasant) to get lost in the streets and alleyways that meander and wind through the city. Lucky for us tourists, the city authorities have placed helpful signs along all the routes, pointing to either San Marco, Ferrovia (train station), Rialto, or Accademia. So no matter how lost you are you can almost always find your way to one of these landmarks.

Today is a national holiday (All Saints Day), so the city is still filled with tourists jostling in the rain. Fall brings quite a show of colors to the foliage and provides an unexpected palette of surprises around every corner (not to mention slippery leaves on wet pavement). We begin to follow another Cadogan walking tour through this part of the city, formerly the Jewish Ghetto, but decide to put away the guidebook and just enjoy the show of architecture that greets us at every turn—not to mention a wonderful small, very contemporary mercado, displaying every imaginable sample of local foodstuff, from fresh-baked breads and pastries to huge preserved Parma hams.

We even find an internet shop where we can check in for tomorrow’s flight and print our boarding passes. Next stop is a leisurely lunch with levitating gnocchi (see photo), prosciutto over arugula, and deliciously tender veal. Then we head back to the hotel to finish up our packing.

Evening at the Rialto Bridge and a walk through Santa Croce

After packing and a nap we take another slow vaporetto ride down the Grand Canal to the Rialto Bridge. Evening lights are starting to come on as we walk back through Sestiere de Santa Croce to the hotel, stopping for our last Italian pizza before setting our alarms and turning in for the night.

Sunday, 31 October 2010: Venice


Leaving ms Queen Victoria

We are really happy that we had a beautiful day for our gondola ride and visit to Murano yesterday, because the rain has started and will continue off-and-on until we leave Venice on Tuesday morning. But this morning our task is to leave the ship and head to our hotel, the Carlton on the Grand Canal, not very far from the pier—as the crow flies. But in Venice nobody pays attention to the birds, and getting to a hotel five minutes away is just as complicated as getting to a hotel on the farthest island in the lagoon. Money, of course, solves all problems, so we enjoy a water taxi ride from the ship to the private landing outside the hotel, conveniently located across the canal from the train station and two minutes walk from the new, elegant Calatrava Bridge, the first to be built across the Grand Canal in 150 years

The hotel’s newly-painted façade and marble lobby provide a warm welcome, and our room opens onto a lovely patio in the back of the hotel. The walls are padded (?) and covered with garish striped fabric, but the bed is comfortable and the bathroom is roomy and has a heated towel rack. In spite of the rain we don’t waste much time in the room, but head out for our first walk, torn from the pages of the Cadogan guide to Venice that I first used in 1993. It’s too bad this series of guides are out of print; they provide excellent maps and walking directions along with informative descriptions—all leavened by a slightly wacky sense of humor and an attitude that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

A Late Morning Walk with Tintoretto for Reward

The route for the first walk will take us from our hotel through the Sestiere of San Polo (one of the six districts of the city), stopping for a late morning latte and chocolate croissant at a small café. Although Sunday morning services are still going on in some of the churches, others have just reopened to visitors, and we happily fall upon the back entrance to the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, housing a display of 54 monumental paintings by Tintoretto. Lunch is a warm bowl of minestrone and a club sandwich—not the most exciting gastronomic treat, but perfect for a cool, wet day.

An Afternoon on the Grand Canal

After lunch and a brief rest back at the hotel we take a slow vaporetto ride down the length of the Grand Canal all the way to San Marco. The open back deck is a perfect place for taking pictures of the monuments and grand homes that stumble one after another along the waterfront, as well as for getting a sense of the life-on-water that is the daily routine of the Venetians. Passing under the Rialto Bridge I get a glimpse of the Hotel Marconi, where I stayed in 1993. (I won’t report on the more primitive places I stayed in on earlier, student-day trips to Venice.) We reach San Marco just as dusk is falling and the soft lights of the city are emerging from the mist. We have salad and pizza for dinner at a quiet restaurant not far from the Piazza and then return to the hotel by vaporetto, ready for a good night’s sleep.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Saturday, 30 October 2010:  Venice


Arrival in Venice

Both Henry James and Thomas Mann told their readers that the finest way to see Venice—for them the only way—is to approach by sea. And although a vaporetto ride from the Lido to San Marco will serve in a pinch, there is nothing quite like the first glimpse of domes and campaniles rising in the mist as the Queen Victoria approaches the entrance to the Venetian Lagoon.

The ship nears Venice about 11 am and almost all passengers gather on the upper decks to watch as we sail past the outlying islands and the almost-completed system of flood-gates that will remain under water and out of sight until, when needed, they are pumped full of air and rise to the surface to keep the sea from its usual flooding of the city. Water traffic increases as we sail closer to the Lido and the small islands that dot the lagoon. A flotilla of small craft accompanies the Queen Victoria as she passes into the convergence of the Grande and Guidecca Canals.

 









Although the main marine terminal is on the other side of Venice close to the train station and the Piazzale Roma (where all cars are parked), our ship docks quietly alongside Riva dei Sette Martiri, just a short walk along the waterfront to Piazza San Marco. The juxtaposition of the behemoth ship and the two- and three-story buildings that line the Riva is remarkable—and causes quite a few stares from the local populace and tourists. We will remain docked here until 9 pm tonight, when the ship will sail up the Guidecca Canal to the Stazione Marittima for tomorrow’s debarkation (and provide a series of glorious nighttime views from the balcony of our stateroom).

Afternoon:  Venice by Water

The agenda for the afternoon is a boat ride that first takes us to the small island of San Giorgio Maggiore, that sits in the water across from the welcoming dome of Santa Maria della Salute and the façade of the Palace of the Doges. The highlight of the island is the Basilica San Giorgio Maggiore, designed by Palladio, that contains a series of paintings by Tintoretto, including “Collecting the Manna” and “The Last Supper” above the high altar.

Our second visit is to the island of Murano, famous for its glass-blowing workshops, where artisans still craft all the works by hand. The museum and showroom we visit contain room after room of the most fantastical and imaginative glassworks—from practical lamps and chandeliers to fanciful sculpture and decorative pieces. There are immense chandeliers hanging everywhere, in colors from monochromatic black and white to exploding arrays of multi-color combinations. But I am most impressed by some of the more contemporary pieces. Unfortunately, no picture-taking is allowed. It’s a good thing these pieces are all too fragile and expensive to transport!

The motorboat takes us back to San Marco where we embark on a—yes, it’s the cliché of tourist travel; expensive, but worth every penny—gondola ride through a series of small canals. We have time to wander about Piazza San Marco and some of the surrounding streets before returning to our ship, exhausted and exhilarated. Sadly, the romantic mood doesn’t last for long because we have to pack and put our bags outside the stateroom door before 11 pm tonight.

Luckily for us, tonight is the end of Daylight Savings Time across Europe and we will get an extra hour of sleep before we have to leave the ship in the morning.

Tuesday, 2 November 2010:  Farewell Venice, Hello New York


I left my readers in Dubrovnik last Friday, so you can expect a couple of days’ worth of blog reports covering the last days of the cruise, Venice, and the trip home. We enjoyed a magnificent clear day when we arrived in Venice on Saturday, but Sunday and Monday were days and nights of intermittent rain and drizzle—not enough to keep us in our hotel—but enough to make the canals rise a bit and pose the threat of acqua alta, when even locals have to wade through the waters of San Marco.

Leaving Venice is an experience in itself—although it would have been even better if it hadn’t been raining. We had pre-arranged to be picked up by private taxi and hostess, who park their small boat at the hotel’s pier. They take care of the luggage, and the boatsman literally lifts each of us up over the side of the boat, because the water has risen above the level of the dock, and deposits us inside the warm, cozy cabin. We get a final tour of the canals as we head out into the open waters of the lagoon for the 20-minute speedboat ride to the airport. It’s just like a jet flight before the jet flight.

The flight is long and boring—even with four (count ‘em) mindless movies to watch, but we arrive at JFK almost on time and get wheelchair help for me and a skycap for the luggage and we are whisked off to the car waiting to take us back into Manhattan for another night at Helen’s on 15th Street. Tomorrow afternoon we fly back to Tucson to see our friends and our cats again.

But I will be back with more of Venice. And I will start posting lots of photos on the Kodak website as soon as I select out from the more than one thousand pictures we have snapped.