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.