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!