A City Under Water
Trip Start
Jul 01, 2009
1
22
61
Trip End
Jul 01, 2010
Venice, Veneto, Italy
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
We also ended on a sour note when we tried to pay our bill at the hotel. For the 108-Euro bill, we gave the desk clerk 110 Euros in bills– he said he didn’t have 2 Euros change (he was the cashier and the only one working there; he was lying). He asked why we didn’t have exact change. We showed him that all we had was 6 Euros in change, and he accused us of trying to only pay 106 Euros for our bill. After we protested that no, we were happy to give him the 110 Euros if he’d give us 2 Euros change, he added a bogus charge of 2 Euros to our bill, took our 110 Euros and then screamed profanities at us to leave his hotel. We wanted to catch our boat and train, so we decided to just leave. Clearly an unfortunate cultural misunderstanding (over the equivalent of $3.00).
Anyway, we did have some enjoyable, memorable times in and around Venice. We stayed on Lido Island (a short boat ride from the city of Venice). Lido has a wonderful beach on he Adriatic Sea and we spent time beachcombing and relaxing there. We went into Venice two days and enjoyed getting lost. You have seen the city in scores of movies, but until you’ve been there, you can’t believe how they built this city on the water. It’s incredible. Gondolas, workboats, public transport boats (called Vaporetti), and privately owned boats all vie for their portion of narrow channels and canals. Front doors of buildings open to 3 stone steps into the water. There is art everywhere and the architecture is a mixture of gothic, baroque and "let’s not make it so big that it sinks". Piazza San Marco is the centerpiece and it is right out of a movie – basilica, clock towers, plaza, pigeons, and 10 billion tourists. We experienced it both days and then hopped on a boat back to quiet Lido island.
