Venice

Our cruise departed out of Venice, so in an effort to save money we decided to drive. Now the only potential problem with this plan was that our van had no forced heat because the fan did not work. We could get a little heat into the van as long as we were going 60+mph, but if we ran into a stau (traffic-jam), which is very likely here in Europe, especially the two hour kind, we were in serious trouble, especially if we were in the Alps. But we didn't have time to fix it and we needed to make a decision. We threw caution to the wind and decided to risk it. I got off at noon, packed the van and off we drove. We actually made good time, so good infact that I got flashed (automated speed traps) for going 10kph over the speed-limit, but I digress. We drove toward Munich and then turned in a southerly direction toward the Austrian border. As I drove I kept thinking to myself "these Alps should be around here somewhere, they can't hide that easily". Off on the horizon I could make out this jagged outline just above the horizon. It kept getting bigger and a little clearer until this massive sawtoothed beast on the horizon appeared. They looked like somebody had just hacked away at them until they took this very rugged appearance. I just had this surreal feeling to think that I soon would be driving my way through the Alps, hoping all would go well. We turned off of the Autobahn and drove through these Bavarian villages and slowly, ever so slowly we started to climb. We crossed the Austrian border without hardly even knowing it. We meandered our way through the Alps on these tiny two lane highways, through tunnels two miles long. As the sun set beyond the outline of the Alps you could see the whiteness of the snow against the mountainside and it gave off the otherworldly glow. The night was clear as a bell and the moon glowed brightly, lighting up the sky. We slowly made our way up the mountains and then down the mountains, one after the other. To show my ignorance, I had no idea that we were also going to be traversing the Dolomites as well. We soon started to climb higher and higher and the snow line kept coming closer and closer until we were surrounded by snow...and then mother nature did the unthinkable, it started to snow. The snow started to fall ever so lightly, then a little more until a nice steady snow started to fall and stick to the road. Since we had no heater we started to fog up very quickly in the car and therefore couldn't see out of the windows very well. We had to wipe the windows and roll them down at times in order for my windshield to stay clear. Then we reached the apex and started to descend and the snow turned into rain and the windows cleared. We drove what seemed like 5 hours through mountains, past large lakes, overhanging cliffs and little Italian villages. I am sure during the day this has gorgeous and breathtaking scenery, but today this winding road was just a nuisance. We finally pulled out of the mountains, with no staus to speak of. We drove to our first night's lodging, Aviano AFB. The next morning we drove to the Venice pier, where we were to catch our ship. We caught a vaporetto (water taxi) from the Maritima port to St Marks square in Venice. It was a nice little jaunt over to the disembarkation area, passing canals leading into the center of Venice, buildings that were surrounded by water, bridges that provided the only means of getting to a destination. We pulled into St Marks square and were immediately hit with the sights and sounds of bustling tourist activities. We worked our way to piazza San Marco through the throngs of people. We noticed that they had risers that were strategically placed through the square, leading from one end to the other. Then I noticed that many people were wearing rain boots, but it wasn't raining today. After a moment it all made sense, it had rained hard and the piazza was flooded so your only option to get past the piazza into Venice was walking across the risers or wading through in rain boots and since we didn't get the memo to bring rain boots we crossed on the risers. It was slow going, much like a two lane highway when you were behind a large truck, but we eventually made it. The streets of venice were a maze, not like a pencil and paper maze, more like a mouse and cheese maze...where would we find our cheese? We decided to immediately to get some gelato, I mean we are in Italy right? So even though it was cool outside we indulged ourselves, I got mango...I always get mango. For the record it was good. We knew we wanted to get to the Rialto bridge and take a look at the Grand Canal and luckily there were signs posted on corners of buildings directing you in the general direction of the Rialto bridge. Along the way you had to cross very tiny bridges as you went from island to island. Gondolas sat, waiting patiently to be used in every canal large to hold them. The Gondoliers all were too happy to chat up the experience of taking a Gondola ride...sorry not today, not enough time. The Rialto bridge was not just any old bridge, it had personality, hordes of people and a plethora of souvenir shops. There were enough mask shops to outfit everybody in Venice. Finding the one you like is akin to finding the proverbial needle in the haystack, just too many to choose from. Sharma settled on several that lived up to her standards and they were purchased. I found a little shop that sold handmade calligraphy pens and handmade bound leather notebooks...I thought this was very 'Jon Mitchell' of me (personal reference to a friend of ours who has very unique collections and souvenirs from his travels). In addition to these items we bought other obligatory souvenirs and took many pictures, trying to document the uniqueness of this famous city. We realized our time was fast coming to an end and we needed to head back to the port to catch our awaiting ship. We walked back through St Mark's square and realized that all of the water that was there four hours earlier had receded and there was not one sign of standing water. We caught our water taxi and watched as St Mark's disappeared in the distance. It is hard to leave really neat places, like Venice, because you never know when or if you will get back. So, hopefully, until next time, Adieu. Info Transportation to city: Drove to Venice from Kaiserslautern; Vaporetto to Venice- 12 Euro/person, roundtrip Parking: at cruise terminal