Days 18 and 19

Day 18 was mostly a traveling day - all on Italian public transportation.  We took the bus from Lucca to Florence, a high speed train from Florence to Venice, then a water taxi to our hotel on the island.  The bus and train both left exactly on time and it was all very clear where to go.  When you arrive at the Venice train station on the water, boat travel appears to be chaotic.  There are dozens of boats moving in both directions on a small canal  and a variety of boats to choose from.  There also seemed to be at least twice as many people here than there were on our last visit 9 years ago.

Yes it was a wet and grey day, if you can’t tell. The water boat was a challenge to use, especially with suitcases with what seemed like the mass of humanity getting on and off at every stop.

When we finally arrived at our hotel, we learned why not to book a 2 star hotel.  While the view from the entrance onto the local canal was pleasant (see below), the room was tiny and we had to improvise storage for the 2 suitcases and 2 small back packs. It was our second worst hotel room ever, but it still had a high price tag.

We won’t relive our worst hotel until Jan and Dan Studer join us later on our journey - in about a week.

Venice is still very beautiful and is definitely worth visiting (once), but there were so many people walking down the narrow sidewalks that at times it seemed like walking down the strip in Las Vegas on a popular evening.    

The smaller canals can be just as colorful and interesting as the Grand Canal.

It’s such a unique city with all it’s canals, bridges, narrow streets, and beautiful buildings.

We left Italy on a high speed ferry (with airline seats) to cross the Adriatic to Croatia.  We are very ready for summer to begin.