If you are fortunate when you live far from home you get to have family and friends visit. If you are very fortunate they want to travel to exotic places and they will pay your way. I am one fortunate woman.
My sister, Tricia is a teacher and she's been saving her money and decided to come visit me and while she's on this side of the pond she suggested we visit Greece or Italy. It worked out better for Italy. Having been to Rome last spring and finding it crowded, but not packed and warm but not hot, I suggested she might want to come for her spring break. However, she wanted to see all of Italy in that week and there was no way that was going to work. I asked her to see if she could get more time off or we would have to pare down her wish list of sites to see. She was able to finagle an extra week and we set our itinerary - Venice, Florence, Rome and Pompeii and Herculaneum. It was still an ambitious plan for only 12 days.
My sister arrived at my home in Holland on a Sunday and we flew out the next morning to Venice on Transavia, one of those budget airlines for Europe. This airline was fine for our arrival, but our departure out of Naples at the end of our trip was another story - to be told later. We landed on the Italian mainland and then rode in a bus for about an hour, then caught a water taxi to the city of Venice.
There is such a difference in the cities that were bombed or in which fighting took place during WWII and those that managed to avoid the whole mess. Venice was one of the lucky cities. It sits in all its aged shabbiness, slowly sinking into the sea and exuding a charm that only old quiet places have.
We were fortunate to do our travels in the off-season and with that came less crowds and milder weather. I highly recommend it. A sweater or light jacket was often needed in the morning, but the sun was usually out and the days were mild and warm.
We exited the water taxi at our designated spot and then began the search for our hotel. Venice is a spaghetti bowl of streets, alleys and canals. We wandered about a bit, asked a local, whom the books assured us would all speak English and be glad to help. We must of found the only one who didn't speak English. We wandered a bit more, suitcases in tow, until we managed to stumble across our hotel tucked away in a side alley.
We got settled in and headed back out again. Getting a 3 day pass for the boats was wonderful since we did not have to bother buying a ticket every time we boarded a boat and we saved a boatload of money to boot.
My sister enjoyed riding in the boat and enjoying the architecture of this grand old city. I enjoyed the day we went to neighboring islands, Murano and the one with the cemetery. Yes, the cemetery. So quiet and peaceful. It was wonderful and relaxing.
We went to the Doges Palace and toured the cathedral. I wouldn't recommend spending your money on either of those endeavors. Not much to see and crowded to boot. However, don't miss the chance to go to St. Mark's Square and spend 1 euro to feed the pigeons. We decided to try this and made the mistake of having my sister go first. She is not a bird person. She is, however, very courageous and tried it.
I got some birdseed and loved it. She then labeled me the Bird Whisperer (an allusion to the Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic channel). The truth is they will come alight on anyone who has corn. We found the best way to attract them was to shake the corn in the bag, then pour some out into our hands. They know the sound of seed coming out of the bag and they wont be fooled by an empty bag. They may have bird brains, but like most animals, they are smart when it comes to food! Every day I managed to be in the Square and feed the pigeons. My favorite time was first thing in the morning when they are especially hungry and they will flock all over you. One even climbed up the back of my hair. It tickled.
Tricia got better at it. And yes, Mom, we used hand sanitizer after feeding the birds :-)
We took the boat that runs up and down the main canal as the sun was beginning to set. It was beautiful and restful. It is worth waiting for a boat that has open seats either in the front or the back. They don't all have them and they are often filled, but if you get on one, usually seats open up.
We didn't want to spend the 120 dollars or more to take a gondola ride, but you can ride across the canal on a trigeletta (sp?) for about $1.20. We took turns crossing, so we could take photos of each other. This is a service mostly locals use, so we rode like locals - standing up. It is easy to do and a smooth ride.
After 2 days we boarded the train and headed for Florence. Which I believe is the most stylish place in Europe. More on that next time.
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