Wanderings and Ramblings : Venice part 1

In my last post, I noted that we were sailing in around 1:00 in the afternoon and had all afternoon and night as well as until about 8:00 pm the next day docked in Venice.

Since the only other time we have tried to go into the city (other than when I was 16) was last fall the night before we sailed out on Splendour, and it was dark, pouring rain (this was the start of the worst flooding in 20 years, water was ankle deep at best by the time we got out) and we got terribly lost, we wanted a much better experience this time around. We decided that Dave and I would head into the city that first afternoon and work on learning our way around (given that Venice is notorious for getting lost), and then head out with the kids the next day.

We were not planning on using the water taxis or shuttles for two reasons. 1. we are cheap! 2. Dave gets seasick on small boats, so paying a lot for him to feel unwell simply does not make sense.

Our first step off the ship was to take a short (free) bus ride to a different part of the port area as we were not allowed to walk from where we docked. From there, we followed the signs and walked about 5 minutes to the People Mover. The People Mover worked really well. There are ticket machines right there which take cash (euro), EU banking/debit cards and all major credit cards. Tickets are only 1 euro per person each way. It is a short ride, but cuts out quite a bit of walking through an industrial area--well worth it!

The People Mover only has three stops:
1. Tronchetto Island car park outside the city. That is further out than the port and if you end up there, you have done something wrong!
2. Marittima (the port)
3. Piazzale Roma. This is where you want to go--it is the central bus and shuttle stop as you enter Venice--from here you can also walk into the city from several directions.

There are lots of signs as you cross ANY bridge from Piazzale Roma directing you towards St Mark's, the Rialto, etc. However, you should be warned that you can follow signs through half a dozen turns and then suddenly come to a dead end with streets branching off in either direction and no further signage. This contributes to the "lost in a labyrinth" sensation that Venice creates.

(yes, this is a floating fruit and veggie stand)

With the help of the signs, following the crowd and occasional use of the GPS in Dave's phone, we did arrive at St Mark's square about an hour after we set off from the plaza (walking at a moderate pace--not rushing but certainly not a slow stroll either).

Okay, confession time. An hour of getting there (okay, this would be much easier if you paid for a water taxi and those did not make you ill), all of that tinged with a little stress of "WHERE is it anyway?" and then getting there to find that it was pretty but not over the top WOW as we had hoped. What did feel amazing was to suddenly be in a vast open space after being in the narrow streets of Venice for so long. The buildings were nice, but no more so than many others in Europe (okay, we are totally jaded because we live in an amazing place and get to visit many amazing places), and the church was nearly entirely covered in scaffolding, which I am sure took away from the overall effect. Both Dave and I had the overall impression that it was nice, but not a "absolutely MUST see this" kind of place and it was lacking any kind of feeling of a "sense of place" for us--it just felt like one big tourist attraction (sadly). Additionally, the streets, which were busy all along were becoming more and more crowded (I cannot fathom what it must be like in high season!), and there were more smokers and more yippee dogs in the streets here than just about any place we visit.

Dogs, crowds and smokers are three of the four biggest anxiety triggers for Marika, and Rio nearly always falls for the lovely details of an area, or else landscapes, and less for big "impressive" buildings. So, Dave and I made the decision to scrap our plans of bringing the kids into St Mark's Square and touring the Doges Palace and Cathedral the next day, and decided to stay in the further out areas and just get a feel for the city. We had an hour and a half to decide that as we worked our way back to the ship.

Back on board, there was a face painter getting people ready for the night's masquerade ball. That was a LOT of fun:

Here are a couple of images from the party (held in Vortex night club)--I took many more of the MANY people in masks and costumes, but it was very dark and only a few came out). The party was a lot of fun.