Trip journal, Vermont to arrival in Venice: I will start off by saying wow....what a beautiful city. Words really cant do Venice justice!! I will also say that four days are not too long in this city, and you need a minimum of three nights to really see the city. (We will have been here for four nights total, and havent seen the Rialto Bridge nor been in Piazza San Marco... Thankfully we will be back for a day and a half in about 12 days...) But Im getting a little ahead of myself! This trip started way before our arrival in Venice! We actually left Lincoln Wednesday night and stayed at the Hampton Inn in White River Junction. Clean hotel, comfy room, convenient location right off I-91 and I-89, and adequate breakfast. The next morning we drove to the New London Park & Ride off of I-89 exit 12 in New Hampshire and met the Dartmouth Coach. For $45 per person roundtrip, it is a great value -- super convenient, less expensive than parking in Boston for a month, and a comfy ride with free wifi, a movie running (we didnt realize there were free earphones available until we were getting off the bus at Logan Airport). We were the last ones to board at the last stop, so the only two seats next to each other that were available were in the very back of the bus right next to the bathroom -- but there were three seats there for the two of us, so it wasnt too bad. It was a smooth ride and I highly recommend it! We arrived in Boston about 5 hours before our flight, and the Lufthansa counter wasnt even open yet -- we sat there for about an hour and a half. Security was a breeze, and the international terminal (Terminal E) at Boston Logan is quite nice with several restaurants and typical airport shops. I will say that our Lufthansa flight was very uncomfortable. The seats recline A LOT, and even though our departure was 4:25pm, the woman in front of me reclined IMMEDIATELY and was reclined the whole way to Frankfurt. It made the TV screen so close to my face that it gave me a headache. I did a lot of drawing. Eating was difficult because I could barely pick up fork and spoon and cup of milk because she was practically reclined in my lap! I tried reclining mine, but felt too guilty about doing to the person in back of me what was being done to me. We arrived in Frankfurt at approx 5:00am local time, and mom pointed out to me that it wasnt even midnight back home -- no wonder I hadnt slept! It wasnt even bedtime yet!! Ive heard that Frankfurt is a big airport.... and everything that I have heard is correct! Just to give you an idea at how big it is, we arrive at gate Z-66 and our departure was from gate A-14. This is one case where I am glad that mom needs wheelchair assistance -- we were buzzed through the terminal on an electric cart. The German women that helped us were VERY friendly and efficient. We had to ride 3 different carts to finally make it to our gate, plus two elevators, customs, etc. It took about 25 minutes. Cant imagine how long it would take walking. Once at our gate in Frankfurt we started to crash, but did stay awake. It was fascinating people watching. In the 3 hours that we sat there, I saw one person wearing shorts, and I can count on two hands how many people I saw wearing sneakers. Compare that to what one might see in Newark or Houston..... Our flight to Venice was just one hour long, and we flew over the alps....amazing amazing breathtaking views of the mountains, with peaks peeking above clouds. It was quite a site. Upon arrival in Venice we were met by a friendly woman with a wheelchair, and she told us how to get from the airport onto Venice Island. Im pretty sure it was Bus 5 but will need to verify that. It cost 7 Euros per person and took about 20 minutes to get to Piazzale Roma on Venice. Once there we decided to walk to our hotel, as it was very close. (I should say I decided to walk...and mom followed...bad idea!) First of all we had to cross a modern foot bridge across the Grand Canal, which had MANY steps...and both of us with a carry-on and rolling suitcase. A young man grabbed moms rolling suitcase and said he would help. Then his brother grabbed mine....and it took about 5 seconds for us to realize they were not helping us out of the goodness of their hearts. They were going fast....mom told me to stay with them, so I left her hobbling up and then down the bridge with her cane. I finally got the guys to stop and told them that we could make it the rest of the way. They said No, this is our job! and I said No, we can do it! Mom finally caught up and I asked how much we would have to pay, and they tried getting 25 Euros per bag. I said NO and gave them 20 Euros total just to get rid of them. Expensive lesson to learn!! People do not do ANYTHING out of the goodness of their hearts here, and Ill add a little rant -- people will PUSH by a woman with a cane. This is not a place where you want to be a grandmother! Once we had our bags under our control, we walked the 200 yards to our hotel. Of course it was still quite early (11am) and were told that our room would not be ready until 3pm, but that we could leave our bags and wander around. We walked a little ways and decided to find a lunch spot, and ate a yummy sandwich lunch in a little trattoria right along the Cannareggio Canal. This is where I will leave you all for now! Jared
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 10:09:53 +0000
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