Pictures in this post by everyone.
My apologies for the break in writing. Life got in the way for a while. But never fear - I'm sure I'll be able to tell the tale. Here we go....
After a fantastic week in our Villa (definitely a separate post and perhaps a completely separate series), we began our trip back to Frankfurt. This part of our journey would take us north east across Italy to Venice and then north through Austria, into Germany, and then back home.
The MAAWB stuffed Nora, Miles, and Tex (with luggage) into the "Nazi-Hearse" (our new name for the big, black, VW van). The eight of us drove to Florence (Fiorenze - how that translates to Florence, I'll never know) and Nora, Miles, and Tex hopped out in the sunshine and began to follow their respective paths home.
Alone again, the MAAWB, with me at the wheel, headed out of Florence, onto another toll road, and still without any tunes.
The drive was flat and the scenery was pretty dull. Except for the beautiful wildflowers that filled the fields and the yards, and the shoulder of the freeway. I think they were poppies. The colour and brilliance reminded me of the first time I saw blue bonnets outside Austin. What an amazing sight. Coming from Arizona, you just don't see colour en masse like that.
Because there was little to look at, this part of the drive was the most boring of the whole trip. We could feel the difference between Tuscany and wherever we were now. It was different.
The sat nav did us proud until the very last exit. It didn't know about a freeway that had just opened. Unfortunately, we got stuck on this new, beautiful, and relatively deserted road for about 10 kilometres. It felt longer. But once we got off the freeway, the sat nav recalculated and we made our way to the hotel.
It was a very warm day. We had really pushed ourselves to get to Venice as quick as we could so that we would have all afternoon in the city. After checking into the hotel, we walked up the road to the bus stop, bought our tickets, and waited 5 minutes for the ride into town.
The best part about this whole trip for me was the unexpected. Some people research where they are going. They watch TV shows about what to do, where to go, and what to expect.
Not me.
I didn't even know that Venice was an island. I giggled about my lack of world knowledge as we crossed the bridge into the city.
Venice was beautiful. It is a walking city. You either push your way through the canals in a gondola or you walk. So we all had our walking shoes on for a big day. We were all hungry, so the first order of business was to find lunch.
On the way over the first bridge we looked out at the beauty of the pathways, the people, the shops, the sky, the water, and.... woops!
Ange was the unlucky one who didn't see the steps on the way down and she fell. Her ankle twisted. The steps were poorly marked, strangely spaced, in fact, well camouflaged into the bridge (see picture of Ben and me approaching the steps down). As I had walked up the bridge, I had noticed a man miss the first one, and I made a mental note about it.
OK - this is getting too detailed. You don't need a play by play. But what a bummer for Ange that, in the walking city, where we have limited time, this should happen.
Lunch was bad. Our first bad meal in days! Alan had good pizza, but the rest of us suffered through some pretty mediocre food.
Then we walked slowly through the nooks and crannies of Venice. We took Paul and Kat's advice (much to Rootsey's discomfort) and didn't use a map to get around. We simply followed the signs to the Piazza San Marco. We shopped. We gazed with amazement at the Murano glass jewelry, art, and sculpture. It was beautiful.
We looked for a pharmacy to buy an ankle bandage for Ange, but, unlike Siena, Florence, and Genoa, Venice was pharmacy poor. (The others were pharmacy rich.) Finally we found one and Ben helped Ange wrap up the swollen and bruised ankle.
OK - here's a tale worth telling. When we finally made it to the Piazza and as beautiful as it was, we really just wanted to find a bar where we could sit and drink. We had bribed Ange to keep going because we all wanted to go on a gondola ride. Close to the boats there were several outdoor cafes with hundreds of tables and chairs available. I walked to the one closest to the boats and asked the waiter (see picture) if they were open. They were, he seated me, I placed an order for 2 beers, one jack and coke, and one litre of red wine. He let me know that they didn't sell wine by the litre, so I asked him for a bottle of house wine. I then sat down and waited for the other four to make their way to me.
Ange was walking slowly, Ben was buying a sweater, I don't know what Alan was doing, and Rootsey was behind the camera lens taking pictures to prove he was there (I think he saw more of Venice through the camera than with his own eyes). But they all made their way to me and we sat like royalty looking at the water, the Piazza, the statues, and the people. We got a second round for the boys and relaxed. It was absolutely beautiful.
After about 45 minutes, or maybe an hour, we were rested, watered, and ready to go haggle for a gondola. So we asked for the bill.
4 beers + 2 Jack and Cokes + 1 bottle of house red = €170 = approximately A$340
OK - laugh at us now. Take your time.
The gondola ride was fantastic. We had it at sunset - the best time we were told, and I think we all agree. I would have loved to be on it for 2 hours, but we took our 30 minute ride and then made our way back into the streets of Venice for dinner. (We made sure to use the toilets at the bar we went to, since we figure that we had paid for one of them. I used lots of TP and soap.)
Dinner was fantastic. Fresh beautiful pizza. We had a couple of bottles of wine to drug up Ange for the walk back. But that didn't work. Her leg was getting worse, not better, and we decided to take the water taxi/ferry back to the bus depot. Rootsey decided to walk/run back with his camera attached to his eye. He wanted to get some amazing night shots. I'll go have a look and see if he did (yep - see image).
After a nice ride on the water, we missed the last bus back to the hotel by only minutes and Ange offered to pay for a cab. She really needed to get the leg elevated. We all felt bad for her. The cab driver was fun.
Overall, Venice was fantastic. We all want to go back so we can explore it more. Next time, I will bring water, wine and food and leave my credit cards at a safe distance, because there is too much I like and the whole place is expensive. Maybe next time I'll just have a special dinner or two.
The next day, we will drive into the Alps again. North Miss Tessmacher! North!
