Day of Discovery
I don’t think anything could have prepared me for Venice. I knew it was a city built on water with lots of canals, but that first moment of seeing the Grand Canal when I stepped out of the train station made me stop in my tracks.
All I remember doing is hitting John’s arm, saying “That’s it! That’s the canal!”
The next hurdle was getting to our hotel. First we had to get a water bus ticket. Even when you read the explicit instructions in the travel books, it is still challenging. First, from where did you buy your ticket? Second, to which platform do you go, and in which direction? Third, where do you get off?
The ticket office is the building in the distance with the yellow sign This is before we got our ticket. The lines grew exponentially by the time we got there, but who doesn’t love standing in a long line with the hot sun beating down on you? Of course, since we had just arrived, everything was exciting. Our travel book told us to board bus “B.” No problem, right? Wrong. All the water buses were numbered! Was it #1 or #2 or “N”? Finally, we decided it was #2 after studying the departure board. But was it the right choice?
Who cared! After being herded like cows onto the water bus, we were now riding on the canal, savoring every moment!
These are a few sights we saw on our first canal ride.
Our hotel was very nice , but it was like being a detective trying to find it. We got off at the right “stop,” but there was not a single sign to direct you nor was there anyone anywhere to ask a question. It was like being dropped off on a deserted island. The few who got off with us quickly disappeared into a residence. We were alone. What did we do? Turned on the GPS. What did it tell us? “You are there!!” Hmm… that was helpful.
This is looking back at the water bus stop.
All the buildings looked alike. No street names could be seen anywhere. We started to check out the doorways. Aha! We found a museum. How did I know it was a museum? The welcome mat in the recessed doorway had its name on it. (I actually hoped it was our hotel in disguise, but it was not.) This wasn’t too helpful since we knew we weren’t staying in a museum, but maybe there was someone inside who could help. I went in and looked around. No one. We moved on. What about this street? Again, no street sign or building sign. How does anyone know where to go in Venice? (Never again will I complain about the streets with multiple names in Georgia!)
I hesitate to call this a street. This was one of the narrow walkways that intersected with the “main” one we were on. We decided to walk to the end and back, after all GPS insisted everywhere we walked was “it.” We walked to the building with the two plants, and guess what! This was it! The name of our hotel was on the welcome mat in the recessed doorway! (No point in having a sign when you have a doormat.)
I felt so silly. Who wouldn’t know this was a Marriott?
Tomorrow, our Venice adventure will officially begin.