Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Our Honeymoon: Arrival in Venice

We set out on our honeymoon adventure a little over a week after we said "I do".  Since we were getting married in Kentucky but lived in New York, we knew that we would need some time between our wedding and the honeymoon.  It actually worked out quite nicely for us!

The SUV we rented crammed full of stuff we carted back with us to NY...

We were set to leave New York for Venice on the evening of Wednesday, October 29.  We took the day off work so we'd have plenty of time to pack and get everything ready for our big adventure!  We even had a car pick us up at our apartment and take us to the airport. We arrived with plenty of time to get a quick bite to eat at Shake Shack before boarding the plane.  Fortunately, we had a row to ourselves in the economy comfort section of the plane.  As it turns out, neither of us had a very restful flight.  We managed to watch a couple movies and catch a few winks, but we were both pretty exhausted when we landed the next morning in Venice - our chance to relax for a couple days before the cruise departure...or so we thought!



Chris had already bought our tickets for the bus that would take us from the airport to the canal filled streets of Venice, but as he was reviewing the boards for the exact location of our bus a couple approached me with limited English skills.  At first, I thought they were trying to sell me something so I tried dismissing them New York style, but they were persistent and I realized they were actually just trying to give me something.  Cards of some sort.  I wasn't too sure what good they would be, but I took them and said thank you. Chris was equally as confused by them when he returned, but we held on to them just in case.


We finally found the bus.  We loaded our bags on and before we knew it we had arrived in Venice.  Chris had figured out the best path to hotel weeks ago and we struck out dragging our luggage behind us.  Up some stairs, through some alleys.  About 10 minutes later, we had NO clue where we were or how we'd ever get to our hotel.  I stopped in a nearby hotel for directions and a map.  We weren't close.  We studied the map.  And then headed back to the main square where the bus left us.


We tried again.  This time, we gave the people mover train a shot.  Seemed like a good plan.  We rode it for one stop, certain we were not far from our intended destination.  We continued to drag our bags in the what had become sweltering heat.  Let's just say it was not quite how we anticipated this whole honeymoon thing would begin.  We were exhausted and frustrated.  And then we saw the train that we originally boarded.  We had just made a big loop...and were back at the bus terminal where we began.


We gave up on getting there on our own and began to search for the proper water taxi that would get us to our hotel.  Upon finding it we discovered that the mysterious cards the couple at the airport had given me were actually week long passes for the water taxi.  It was a honeymoon miracle!  And a complete lifesaver for the next couple days!



Our spirits were lifted once on board the water taxi.  We were at our stop - San Basilio - in no time.  And our hotel was just a hop, skip, and a jump down the road.  We had FINALLY arrived!  Our room was quite nice with a great view of the canal.


View from our window...

Our hotel from across the canal...quaint!

We rested briefly, but then set out to take in the area.  We stopped at the cafe just down the road for a pasta lunch before navigating the alley pathways.


Down the first corridor, we found a little wine shop.  You were able to taste test before purchasing so we found one that we liked.  We went with Torbolino - a quite sweet one!

 





We wandered around the nearby areas - a couple of squares, a church, some neat shops, a bakery - and grabbed some tasty pizza and gelato for dinner before calling it a night.






 
  
It made for a long arrival day, but we were excited for our honeymoon to finally be underway!  And we had a full day of adventures ahead of us tomorrow...

Andrea :)

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