Day 18 - Venice - Last Day

We are sad to say that today is the last day of our adventure. Tomorrow we leave to return to the good old USA. This morning, at 8 AM we had to vacate cabin #9292 that has been our “home away from home” for the last 12 days. Martin has done an excellent job of taking care of us. We will miss the Celebrity Silhouette.

After eating breakfast, we ventured out, with our luggage in tow, to find our hotel which happened to be across town. This was not an easy task since this is a city with canals and water – no streets and no taxis.  We decided to take the vaporetto (waterbus) to our hotel since we were told that the walk would be 40 minutes over bridges and cobblestone streets.  Did I mention that and we had 2 large pieces of luggage, 2 rolling carry-ons, a backpack, plus another large bag –all packed full- to carry? We each had two pieces to pull plus carry up escalators and on and off the vaporetta which was packed with Venetians (all speaking Italian). Getting on and off was no easy task since there were steps in which we had to take the luggage down into the vaporetto, and again to get off.  The boat was packed with people –standing room only. None were eager to help or even move out of the way as we struggled to get us and our bags onboard.  After about 25 minutes we reached our stop and started trying to haul the bags past the people, up the steps, and off of the boat.  There was one very nice older Italian gentleman that cleared the way, shouting in Italian, in order to get me off the last stop! Otherwise I did not think that I would make it off before the boat continued on its way! In Venice very few people speak English.

I took several pictures of Jeff asking directions along the way, but will only share one of them here.

It was quite an interesting start of the day - finding our way by waterbus when we really had no idea where we were going! It was an adventure! But we did make it to our hotel! It also was very hot and Jeff’s shirt (and really the rest of him, too) was completely soaked!  It was too early for us to check in and the bellman allowed us to use a room for Jeff  to change clothes  (I think he did not want him in the lobby looking the way he did).

We then took a free water taxi (where was this guy a few hours earlier?) to the island of Murano, that is famous for its glass-making factories.  The scenery again was beautiful.  This particular factory houses 12 “masters” of glass-blowing – men who have had the craft passed down to them over many generations. Since 1291, the manufacturing of glass was moved to the island to avoid the threat of fire in the city of Venice.  Some of the factories are still using the original furnaces from that era. We watched a demonstration by a master glass makers at work and then toured the showroom full of magnificent pieces of glass - extravagant chandeliers, glasses, vases, and jewelry. We looked at the prices on some of the pieces and were amazed.  A 6 piece set of drinking glasses that we liked were a mere 1200 euros (about $1600.)  We did not purchase them.  We took the water taxi back to the hotel.

The rest of the day we explored the beautiful and romantic city of Venice. The multi-colored houses are so pretty with their window boxes filled with flowers. (You all know how I love flowers!) Every canal is so picturesque. It was hard not to take a picture of every single one.

Scalzi Bridge (only 3 bridges cross the Grand Canal)

We walked to the Jewish Ghetto and had lunch alongside the canal, by the bridge. As we ate our lunch (a caprese salad and pizza), a group of several Jewish families sat at an outdoor table across the canal, eating their Sabbath.  We enjoyed listening to them sing as we ate.  For the rest of the afternoon we enjoyed just meandering through the cobblestone streets and peering down the canals, watching people and taking in the sites of the city. With one brief stop to blog.

Our restaurant is on the left.

Blogging Break

We also decided to tour Venice’s’ super highway, the S- shaped Grand Canal. So we got on the vaporetto again and rode the Grand Canal, which is 2 miles long, from one end to the other. This gave us a great overview of the entire city, with fabulous views of 200 palazzos that date back to the 12^th century.

Vaporetto

By then it was evening and we had dinner at a quaint restaurant, where we were serenaded by an accordion player. (Perhaps this is where my accordion-playing talent would be appreciated).   We topped off our last night with a romantic gondola ride through the narrow canals. Our driver was Leonardo from Venice. He told us that the rule is that you must kiss every time you go under a bridge.  Remember, there are 350 bridges in Venice! Perfecto!

View from the gondola

We thoroughly enjoyed Venice – its uniqueness, beauty, and charm are like none other. We loved strolling through the city and just experiencing the place and the people. The vaporetto was a unique experience. Jeff enjoyed it more than I did, but I will always remember riding the Grand Canal and just soaking in the city.  Although, if given the choice, I would always choose the gondola.

Of course, since this was the last day, we had gelati twice.  Three scoops each time!

We are going to miss gelati! My favorite combination was chocolate, pistachio, and coffee

Buona notte!