Florence to Venice: August 20, 2006

We are finally in Venice, our last stop, and it's truly wonderful. I love Venice! I wish I could show this place to all of you. Venice is like a lovely rich old lady, past her prime but still charming in her aging beauty.

This morning we woke up in Florence and caught the bus to church in the Florence 1st Branch. We had a great time there, as lots of missionaries made an effort to translate for us and we even had an English-speaking Sunday School. For Sacrament there was a closed circuit camera on the speaker, and we sat in the foyer with a TV screen and the missionaries translated. Next year the Florence Branch is getting a new building.

After church we took the bus back to the hotel and picked up our suitcases. We got another bus for the train station. Lunch in McDonald's across from the station was kind of sleazy because of the customers. We found a better clientele at the other McDonald's inside the train station. Maybe people with money for a ticket are richer than those who just hang out near the station?

Our train was late (unusual for Europe), and we almost got on the wrong train, but figured it out at the last minute and ran to the right one. The high-speed Eurostar from Florence to Venice takes 2 hours 40 minutes and makes several stops.

In Venice, we got 3-day boat transport passes, and promptly got on the right boat going the wrong direction! AARGH! It took us the long way around, so Heidi didn't get the lovely introduction to Venice, coming up the Grand Canal. Instead, she got the gritty view by all the industrial warehouses on the back side, and it took forever!

When we finally got to our stop, it took us a few minutes to find our hotel. It's actually only a block behind the most famous spots in Venice: St Mark's Square and the Doge's Palace. What a great location! But wait, the lady said they were full, so they were putting us in another building, "very close." So we followed her a couple of blocks and ended up in this alley that was truly only about 6 feet wide but 40 feet high. (That's the picture at left.) She led us through an odd door with the knob in the middle, and then into a dark and musty passageway. The floor was uneven, and there were no windows. It was completely black, so she turned on lights all the way. At the end of the passage she started up stairs that went up 10 steps and turned, up again, turned another way, down a little hall, and up some more. The ceiling was peeling and the walls were so bad they had cloth stapled to cover them. I was really starting to wonder what we got ourselves into! She unlocked another door (which she explained you have to pull toward you and then push,) and then down a hall and unlocked another door. (Three different keys, of course.) Here was our room.

Surprise! It was a whole apartment! It had an entryway, bathroom, completely equipped kitchen with dining table and chairs, and a very large bedroom, bigger than my room at home. The ceilings were at least 15 feet up there, with exposed beams. Tall windows with tiny balconies opened onto a little canal below, and there were gondolas going up and down the canal! We were thrilled! Turns out it's adjacent to the owner's apartment, and they only use it for overflow. In the picture you can see Heidi leaning out one window, with the canal and gondolas and little arched bridge below. We really lucked out!

Heidi and I decided to take a walk around St Mark's Square. We found the bell tower was still open, so we went up. Best bell tower in all of Europe, it's the only one with an elevator! The original fell down in 1905, so they rebuilt it to look exactly the same, but with an elevator. The light was golden and the air was clear, and you could see all over Venice and out to the little islands and it was glorious. We talked to lots of people on the top, including a couple from New York on their honeymoon.

I walked Heidi across town, through the back alleys to the Rialto Bridge. That's the most famous bridge in Venice. You can see it on my website, it's right at the top of the home page in the collage and it's the white bridge. Anyway, we bought ice cream and stood on the bridge and ate it and watched all the people. The ice cream was melting so fast Heidi said it was the most work she's ever had with an ice cream cone!

I think she really likes it here, because she described her ideal proposal of marriage: the guy brings her to Venice and takes her on a gondola ride ($80) and they go down some canal where there are no people, and when they get back home he proposes . . . Sounds romantic, no?

We took the water shuttle back to St Marks' square and our hotel. This internet place is right around the corner, behind the cathedral. The price is awful at 4.50 Euros for and hour for Heidi (student rate) and 7.50 for me, but we paid it anyway.

I LOVE THIS PLACE! We have only 2 more days, and we are home. After three weeks in London, Paris, and Italy, we are both looking forward to being home.