GOODBYE TO VENICE, HELLO TO THE SEA!

It's time to say goodbye to Venice. As much as we have enjoyed our visit here this time, we are looking forward to many new adventures around every corner for the next few weeks.

We got up early this morning, finished packing, and had a light breakfast on the veranda.

We then checked out of our lovely hotel and went to the canal to get a water taxi which would take us to the ship. I waited in the lobby for Frank to check out and took a final look at the Murano glass and the beautiful art objects that surrounded us here at the Londra Palace.

On our way to the water taxi we took one last "land look" at our wonderful Venice. These are memories that we will hold in our hearts for a very long time.

The water taxi's were a little difficult for me to get off and on, but thanks to the help of our "taxi drivers", I was able to manage pretty well.

When we arrived at the dock, the people there ordered me a wheelchair as it was a VERY long walk to the ship ... a little over a mile. I'd like to interject here that they take very good care of the handicapped in Europe. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case in the states.

As I mentioned to you earlier, we had ordered a wheelchair for me 2 days in advance at DFW and after waiting nearly an hour, it never arrived, so we walked to our destination. The woman with American Airlines who was supposed to be in charge seemed very put out that Frank asked her several times during that hour if she had any idea when the chair would arrive. It was a real mess. Now back to Venice!

Once the wheelchair arrived, we went straight to the check-in counter for the ship where they collected our passports and gave us our boarding cards. You are nor allowed on or off of the ship without this card, so we always take very good care of ours! We were then taken immediately to the ship and to our suite ... no waiting and no lines! They allowed us to board early and that was really nice.

Our suite is very nice - quite large with 3 closets, a large double balcony, lots of drawers and storage space, a flat screen TV, both a tub with a jacuzzi in the bathroom along with a separate shower. The ship holds 1848 passengers and is sold out.

This was the first time in a long time that we were able to unpack together in our suite. Usually the suites are smaller but we opted for a larger one this time and it's really going to be nice.

Speaking of nice, my darling husband unpacked for me so I wouldn't put too much strain on my back. I'm so blessed to have such a precious man who takes such good care of me!

Our veranda is much larger than the ones that we have had in the past. Can't wait to set sail so we can have a different view every hour! I think we just might have breakfast out there tomorrow morning so so can say a proper goodbye to Venice from our ship.

After we got settled, we attended the life jacket drill. We were told which tender was ours and were shown what to do in case of an emergency.

Once that was over, we went to the bar and had a welcome to our home at sea drink to celebrate the beginning of a new adventure.

After dinner we went to the show in the Vista Lounge and were back in our suite and in bed by 11:00.

It has been a good day. We will sail all night and wake up in Croatia. We have a shore excursion tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it.

XOXO, Pcasso

MORE ADVENTURES IN VENICE

I'm going to combine the next few days since we were in Venice the whole time.
Doesn't Frank look cute! He bought me this beautiful umbrella to keep me out of the bright sun. It was made in Torcello, one of the nearby islands. What a great way to start the day. I love presents!



I was in Venice the first time in 1985 during Carnivale with a group of photographers but I was without Frank. That made me very sad. Nevertheless, I had a wonderful time and got a lot accomplished. Several of my photographs from that trip were published! This is now Frank's and my third trip together to Venice and it just keeps getting better and better.
We got up early (around 8:00 a.m.), cleaned up and went downstairs for breakfast. We decided to eat outside since the weather was so beautiful. As I have said before, the veranda is the perfect spot for people watching which is one of our favorite pastimes.


Unfortunately my back had started to bother me. We only made it as far as the Piazza San Marco and I had to sit down for a while. Frank found me some new Italian friends to keep me company.

The tide was in and the Piazza was flooded in the middle, so there were huge crowds of people around the edges. Before I saw the flooded area, I kept seeing people with their shoes off and that seemed odd to me. But ... once I saw the water I understood why. This had never happened when we were there before.

It seems that some people, young and old, could not resist wading in the water. Guess we're all still children at heart!

This little boy was determined that his dog needed to get his feet wet even though the dog objected. It was great fun to watch them.

We made our way across the Piazza and decided to have a Compari and soda again. The waiters were busy as bees and we watched them as they managed to balance trays and also keep their feet dry.

After we finished our drinks, we wound our way through the crowd and went to the Cafe Florian where we listened to the music.

It first opened as Floriano Francesconi in 1720 under the name Venezia Trionfante. A bulk of it's beauty is adorned with paintings, high mirrors, and naked wood equipped areas which come from the year 1859.

Marble tables and cushioned chairs are under the arcades and outside on the piazza where an orchestra plays in the late afternoon. It's delightful! It wouldn't be a trip to Venice without a visit to the Florian.

We worked our way back through the crowd and returned to our hotel.

I neglected to mention yesterday that we were greeted when we checked in our hotel with a bottle of champagne and fresh fruit.

The lobby was beautifully appointed. We also spent some time in the hotel library reading about the history of Venice.

There was Murano glass everywhere and it was exquisite. This chandelier was no exception.

We had Venetian Calf Liver for dinner which Venice is famous for. It was served with grilled polenta and we didn't leave a morsel!

After dinner we strolled on the Grand Canal in front of our hotel, enjoyed some gelato and watched the clouds as they floated by.

The moon would peek through the clouds from time to time and it was truly a magical evening. This is one of my favorite photographs that I took that night. It has a very mysterious feel to it.

When we returned to our room we were surprised with another gift ... a box of toiletries for Frank which were made by Hermes! What an unexpected treat!

The next day was another special treat as we took a ride in a gondola. The Gondoliers were waiting for us when we arrived.
They looked so cute in their straw hats and white sailor shirts!

This has been one of the things that I'd always wanted to do when we were there but could never seem to find the time.

We were with a large group of gondolas and we had accordion music along with a man singing opera and all the old familiar Italian songs. It was delightful!

The sights from this perspective were awesome. Wish you could have been there with us!

Tomorrow we will board the Holland America Oosterdam and be on our way for this Mediterranean adventure. I can't wait!

XOXO, Pcasso

VENETIAN ADVENTURES AND MEDITERRENIAN DREAMS

This will be the beginning a quite a few posts in a row. We have spent the last month in Europe so I will be "reporting" about the trip on a daily basis for the most part. We had many exciting adventures and I'll try to not bore you with too many details.
Franklin picked us up at two in the afternoon on the first of October and we headed for the airport, Venice and points beyond.

We had ordered a wheelchair for me at the airport but it never came. We waited for over 45 minutes and then walked very slowly to the gate on our own. My back was still very sensitive so we thought I should take it easy, at least at the start of this month long adventure.

When we arrived at Heathrow there was a driver and a car waiting for us and he took us to Gatwick where the next leg of our trip began. Our connection between flights was so close at Heathrow that we were afraid to risk missing the plane. That's why we changed airports just to be on the safe side. It was about an hour's drive but an easy one since there was very little traffic (thank goodness).

We had about an hour wait in the club once we arrived at Gatwick and we then boarded an airbus for Venice.
We had a delightful flight attendant who kept us entertained for the entire length of the flight. Both flights were uneventful with the exception of our arrival at Heathrow when they couldn't get the Jetway to fit properly on the plane, so we were stuck there for over 45 minutes. At least our luggage was waiting for us by the time we got to the baggage claim.

We arrived in Venice on time and took a water taxi to our hotel. It is the large white building on the left and is located on the Grand Canal. You could not ask for a better location! We were staying at the Londra Palace Hotel on our travel agent, Ruth Turpin who owns Cruises Etc's recommendation. It was a lovely hotel and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. This was the perfect spot since you could sit on the terrace and watch the world pass by.

We were really tired as we had been traveling for over 15 hours so we took a nap as soon as we got to the hotel.

We got up around 6:00 p.m. Venetian time, had a cocktail on the terrace, a light supper and were back in bed by 9:00.

Of course we had to have a Compari and soda as it's THE drink of Italy!

We always plan to do nothing on our first travel day as we know that we will be suffering from a little jet lag. Even though we are blessed to be able to fly in the front of the plane where the seats make into beds, that doesn't stop the jet lag. Tomorrow we will be up early and then on to explore the canals of Venice.

XOXO, Pcasso