Italy Part 4: Couples in Venice

 Saturday, June 23^rd.  Today we would check-out of the base lodging facility and stay the night in Venice instead. Douglas and I made the trip with two other couples. All of us had much more luggage than expected. It was clear that we all needed a European lesson in traveling lightly.

The Command used their two vehicles to transport us and a few other Marines from the lodging facility to Pordenone Train Station. This is one of the Marines in the back seat with a suitcase (that happens to be mine) on his lap.

Rayma and I cramped in the back. Using the rearview mirror was clearly not an option. I'm sure this set-up is illegal somewhere.

The guys managed to get all the luggage from one side of the platform, down a flight of stairs, and up another flight of stairs.

Is it not obvious that we are Americans?

Douglas, Aaron, and Sam

Rayma, Christen, and I. We laughed like school girls the entire ride.

Our first water taxi ride together.

Inside water taxi. Not sure what I was looking at, but it must have been interesting.

My handsome husband inside the water taxi.

It took approximately 40 minutes for the water taxi to go from Venice Station to our stop, San Marco. Here are the sights we saw along the way. 

Gondola

We all got to take a ride on the Gondola later that evening.

Gondolas are very popular in Venice. A long time ago they were used as the main source of transportation to carry people around. Now their primary role is to transport tourists on rides. The cost was about $125 for 45 minutes. The price was well worth it for the experience.

A Norwegian Cruise Ship. One of the largest I've ever seen.

The water taxi let us off near the famous San Marco Square

We found our hotel first to get settled. It was located in this alleyway.

Our hotel, Torre Dell 'Orologio Suites - Douglas and I tried to get a room, but they were booked for the night. Rayma and Aaron offered for us to stay in their room, which was perfect!

Our room was located in a building around the corner.

Inside of the building we stayed in. We all had to carry about 10 pieces of luggage up a flight of stairs. (Well, Rayma and I actually passed Douglas and Aaron the bags, but those were a lot of bags to pass!)

Hallway entrance that was about 6 ft long.

You can imagine our shock when we walked into what appeared to be a 9 x 12 ft. room. Our luggage took up the remaining walking space in the entire room. This room cost $345 per night and apparently that was cheap for Venice. What the heck?

All we could do was a grab a corner and sit where we could. That made for some interesting sleeping arrangements.

Rayma and I found the arrangement quite amusing. What else can you do in a situation like this? There was NO room to even be upset! 

This was the bathroom, which had a bedee. There were only 2 towels and 2 washcloths. Only 1 washcloth and 1 towel per family. Lesson learned! Now we know what to expect next time.

After settling into the room (as best as possible) we strolled around San Marco Square.

Tourist usually enjoy feeding the many birds in the square. I have a serious phobia of pigeons and all other types of birds. I'm positive everyone around me thought I was crazy as I ducked to the ground every time a pigeon flew near me. Which they didn't.  But I ducked anyway.  Don't judge me.

Everyone enjoyed a slice of pizza to serve as a snack before dinner. I on the other hand had a sorry looking fruit cup that wasn't even cold. Sometimes being gluten intolerant just stinks!

Street vendor that mainly sold masks. The masks are worn during Carnivale every year.

Douglas negotiating the price with the street vendor that sold paintings. He knocked off 10 Euro. My New York hustle must have rubbed off on my husband. :)

Beautiful city!

One of the many water canals in Venice. We rode the Gondala through here later that night.

Admiring the picturesque view.

Sitting down for dinner at Hotel Venezia.

Girls just wanna have fun! The restaurant was right next to the water. Gorgeous view.

Each couple kissed before dinner while the other played photographer. Creating romantic moments.

Moscato for the table. It was so good they ordered a couple bottles to go.

What is this on my plate? Those were the thoughts floating through my head after seeing this so called "Shrimp Scampi." All my American friends know that shrimp scampi doesn't look anything like this madness. Aren't the shrimp supposed to be already out of the shell?!

Douglas had to go Charleston on the dish and crack those bad boys open for me. I couldn't even touch them! This is my 2nd experience with ordering a seafood dish that looked completely opposite from how I imagined it would look. I'm so done with ordering seafood at restaurants outside of the States. Red Lobster would have been a treat!

Although my meal was unexpected in appearance and taste, we still had a terrific time with one another.

After dinner we took a ride on the Gondala at 11:00 p.m. The six of us shared one boat. The battery in my camera died by this time, so I couldn't capture any photos during the ride. However, our friends did get several good ones. I will post those once received.

Watched a couple have a midnight photo shoot in the square. Pretty cool.

My love

What a perfect way to end the night, staring into the eyes of the man of my dreams. He really is a dream come true and so was this trip.

We called it a night around 12:30 a.m. and went back to the room to get a little shut eye before catching the 3:30 a.m. water taxi to the airport. We were all so tired it didn't even matter that there was only one bed. We picked our corner and passed out!