Greece and Turkey 2012
VENICE  |  CROATIA  |  MONTENEGRO  |  CORFU  |  KAFALONIA   |  PYLOS  |  NAFPLION  |  PIRAEUS  |  MILOS  |  MYKONOS

PATMOS  |  KUSADASI  |  CHIOS  |  ISTANBUL DAY 1  |  ISTANBUL DAY 2  |  ISTANBUL DAY 3  |  TRAVEL REFLECTIONS


VENICE       - 22 September 2012

As usual, the journey getting to starting point of the trip is hell. We arrived in Frankfort on time and had to catch another flight to Venice. The Frankfort airport is where the German people demonstrate that their reputation for efficiency might be overrated. From our Washington DC-to-Frankfort flight we had to walk almost a mile to get to passport control. This put us outside the secure area and so we had to re-enter thru the security checkpoint - like the hundreds (no, many thousands) of other people trying to catch their plane. To make it more interesting, the guards had never seen a computer like the one I was carrying so I had to take a hike to another area to get it checked out. We then had to trace our steps back to our connecting flight which was located as far as it could have been both from our arrival gate and from the checkpoints.

Naturally, we missed the connection.

Four hours later we got on a flight to Venice. Our guide, who knew we were on the later flight, missed us at the gate. A water taxi ride later we were at our hotel.

VeniceVenice Venice is a hard city not to like. The main thoroughfares are the canals and the actual walking streets are narrow, connected by bridges, and radiate from one plaza (often anchored by a church - after all it is Italy) to another.

We only had a little of a morning and afternoon in Venice but we had been to the area around the hotel on an earlier trip. We were bushed. We decided on an early dinner away from our hotel - and got lost getting there (typical of our Venice walking ecperiences). I was anxious to see if my GPS would work there - it didn't. But a kind resident came to our rescue, walking out of his way to put us on the correct tiny narrow passageway. After dinner we walked under a bright half moon. Venice

The next day we boarded our ship, the Seaborne Odyssey. This is the first cruise for Carol and me. We have a suite in the front of the ship with a wrap around deck and view. The service is excellent. We were each escorted to the table at dinnner - fun - my escort was prettier. The meal was good, the wine ample, and the portions small. We retired to our room and crashed.

Tomorrow is our first off-ship sightseeing.





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