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Venice: Twice is Not Enough

Sse
2004-09-14 10:20:58

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Ah Venice!
22 years ago I set foot and to be honest, I wasn't sure if I would have the chance to visit this mesmerizing city again.

My trip to Italy was decided three weeks before I left. The first eight days were spent on a tour of Sicily. In five days, I visited Sorrento, Capri, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. Then Venice. It was to be four nights but turned three due to misinformation about returning to Rome. I had to change my flight for the next day.

Forget the negative adjectives of Venice. Smelly. Dirty. You have to look beyond that, or don't go at all. Venice is my favourite city.

The flight from Rome is less than an hour. Claimed my luggage then I bought my tickets for the Alilaguna boat ride to Piazza San Marco for 10 Euro, one-way. A free shuttle bus outside the airport takes people to the dock.

As the boat made its way toward the island I remembered back in 1981 the tour guide mentioned that Venice would be wiped away the next century (buildings deteriorating from the water). Wait a minute! This is that century.

If you don't have time for the over one hour Alilaguna ride (including other stops it makes) then you can take the water taxi which is about 20 minutes to Piazza San Marco but costs about six times more. Alilaguna has two lines. For more info, visit www.alilaguna.it.

Should you need to leave early in the morning back to the airport, you can purchase a ticket the night before or, as I did, buy the return ticket at the airport. The ticket counters don't open early in the morning. The first Alilaguna leaves about 4:30am from San Marco.

I saw the porters waiting for business and approached the one with a ponytail.

"Where is Hotel Da Bruna?"
"Oh, a long ways," said the porter. He made it sound like it was miles away.
"Not that long. I was told a five-minute walk."
"No. More than five minutes. A long way." He ...