Venice

For leaving Athens, we had a transfer from the flat to the airport. After the arrival and seeing the transit system and distance, we opted to pay for the ride for personal transfer. The owner of the flat took us along the coast road and older neighborhoods, but more spread out than the central city. It was a nice drive and we had a small discussion of the Greek "crises". At the airports, we found it quiet, modern and somewhat efficient. We were gearing up for the flight on Aegean airlines. It is new to us and we didn't no what to expect.
SURPRISE! It was not a crowded flight, only 2 hour flight, 1 screaming baby behind us, and HOT FOOD served to everyone. Bowled us over. I don't know if it is Italian airports or not, but passengers don't deplane or load from the same gate. Each time we have been bused to the airplane, or off the plane to the terminal, even if it is just around the corner. Strange and not very effecient


We caught the water taxi, a few minutes walk from the airport down to the docks, across the lagoon to our designated stop. Boats were everywhere, some speeding, lots of wakes and our slow boat was passed quite a bit. Someone met us and led the way to the apartment, along canal banks, over bridges and down side streets. This place was very charming, old beams, some old bricks showing but newly remodeled and very nice. It still had some large closets and built in kitchen cupboards, very old world style. We enjoyed the place very much.

So after our first shock of the day, breakfast, we did our usual walking around, 1st day to the Rialto bridge and neighborhoods. The bridge is in scaffolding for repair, so not much to see. Plenty of people crossing tho. The main street is chock full of shopping, all with the same stuff, plenty of cafes and people. Lots of cruise ships in, at least 5 the first day. Some of the route is in small alleyways, over small and large bridges, all very quaint and pretty much what you see in pictures. There are several gondola stops and large boats for the Grand Canal. We opted not to take either, the gondola was 80 euros for 30 min and up to 4 people in the boat. They are pretty decked out and nice to look at. The Grand canal boats are the main transportation from beginning to end if you don't want to walk. But a 1 way trip is 7.50, no matter where you get on. There are some spectacular buildings along the way and large churches. But we saw many of these from the walks too. Along the side streets we would come across squares, churches, fountains and small cafes. Charming.

Day 2, we walked to St. Marks square, via some back roads and spent a little time in the square and down on the waters edge. It was very busy, crowded and over the top. The church is quite ornate, and very large. You can tour inside the basilica, but like at the Vatican and St. Peters Basilica, a long line to go inside. Hours of standing in the square and shoulder to shoulder inside. So we thought we would just have a sit and coffee. Oops, there's that location thing and you pay a pretty price for the setting. Up to 12 euro for a cup of coffee! We had a soda and take away sandwich and stood against the wall. Anyway, it was nice to see it and the Venetians didn't waste their money on plain stuff. This picture of the large church on the water is across the square and quite an impressive sight.

Some things we noticed on the walking and wondered about was how buildings cope with the water and tides, those on the canals. Not everyone has waterfront, where does the sewage go or how is it handled, where does the water come from. Everyday you can put out a bag of trash at the door and street guys come an take it away. The streets were very clean, no trash except a little in the canals, mail is delivered and deliveries are all made by hand on a large hand truck. There are no cars or scooter, not even bikes on the island. Even an ambulance ride is by water. We did find it very interesting, but also very expensive. Most meals ran about 23 euros and 2 in particular were breakfast of 3 muffins or croissants and 3 coffees, and a lunch of 3 tapas type appetizers and 3 glasses of wine. Most beers rans about 7.00. Gone were the days of pizza or pasta for about 6.00e, in Greece. Wine was cheap tho.

Check this out

I can't resist looking in bakeries or patisseries. From the street, one patisserie has huge glob of meringue and Bill and Shirley drooled over them until we finally bought one for them to share. You can see how big it is and neither one wanted to finish it!

Yumm or yuck