USVI-On-Line

Slept late..or tried to…..woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep….since our hotel is at the airport, it has Boarding, Arrivals, Departures, etc on a board in the lobby. When I go downstairs, I see our flight is already set to boarding.

Our last Easy Jet flight to Venice, Italy… we printed all of our boarding passes for each flight before leaving home. with no bags to check, you do not have to wait in that HUGE line...just show up at gate, wait till they start boarding, present your passport and boarding pass....and pick your seat once you are on plane.

Enroute from France to Venice





Our first view of Venice




Venice…NO CARS!!!! Only foot traffic and boat traffic…..
what a relief after all that traffic in the French Riviera….did I say there are NO CARS in Venice! We take the bus from the airport to the island. Then load a vaporetto toward our hotel.

We chose to buy a pass good for the time we would be in Venice. It was only a euro or two more than just purchasing the fare to and from the hotel and one more trip. I was so glad we did this, since we never had to worry about having to buy tickets again during our stay in Venice. We were asked several times for our tickets. The fee for not having a valid ticket was around 30 euros, ( if I remember correctly, which was more than we paid for a 36 hour pass). You could hop on and off as you pleased, and didn’t have to worry about how far you went, etc.

I cannot piece together each day from the pictures of Venice. So I’ll just post the pictures and comment some.


You can see Bell Tower and Saint Marks in background..




I REALLY liked Venice….just walking around taking in the sights….

Vapareto under one of the many bridges




Anyone know the story behind the Big Chair and Cigarettes??





The alleyway that led to the door of our hotel: Plazzo Guardi which was close to the Accademia







Dinner at Vino Vino…sat in the garden….had the BEST lasagna, several in our group had some type of pork which was great also…










St. Mark’s…so hard to capture on film







See the crowds…we arrived about 30-45 minutes before opening…once it opened, the line moved fairly quickly, make sure you have a scarf to cover your shoulders if you don’t have sleeves, must be dressed modestly since you are entering a Church. I would recommend arriving early before it gets too hot in the day.





Bell Tower



Gets crowded at St Marks Square:






San Giorgio Maggiore church just across the canal…got in line at the wrong dock 4 times, every time we asked where to board vaporetto we given a different answer…actually seems like there was several docks with the same name…at this point it was very hot, we had been in the sun…



We finally load the correct Vaporetto and are one stop away from the Church




BUT as we loaded everyone on the boat departed! Leaving us with choice seats at the front of the Boat….which we decided seemed much more inviting….with our hair blowing in the wind, and a cool breeze to cool us off….and beautiful scenery to enjoy….so we bypass the stop and continue along the canal…..for a ride….





Girls enjoying the ride:




I think we rode all the way around….enjoying every minute….


cooling off with some gelato





Later we watched a play, which was very good….



Our dinner tonight was not good, can’t remember name of the restaurant. We had very good pizza for lunch and the gelato was also great….we had to stop twice to sample all the flavors.

We really enjoyed just walking around, taking in all the sights.

No this is not a sunset…but sunrise… I got confused on our flight departure time…so we took the FIRST vaporetto of the morning..










I think I was so worried that we all wouldn’t make the flight home with our buddy passes. Actually according to the listing we would be either one or two seats short of all 6 of us making the flight. My niece and I needed to make this flight due to work.

There was another group traveling together, some of their group was ahead of us on the standby list, and some of them below us. Since all of their group could not make the flight, they all elected to wait…..so YEAH…we all board for the 11 hour return trip to Atlanta…

And I just thought it was hot in Venice….the heat was stifling when we exited the airport….heat index was over 100….back home to AL and our summertime heat and humidity….

Many, many thanks to my Sister-in-law for making this trip of a lifetime happen….We all shared a very rewarding and fun trip that we will always cherish and remember. From the bottom of my heart I express gratitude from all of us for this wonderful journey.

I will end the report with a reflection back to the beginning of our trip…..still my favorite highlight….Seven Sisters in England…..

Thanks for sharing your trip. I am sure the girls and a fantastic experience.

Thanks for sharing words and pix.
Thats pretty adventurous to do some of that trip without reservations, esp in Europe. We've been there, done that with some of our domestic travels when we were younger, and while still flexible when traveling, we usually no longer desire to have extra wild cards with stuff like lodging.

Thank you so much for sharing your trip and taking the time to write and post all trip reports and photos. I have been enjoying them very much .

Maggy wrote:Thank you so much for sharing your trip and taking the time to write and post all trip reports and photos. I have been enjoying them very much .

Me too!

and again it brings back old memories, I just loved the place of Sct. Mark, sitting there a warm evening while there was violin music and people around you spoke different languages. But unfortunately I wasn't allowed to come into the church, because I had bare arms (I can understand that it's the same today)

Linne

thanks everyone...it was like reliving the trip putting it all together....

traveling is a gift, and I treasure every trip I take...most are driving distance so when we get to venture off somewhere we fly to I really try to savor the experience.. so hoping for a return trip to St John next summer....

We brought scarves to cover our shoulders at St Mark's, it was quite warm when we visited so we were wearing sleeveless outfits also.

they had dueling orchestras on the square while we were there which we enjoyed....