Viva Venice

St. Mark's Square

We’ve visited Venice before, but never approached the city via a cruise ship from the sea.  Arrival by ship is magnificent!  We sailed within 500 yards of St. Mark’s Square and got a bird’s eye view from the ship’s top deck of the network of canals.  We were docked by 9:00 a.m. and ready to go ashore.  A shuttle boat takes passengers from the port directly to St. Mark’s Square; fortunately, it’s very accessible with a ramp and kindly attendant to help.  We were a little unsure what to find in Venice as far as accessibility; our memories mainly consist of walking narrow streets over innumerable bridges. 

Arriving at St. Mark’s Square you would swear that at least 2/3 of the earth’s population had congregated there.  Moving around was next to impossible.  The line to enter the Basilica stretched from the front door almost to the docks.  Dwight found a perch on a folded table (the cost of occupying an actual café table in the Square was too precious) and I went to reconnoiter.   Nothing but people everywhere I looked.  We returned to the dock where there was a Tourist Information booth which had a handy guide called “Accessible Venice.”  They’re at least trying.  We studied the available options—there were suggested itineraries from about 6 starting points throughout Venice.  The key was to take a water bus to the different areas and make your way from there.  The waterbuses run on routes much like a subway system.  We figured out how to get to Rialto on the Grand Canal.  The area seemed to have a lot of side streets without bridges, and such was the case.  In the Rialto area we found a nice Osteria serving pizza and half litres of decent wine.   Good stop.  Good lunch. 

After continuing the waterbus route to the end of the line at the Plaza de Rome, we walked back to the port, which was quite a haul for Dwight.  Something, other than the incredible crowds of people, had felt different about Venice.  One of the crew members pointed out that it no longer smells bad.  I regret both the crowds and the lack of smell.  Venice is special and everyone should see it at least once; we’ve seen it 3 times.  The Marina is beginning to feel like home.  We’re looking forward to a new start to a new cruise.   Fruit basket turnover tomorrow.