Tuesday, October 6, 2009

jon paulo to the rescue

12/9/09
I’m hoping that this is the only day of the trip with any malfunctions… luciano, the man who drove us from the station to the hotel upon arrival, was supposed to pick us up early this morning so that we could make our 6:12am train. Well he never showed, so we missed our ride to Venice. Of course since it was 6am in a tiny Italian village so no one was awake except the trash guy who spoke no English. He did give me a business card for a taxi service, but no one answered. Luckily one of the hotel employees woke up and we somehow communicated the situation. She called Jon Paulo to drive us and he spoke a “leetle” English. At the station we realized we’d be waiting hours for another train headed in the right direction. For 50€ jon Paulo drove us to Perugia where the service center was actually open. The manager gave us a new route, which added another connection, and it was a tight one… poor gma! It was at this point that I think the girls realized why I was pushing for smaller suitcases – schlepping the big ones is not fun.

Finally we made it to our Venice apartment where the apartment owner, furio, gave us tips and showed us around our home for the next two nights. It was great! We had a ton of space, nice bathroom, washing machine, and wifi!

 
views from our apartment




 After getting organized we went to a market furio suggested for eggs, milk, olives, and peppers. Then we window-shopped our way to st. mark’s square. I fell in love with Venice instantly. All my previous hesitations about this city of bridge-connected islands were gone.


this way to st. mark's!


st. mark's basilica


 bridge of sighs

 The rest of the night we strolled the alleys, took pictures, ate a great dinner with good wine, and went to bed to rest up for the next day.




2 comments:

  1. I'm so very jealous of your vacation! Someone needs to take me somewhere quick before I throw another temper tantrum!!

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  2. Isn't Venice the most romantic city. I love the way the people live in the squares-the adults eating and drinking and the kids playing. Also, no traffic! I am really enjoying your blog Mel-and the pictures of Venice were great! Bev

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