I described our arrival in Venice, I hope that aided in helping you figure out your approach to getting to your hotel. And now for the fun stuff. What to do.
There is one thing about how my husband and I travel. We rarely do all the tourist sites. We know that may mean missing out on something that is a “must-see” but it is our style of travel. We would much rather become absorbed in the place we are visiting than standing in line. We do try to hit at least one of the main attractions, if we can.
Venice was our last stop having been to Rome and Florence first. It had been our second trip to Rome so we were less obligated to do the main attractions having been to some of the biggies (Vatican, etc) on our first trip. While in Florence we went up the Duomo (that is another post for another time!) and had seen the statue of David. For Venice, we just weren’t in the mood and skipped the Basilica, Doges Palace or any of the Ca (chateau/palace) tours. We walked through or past St. Mark’s Square and the Bridge of Sighs so these were “done” by de facto.
If you have three days to spend in Venice and are interested in visiting some of the main attractions then I suggest you start EARLY and get through them the first day. If you are not interested, then you can do what my husband and I did.
Throw your map away and walk. Walk aimlessly without any destination in mind and make it an adventure of finding the most obscure corners, alleys, and walkways that are a photographer’s dream.
Bump into the local pubs where the natives will teach you about the local drink you can’t get at the tourist bars. Take in the smaller, more intimate restaurants and don’t worry about missing your reservation because you couldn’t find your way.
Lunch at a local pub: ham sandwiches and sprtich
We walked for hours and hours. When we got tired we stopped in outdoor terraces for a coffee or beer, or the local cocktail called a “sprtich” (no clue if that is the spelling!).
Lovely terrace for coffee and people watching
Then Day 2 ride every route of the fabulous (and cheap!) water bus. You see Venice from the outside. You see Venice from the inside. Get off and wander around and then get back on. It’s truly an amazing system!
View from the water bus.
When you are hungry, stop when you find a restaurant. When you are thirsty, stop when you find a pub or terrace. When you are tired, sit on a lovey bench and watch the boats and the natives. It was especially fun to watch the DHL boat delivery packages in the busy port area and to watch the garbage men collect garbage by boat!
Don’t forget to ride at night as well for spectacular views of the palazzos lit up in the dark.
A palazzo at night taken from the water bus.
Now you are ready for Day 3, the islands. Murano and Burano. But that will be another post – coming soon!
All photos taken by Mr. Misadventures.
Today I am being featured on Lynn’s delightful blog, Midday Escapades. Lynn loves Paris and is a regular reader of this blog. She recently interviewed me and has spotlighted me on her blog today!
Take a wander over there to check it out.
This headline has been sitting in my draft box for months. I guess it is one of those topics that needs to be teased out.
A couple of months back I took part in a team building seminar on the topic of communication. It wasn’t meant to be a seminar solely for workplace communication, it was something that was to be applied to all aspects of our life.
This post isn’t about the content of that seminar, but rather one single statement that really stuck with me. And it has been following me around ever since that day in December.
You’re either important or you’re not.
The facilitator mentioned this in relation to communication between parents and children. That parents need to be cognizant of what they say all the time. That they should not expect their children to know when what their mothers or fathers are saying should be paid attention to or not. As far as they know, they should always be paying attention.
So those moments when a child hears their mother saying, “Alex is bad at math. Ashley is shy. Peter is really messy.” are taken as seriously as when their mother says, “Look both ways before you cross the street. Don’t talk to strangers. Don’t leave the front yard.”
While I was in Mexico a few days before our cruise in December, I saw the most amazing commercial on TV. It was more a public service announcement rather than a commercial and it was beautifully done. It showed various children with one parent or the other in common situations such as purchasing groceries, waiting in traffic, playing at the park. What was interesting was the fact that the father was rude to the grocery clerk, so the child did the same. The mother was yelling at the driver in front of her, so the child did the same. The father hit another adult at the park, so the child did the same.
Do you see the implications?
I was also witness to a real-life incident in that very week while on our cruise. We were in Nicaragua and all of the excursions were running behind. They all arrived at the pier to return to the ship at the same time. There were hundreds of people that needed to get back to the ship in a coordinated, organized manner. The result was that we were placed into lines and then taken 30-40 at a time on smaller boats to our ship.
After waiting about 20 minutes, the group that my husband and I were in was next. And right as we were about to be loaded on, a mother walked up pulling her daughter and said, “look honey, we will just cut in line here and that way we won’t have to wait.” What lesson did that little girl walk away with?
I don’t think this applies to just parents and children. I think it applies to people. All people. Between spouses. Between friends. Between co-workers, etc.
I know people would like to excuse it with “do as I say and not what I do.” But how is the other person supposed to know when that is applied? And when it is not? Communication is the transferring of information from one person to another. When someone forces a recipient to try to figure how to interpret a piece of information, there is room for error.
So think about the next time that someone says, “I did that because I am stupid.” Don’t jump to agree with them in one moment and then compliment them the next.
You’re either important or you’re not.
Be important all the time and mean your words.
Question for you today.
But first some background.
I read a lot of blogs.
Seriously, a lot.
That means I read a lot of blog posts.
Problem is, I don’t comment on every one. I usually don’t feel like I can add any value to the post. One of the edicts in the social media world when it comes to commenting is “don’t leave it if you aren’t adding value to the post.”
But then I think, “oh fooey.” Yes. I know. Very mature.
I just feel like people may want to know that I am reading and supporting them even if I have nothing else to say.
By the way, no one found that widget I mentioned I was looking for last weekend (in my P.S.). But that got me thinking about trying something else.
How would YOU feel if I left the following on your blog post:
“Hi, it’s Andi, I just wanted to let you know that I was here and read your post!”
Would that seem weird to you?
I described our arrival in Venice, I hope that aided in helping you figure out your approach to getting to your hotel. And now for the fun stuff. What to do.
