DAY 03: To avoid your place in hell...

Here we are on day 3... our last day in Venice (until the end of our trip next Saturday, at least). Shawn slept horribly because he now has my sore throat from last weekend. I, however, enjoyed an air conditioner that was working much better! Plus, we had a major storm last night. It was awesome and helped get rid of the humidity. We could not have been happier. We actually went out in the rain to St. Mark's Square where plenty of people were still dancing and listening to the musicians who were now under tents. The vaporetto ride over there was absolutely crazy. The Grand Canal was raging and we all kept getting splashed. Again, it was awesome.

So, this morning, we took a train to Padova (20 minutes away) to see the Scrovegni Chapel. The chapel was commissioned by a member of the Scrovegni family in 1300-ish, the purpose of which was to save a family member from burning in hell. They were known for being greedy, which according to even Dante, was worthy of eternal damnation. As luck would have it, Giotto was availble to cover the chapel in frescoes from top to bottom. Beautiful! Now, the paintings are so precious that viewers are only allowed in the chapel for 15 minutes at a time, in groups of 25. Before you enter, you enter a chamber to watch a short film while the humidity levels are stabilized inside the chapel. Craziness.

Padova also has a fair amount of modern, regular shopping (not high end boutiques like most of these cities). Shawn found a shirt he liked (but did not purchase). It actually advertised the Kentucky State Fair from 1982 and read: "Not since the caveman have humans eaten so much food on sticks." V. odd.

After we returned to Venice proper, we went straight to the Ghetto. The first ghetto was in Venice, but it is not as it sounds. The term is derived from the Venetian dialect and referred to the neighborhood where the Jewish population lived for a long time. There is nothing "ghetto" about the area, though. It is actually really cute. =)

We also hit several of our neighborhood bakeries for Italian cannoli and cookies this afternoon. We did not skip gelato, though... so do not even think that! Tonight we are turning in early and leaving for Naples and the Amalfi Coast early tomorrow. Not sure of the internet situation there, but stay tuned just in case...

Buona sera! xoxo, h&s

DAY 02: It's very hot.

Yep, it's unseasonably hot here, plus our room is sweltering. We avoided it by running around all day long. First we took the vaporetto to Burano, one of many small islands in Venice's lagoon. It was a charming, but more colorful, version of Venice. The houses are painted bright royal blue, purple, yellow, red, and so on. I got to try Coke-flavored gelato, which is even better than it sounds! We had a great lunch at the Gatto Nero (Black Cat); I got adventurous and ordered grilled eel... even better than Coke gelato! Except for the tail, of course.

In the afternoon we took a lengthy boat ride to San Giorgio Maggiore, which is basically an island consisting of a huge church. Unfortunately by the time we got there it was closing, so we hopped the boat back to Venice for more cichetti. A note about cichetti: you basically walk up to the bar and choose from several plates of appetizers. You may not recognize any of them, but chances are, they're delicious. Between last night and this evening, we have tried calamari, shrimp and scallop salad, tuna fritters, grilled tomatoes smothered in basil, pecorino and herbed goat cheese, potatoes and marinated sun-dried tomatoes, veal meatballs, and deep-fried zucchini blossoms. It's inexpensive to eat this way and you get to try so much. It all seems relatively healthy, as well (save the deep-fried stuff).

We've been using our Italian as much as possible, mostly with old women and shopkeepers (they speak more slowly). It's fun, and they seem surprised that we're from Indiana.

Tonight we're off to the main piazza, San Marco, for dancing... and probably more gelato.

So, anyone else out there? Talk to you tomorrow from our last day in Venice.
ciao, h&s

DAY 01: Lovable chaos.

Well, we're here! We were scheduled to arrive in Venice at 2:02 pm, but didn't check in until nearly 6 pm. If you saw our previous post about Delta screwing us, they did it again. After giving in to them and changing our itinerary, we waited in the blazing hot Rome airport only to see our connecting flight to Venice cancelled with no explanation. Aah!

So, we ended up flying into Verona an hour later. At that point, they offered to take us via shuttle to the Venice airport. We decided to take off on our own and hopped a bus into Verona, where we caught a train directly into Venice. So, we are exhausted and going to bed shortly (and it's like 2 pm Indiana time). As usual, sleep on the plane was scarce.

We spent this evening walking around the Rialto Bridge area in town. It bridges the Grand Canal and is very lively with many restaurants and, more importantly, gelaterias. We had a lovely tapas-style dinner (called cichetti in Venice) and our initial cup of the good stuff (chocolate-hazelnut for me, banana-limone for Shawn). It was a short day here in Venice after all the travelling we did, but we have the next two days completely devoted to her...



Hope to hear from you all soon! xoxo, h&s

ITINERARY

June 28 : 3 nights
Hotel Giorgione, Venice

July 01 : 4 nights
Albergo California, Positano

July 05 : 2 nights
Nicolas Inn, Rome

June 07 : 2 nights
Argentina Residenza, Rome

July 09 : 1 night
Pensione Guerrato, Venice

Arrivederci!

So long everyone! We hope you follow our travels by checking in with this blog frequently. We arrive in Italy Tuesday, and we hope to begin posting shortly thereafter.

Talk to you soon,
H&S

Learn from our mistakes.

On Monday, with seven days to go, our itinerary got a shake-up. I consider myself a seasoned traveller, but with all of the restrictions and policies that airlines instate, each trip is a unique experience.

In March, we purchased round-trip tickets from CVG - Venice with a plane change in Rome. Perfect, we thought! We had already decided to start our trip in Rome, so we could just get off the plane and leave the airport. Also planning to end the trip in Venice, our requirements were met. At the time of purchase, I noted that we should call Delta to alert them to the fact that we would be getting off in Rome, not Venice. After all, I had heard stories of tickets getting cancelled for such behavior.

When Shawn called the airline this past Monday, he was told that getting off the plane in Rome, rather than our true final destination, would be an "abuse of ticket". We could only do this if we paid an outrageous fee of $2200. The airline would have to issue a new ticket and we would need to pay the difference. What?! We didn't ask to change anything about our ticket. We just want to leave the airport in Rome and have two empty seats fly on to Venice. After explaining this, we were told that this does not allow the airline to "target the correct markets" when pricing tickets.

Seriously?! First of all, we're driving from Indianapolis to Cincinnati to catch the flight. So, we're already throwing off their market research. Second, if we already purchased the ticket, isn't that enough? Clearly, there's interest. I've taken trains all over Europe and if a passenger wants to get off before the supposed final destination, it is okay to do so. Often, that passenger can even jump back on and continue as originally planned. The airlines, however, prove time and again through lame policies and bad customer service that we are here to serve them... not the other way around.

So, we switched our itinerary. We scrambled Monday night, shifting hotels and transportation plans. We're still going to Italy and will have a great time regardless. It's just costing a bit more now... thanks, Delta.

Airline Itinerary

One week to go! Here is our airline schedule for those who need it:

Monday, 6/27 - Tuesday, 6/28
Delta 32
Departure: Cincinnati, 6:55 pm
Arrival: Rome, 10:10 am

Delta 8198 / Alitalia AZ 1471
Departure: Rome, 1:00 pm
Arrival: Venice, 2:10 pm

Friday, 7/1
Alitalia AZ 1218
Departure: Venice, 11:25 am
Arrival: Naples, 12:40 pm

Sunday, 7/10
Delta 8253 / Alitalia AZ 1460
Departure: Venice, 6:40 am
Arrival: Rome, 7:55 am

Delta 33
Departure: Rome, 10:10 am
Arrival: Cincinnati, 2:45 pm

Special thanks to John, Tara, and Mom for going the extra 90 miles to help save us some money. ;) Love you guys.

3 weeks and counting...

Well, it's time to rev up this blog's engine. We leave in 21 days... and the dollar is gaining against the Euro. ;)

In the meantime, we can follow our buddy, Duane, as he travels through the UK and France.