This is the second part of the Italy trip blog. Pat and my anniversary trip finally took place during two weeks in mid May. After a long two travel days we finally arrived to our first destination of the tour: Venice Italy, the city made up of 118 small islands and photo opportunities abound.
Travel Days
It always seems the long travel days are much more manageable whenever you are going to a location. Coming back it is a different story. At least for me.
We booked the Amtrak business class from Roanoke to our flight location of Newark, NJ. I debated taking the train versus flying. The train takes 8 hours versus 6 hours for the flight (including check in and TSA, plus 1-stop). The cost was $245 train vs $400 air each roundtrip. We had taken Amtrak last year to Philly and it was not bad at all. This year by using business class it was even better – assigned seats, more legroom, free coffee and soft drinks, and less changeover of people in the seats.
All bright and fresh ready for one long travel day. We are at the Roanoke train station 
Since Roanoke is the first stop, they just back up the train from some side track 
Look at the legroom in these business class seats! Amazing 
At the cafe car. It was accessed by walking through our business, then the quiet car, then cafe
At Newark, we arrived at our Hampton Inn via an Uber, checked in and then met our travel companions from Dallas, Mike and Lorna. Of course, it required another Uber to meet them for a dinner at Applebee’s. This trip is also their 50th anniversary from a year earlier. Covid has everything delayed.
The next day, our flight was scheduled for 6:10pm, so no hurrying. That meant a late check out of hotel at noon, Uber to airport by 12:30 and the lunch at the airport food court (Panda Express) and wait for the Lufthansa check in desk to open by 2:00. The travel information from our tour company recommended a 3.5 hour advance check in. No problem there!
The Lufthansa flight was on an old 747 without much legroom. Other than cramped, it was a fine flight and we watched 3 movies. The 747 took us to Frankfort Germany and from there a connecting flight on an A321 to Venice. We found the Frankfort airport was a long hike to the connecting flight plus we had to check in at passport control. Some long lines, but we made it through and got a nice 2 mile walk in!
The 747 prior to boarding 
The swiss alps
Funny thing is we met some of our tour party on this airport hike. Pat and I had the orange SmarTours tags on our backpacks and so did two other couples. People that we would come to know quite well after two weeks of seeing awesome sights, waiting in lines, great dinners, and riding on buses!
Of course, it was an overnight flight and we arrived in Venice at 10am all ready for our day. That 10am local would we 4am back home in Virginia. Sure, a little tired from no sleep overnight, but excited to finally be there. We stayed up 33 hours that day and slept well!
Arrival
While travel to Venice may seem a bit involved, it is more straightforward than once you arrive due to the 118 islands that make up the city and the 400 bridges that connect it. Our Tour Director (Ida) met us at the airport holding up a SmarTours sign after we had picked up luggage. I was expecting a bus. Wrong, it was a boat that held maybe 8 people, so we needed 3 boats for our group of 21 plus Ida.
Water taxi to the hotel 
Inside the water taxi with very low head room. One has to crawl out 
These boats took us across a bay to the Venice waterways. Through several canals and finally docked right at our hotel. Imagine that, boating from airport to hotel! We lugged back packs and suitcases into the hotel and began the check in process.
It went very quick and efficient at Hotel Carlton on the Grand Canal. The travel service had each party booked at the hotel so all we had to do was sign their document and receive our room key. The Venice hotel actually uses a real key!
Venice
From Wikipedia paraphrased: Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are linked by over 400 bridges. The islands are in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay lying between the mouths of the Po and the Piave rivers (more exactly between the Brenta and the Sile). In 2020, around 258,685 people resided in greater Venice or the Comune di Venezia, of whom around 55,000 live in the historical island city of Venice (centro storico) and the rest on the mainland (terraferma).
The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC. The city was historically the capital of the Republic of Venice for over a millennium, from 697 to 1797. It was a major financial and maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as an important center of commerce—especially silk, grain, and spice, and of art from the 13th century to the end of the 17th. The city-state of Venice is considered to have been the first real international financial center, emerging in the 9th century and reaching its greatest prominence in the 14th century. This made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history. For centuries Venice possessed numerous territories along the Adriatic Sea and within the Italian peninsula, leaving a significant impact on the architecture and culture that can still be seen today. The sovereignty of Venice came to an end in 1797, at the hands of Napoleon. Subsequently, in 1866, the city became part of the Kingdom of Italy.
Pat’s photo 
There are outside dining places everywhere 
Ah, the sunshine 
These boats are curved to turn right since the paddle is only on one side to offset 
This is the Rialto Bridge. The oldest of 4 bridges on the Grand Canal. It was first built in 1173 
We had two nights here. This first afternoon is on our own to explore in good sunny weather that we will soon miss. And tonight is a welcome dinner with wine. Obviously, wine is served with all meals here in Italy. Ok, maybe not breakfast. Speaking of breakfast, all hotels provide a breakfast at about 7am before our tour days begin. I don’t think that Italians eat breakfast other than an expresso and a pastry. Every single breakfast buffet had rare bacon and mushy scrambled eggs. They also had some fruit and pastries as well, but I wonder about that raw bacon. They all did have a self service cappuccino/expresso machine. They were very slow, but quite good. After 4-5 of the small coffees I was ready to go!
Our afternoon cappuccino to make it through that long first day 
Our dinner 
The food was all excellent 
It is always oil and vinegar on salads. No other option 
Spaghetti and meat balls. The pasta sauce was awesome
After we completed the Murano tour (below) we had a local guide to explore St. Mark’s Square, the Byzantine Basilica of Marco and we walked past the Doge’s palace. Finally, we saw the bridge of sighs where prisoners would cross on their way to prison.
Bridge of Sighs 
Pat stays happy even in pouring down rain! 
Our city tour guide. She kept apologizing about the rain. 
The Basilica of St. Mark 
On a rainy day the gondolas were all idled
Murano
After breakfast on Day 2, we got into the smaller boats and then after a short ride boarded another ferry boat over to the island chain of Murano. What makes it unique is the glass making craft. It also rained all day on us as we were wearing all our wet weather gear. Our shoes became soaked and required some serious use of the hotel room blow dryers.
The island of Murano is renowned for its long tradition of glass-making. Ferry-loads of visitors come to explore the factories and shops. In 1291, all the glassmakers in Venice were required to move to Murano. In the following century, exports began, and the island became famous, initially for glass beads and mirrors. Aventurine glass was invented on the island, and for a while Murano was the main producer of glass in Europe. The island later became known for chandeliers. Although decline set in during the eighteenth century, glassmaking is still the island’s main industry.
I had heard that Venice kept all the skilled glass makers on this island to keep their processes a secret. They were not allowed to leave and continue their craft. How they did that, I do not know.
A school group here to watch the glass blowing demo 
Expert glass blower 
He made two items while we were watching 
Wrap Up
That’s a summary of Day 1-2 of the 11 day tour. Thanks for following along! Take care and God Bless.
Looks like you had a great start to your trip.