BED AND BREAKFAST GENEVE

I'm in Venice! Yaaaayyyy! After dreaming about it for years I'm finally here. Switching planes in London was a hassle (moving between terminals, having to go through a security screening again, staring at a status board for 40 minutes waiting for them to assign my flight to a gate, etc.) but all the travail involved in getting here was worth it.

I'm here until next Sunday. There wasn't much time for sightseeing today. By the time I got to my hotel it was after 4:00. I could have gotten to the hotel more quickly if I'd taken the bus from the airport, but I wanted to enter Venice from the water. It just seemed more fitting that way. Plus the cost of the vaporetto (water bus) from the airport was included in the price of the Venice card I bought, so it was even economically sensible. I had to change vaporettos at St. Marks though and being on that boat full of tourists and locals with my suitcase and backpack was no picnic.

My hotel is great. It's just a short distance from the vaporetto stop near the train station. It's a small place, only 50 rooms. It used to be an abbey before it was converted to a hotel. The room isn't very big (it was formerly a monk's cell after all), but it's perfect for me. So far the only downside to staying here are the bells from the nearby church that ring for about a minute straight at 6:15 and 7:15 each morning. Oh well, at least I don't have to worry about a wake-up call.

The first two days I'm here in Venice coincide with Carnevale, so after I got unpacked and freshened up I trundled off to the mask makers fair in Campo St. Stefano to buy myself a mask. I could've picked up a cheap cardboard and plastic, mass-produced, made in China mask from any one of the many stalls in town selling trinkets to tourists, but I wanted the real thing. The one I bought is a hand-made Arlecchino (harlequin) mask made of leather. It only cost me 18 euros and I'm pretty happy with it, although it does make it hard to see down and forget about peripheral vision.

But who cares about that? It's Venice, it's carnival, and I'm here!

(February 23, 2009)

"Aqua Alta!!!" Venice under water, December 2002

I was one my way to Greece and had to spend a night in Venice. This was a cheap hotel which was good enough for the night.
When I woke in the morning, the whole lobby was flooded and some other guests where sitting on the stairs. So I organized some garbage bags, put them round the feet and went out trough the water to the next bridge. There I bought some rubber boots, and went back to the hotel. I took note of all the guests boot size and went back up to the bridge, and bought a pair of rubber boots for everyone.