Sunday, November 9, 2008

Venice, Italy Day 1







We left Las Vegas at 8:00 am our time on Friday. We flew to New York and had a 4 hour layover before leaving for Venice. We arrived in Venice at 9:30 am (Venice Time) which is 1:30 am our time. We boarded the buses and were driven to the ship dock. We got our room keys, put our stuff in the Conference Room, then headed out to see Venice. We were with Sheldon & Carma Wittwer, Eric & Joni Christensen, Elaine & Steve Dalton, and Bob & Stacy from Boise.


We took a water taxi from the docks to San Marco Plaza in Venice. We walked up to the plaza and looked through the shops. We then exchanged some money for Euros so we could ride the Gondolas. Six of us took a Gondola ride for a half an hour through Venice. It was so fun. The houses are very old, but it is a very clean city. There are little barnacles attached to the block near the water line. After our lovely Gondola ride, we raced back to the plaza to get some pizza and get a couple of gifts. We found a cute little shop and grabbed a little individual pizza. It was good. We then had to hurry back to catch the water taxi. We taxied back to the ship, got all loaded, participated in the Emergency Drill, then went to the top deck to get some photos of the city as we left port and sailed past. It was really pretty.


After standing on the top deck for a half and hour or so, we were freezing, so we came back and showered, then went to the evening show and to dinner. We’ve had a really fun day–a couple of hours in Venice and reacquainting ourselves with some dear friends. We are SO tired–I’m having a hard time typing.


Here are a couple of funnies, though. You know how I get sick of EVERYBODY thinking that Paul looks so young? Well, yesterday Bob asked Paul if he was Sheldon’s son.
Paul, always the comedian, say loudly while we were in the hall passing people, "Well, lets go get in our hot tub." That’s funny because the rooms are very small. The shower is about a two foot by two foot triangle shape in the corner. When you turn the shower on, it sprays the toilet. The other great thing about the shower is that the shower curtain sticks to your butt and back because there is so little room. That’s a lovely feature! (Said with my best Brian Regan refrigerator salesman voice.)


I’m cracking jokes, but actually we feel REALLY blessed. One group of 30 had to stop for a light repair and missed their connecting flights and were flown directly into Dubrovnik. There were several couples who lost their luggage. One couple REALLY lost their luggage– there was a fire in the hull of their plane and their luggage was burned. So we are feeling really blessed to be in such a great situation with a shower curtain sticking to our rears.


Tomorrow’s stop is in Dubrovnik, Croatia. We are taking a tour there. Until tomorrow’s report......Ciao!

1 Please comment here:

Lainee said...

Okay now I am feeling a little jealous!!! ;0) It looks like you are having a great time! I am happy you are updating us while you are gone! The picture of the city is incredible, what a beautiful place. So here is my question, how do you build a city on water? I have always wanted to know how they do it, so when you get home you'll have to let me know! :) I will be looking forward to your daily posts!

BTW the program today was great, and your boys did awesome! You can be proud parents. Have fun, and don't miss us to much!!