Hello Terry in Ohio and all others online here ~ This has been a most fascinating thread... the most interesting one I've read in Cruise Critic... and your pictures, Terry, are unsurpassed! Thanks for all the interesting information to read and view. It's taken me a few days to read through it all and look at some of the videos. What an enjoyment. Venice is one of my favorite cities in the world, of the places I've managed to visit in my 73 years. It all started back in the 1980's when I was stationed in Vicenza as a military wife. We could ride the train to Venice and be there in about 30 minutes. This meant we could easily go to Venice for dinner as a couple or go to Venice for lunch with other military wives or go to Venice to show our kids the historical sights or go to Venice to show our visiting parents the way around. I was afforded the wonderful opportunity to view Venice in beautiful sunshine in the summer, in the misty rainy season in the winter, after dark, during Carnivale, during a flood, with a group of giggly school girls as a class chaperone and to celebrate my 40th birthday. The city holds dear and precious memories. Fast forward to a cruise last year on the Brilliance of the Seas during the month of June. I wanted to show the city to my present husband who had not been there before. I had not been back in the intervening years either. Previously, I had thought that emerging from the train station was a great spectacle. Well, seeing the whole city of Venice from the top deck of a ship is an even more remarkable sight! Selfishly speaking, I'm glad the cruise ships were still sailing past the city like this last year. Environmentally speaking, I don't know how the cruise ships CAN'T be doing damage to the city, though, with this continuing practice and would think they might eventually be re-routed. Seeing Venice again literally brought tears to my eyes. It did not disappoint either me or my DH. The ONLY disappointment was the weather as Europe was experiencing a heat wave with temperatures soaring in the upper 90's. The heat combined with our arthritic knees and assorted other health issues made walking over those 400 bridges kind of a chore! I had insisted that we walk all the way to San Marco Square but we did give up shortly after the Rialto Bridge to take a water boat to afford us a seat and a slight breeze! Also, along the way, we stopped for a cold lemon slushee drink and it seemed like the most refreshing drink we had ever had in our lives, ha ha! That and the inside of the cafe was air-conditioned! Interestingly enough, we ran into another couple from the ship that we had toured Florence with and we told them about the lemon drink. They asked where it was and we said something like "Oh, you'll never find it. It was down some back alley." They asked if I still had the receipt and I did. They simply looked it up on their cell phone and trudged off in search of it!!! Those Millenials, LOL! Anyway, thanks again for all of the great pictures, information and for continuing the thread after all these years! Glad I saw it to reminisce with!
Venice: Loving It & Why??!!
in Italy Ports
Posted
Hello Terry in Ohio and all others online here ~ This has been a most fascinating thread... the most interesting one I've read in Cruise Critic... and your pictures, Terry, are unsurpassed! Thanks for all the interesting information to read and view. It's taken me a few days to read through it all and look at some of the videos. What an enjoyment. Venice is one of my favorite cities in the world, of the places I've managed to visit in my 73 years. It all started back in the 1980's when I was stationed in Vicenza as a military wife. We could ride the train to Venice and be there in about 30 minutes. This meant we could easily go to Venice for dinner as a couple or go to Venice for lunch with other military wives or go to Venice to show our kids the historical sights or go to Venice to show our visiting parents the way around. I was afforded the wonderful opportunity to view Venice in beautiful sunshine in the summer, in the misty rainy season in the winter, after dark, during Carnivale, during a flood, with a group of giggly school girls as a class chaperone and to celebrate my 40th birthday. The city holds dear and precious memories. Fast forward to a cruise last year on the Brilliance of the Seas during the month of June. I wanted to show the city to my present husband who had not been there before. I had not been back in the intervening years either. Previously, I had thought that emerging from the train station was a great spectacle. Well, seeing the whole city of Venice from the top deck of a ship is an even more remarkable sight! Selfishly speaking, I'm glad the cruise ships were still sailing past the city like this last year. Environmentally speaking, I don't know how the cruise ships CAN'T be doing damage to the city, though, with this continuing practice and would think they might eventually be re-routed. Seeing Venice again literally brought tears to my eyes. It did not disappoint either me or my DH. The ONLY disappointment was the weather as Europe was experiencing a heat wave with temperatures soaring in the upper 90's. The heat combined with our arthritic knees and assorted other health issues made walking over those 400 bridges kind of a chore! I had insisted that we walk all the way to San Marco Square but we did give up shortly after the Rialto Bridge to take a water boat to afford us a seat and a slight breeze! Also, along the way, we stopped for a cold lemon slushee drink and it seemed like the most refreshing drink we had ever had in our lives, ha ha! That and the inside of the cafe was air-conditioned! Interestingly enough, we ran into another couple from the ship that we had toured Florence with and we told them about the lemon drink. They asked where it was and we said something like "Oh, you'll never find it. It was down some back alley." They asked if I still had the receipt and I did. They simply looked it up on their cell phone and trudged off in search of it!!! Those Millenials, LOL! Anyway, thanks again for all of the great pictures, information and for continuing the thread after all these years! Glad I saw it to reminisce with!