Almost Missing the Plane to Venice

So mental note: don't make airplane reservations for 7am in the morning. Ever. That was the time of our flight out of Paris to Venice, to maximize our time in the city of canals. Bad idea. Les and I woke up at 415am as planned to make sure we had enough time to get to the airport, but turns out, the Metro doesn't usually open until 5am, and the trains don't get to our station until 5:40. Hmm. Using some pretty quick thinking, we hit the road on a taxi all the way to the airport, getting there a shade before 6am. Good timing right? Well, looks like Easyjet, the European version of Jetblue is a tad shorthanded with checkin people, and Venice is a popular destination. 30 min later, we are through and checked-in. Now, security. You would think Charles de Galle is a rather large international airport with ample room for security lines...not in this terminal. Again, leveraging Les' stature endowment, we cut through some slow cattle and get to the front. Onto the plane with 5 min to spare.

Ok, onto Venice. Now, unless you've been living under a rock, Venice is super famous for being the city of canals, with gondolas and slick Italians with black pinstripe shirts rowing you across the blue waters. Heck, Vegas dedicated not 1, but 2, hotels to this venue. I will say this about Venice, it is very cool. Think Disneyland or Universal Studios. The buildings (if you've seen Casino Royale at the end) are something out of a theme park. The facades look like you are seeing them while on the way up Splash Mountain or strolling through New Orleans Square. Something is just not real about them.

Also, Venice is a magnet for cruise ships. You know what that means. Yes, it's a bit like hanging out at the Cal Neva in Reno or Thunder Valley. Many, many senior citizens boating from their day excursions aboard the Love Boat.

Venice itself is small. We walked pretty much the whole island within an afternoon, but the city is very quaint and cozy. Canals are everywhere, and buildings are tall, so carry a map because you will get lost. San Marco Piazza is the hub of activity, and all around that area are high end shops aimed at the high roller tourists. The food is not that great, which wasn't surprising since they obviously need to ship in groceries everyday or so. My day was made, though, when I found the church that was used in Indy Jones 3, where Indy goes underground to find the tombs in the sewers. Now, that was cool. It isn't a library inside though, fyi.

Hotel was pretty nice. It only has 7 rooms, and each with nice tapestry walls and high ceilings. The best part was the shower that had 10 individual nozzles for his-her pleasure. (eeps)

If you want to go to Venice, go soon because it definitely looks like it's sinking. The water is already coming up the walkways. But it looks like you can buy a decent flat for around $700k. Not bad.