Venice log 1 - Arriving

Today's motto is: the longer the distance, the easier it is.

Apart from walking to the train station (which doesn't count), the longest distance today was traveling from Florence to Venice; this was accomplished very easily. The trip from the train station to our local vaporetti stop, Redentore, was ok, although problematic at first. The shortest distance was from the stop to where we are staying: a walk of 200 metres became extremely difficult because of the heavy rain.

So: after doing the laundry in a launderette behind the hotel in Florence, we checked out and walked to the station. I tried to buy tickets for the 11:30 train to Venice, but that train was sold out. There were no second class tickets available for the 12:15 train either, but this time I realised that it might be better to travel first class, with reserved seats and more room for luggage. The train was one of the fast and sleek ones: no compartments for first class. We did have a waiter who walked up and down the carriage offering soft drinks and coffee (I had some orange juice at one stage). I paid 63 euro instead of 45 euro, but I think that this time it was justified. As it happens, I suffered badly from restless leg syndrome on the train back from Monterosso and I didn't fancy going through that again - although normally this strikes only in the evening or night. The weather was fine.

When we got to Venice, it took a bit of time to get orientated, then I bought 3 day tickets for public transport. We waited about 20 minutes in air which was getting steadily more humid for the number 2 vaporetto. The ride took about half an hour, during which heavy rain began to fall. When we arrived at our stop, there was no option but to walk through that heavy rain. I got fairly wet, as did my shoes.

After we arrived at what turns out to be a fairly luxurious apartment, it was my job to go to the supermarket. This is between the apartment and the boat stop, so it isn't that far away. Unfortunately, the rain was still falling quite heavily on the way there, although it had stopped by the time I left. Now it's raining lightly.

This rain is going to make quite a dent in our plans - and it's due to last until Saturday, which is when of course we return home.