From the Baltic to the Adriatic - 10/8/13

We got up at 3:15 am so we could leave by 4:15 so we could get to the airport at 5 so we could check in for our 7 am flight. The airport was deserted when we got there, but if we had come 30 or 40 minutes later we would have run into big crowds. They had lots of nice places to eat at the airport, if you wanted a sandwich at 5:15 am. 

We flew on Norwegian Airlines and had a preview of what it will be like in the US when they offer free wi-fi and they allow cell phone calls during flights. There will be at least one person. Shouting into his cell phone over the engine noise. At least half the people on the plane will feel that free wi-fi means you don't have to turn off your phone during take-off and landing. Also - and I'm not sure what the logic is here - the free wi-fi will attract people who don't take showers and they will sit next to you. 

Upon arrival at Marco Polo Airport, we again found our way out without going through passport or customs inspections. We followed a walkway to the vaporetto (water bus) and we didn't have to wait more than minutes for it. For the next 135 minutes we rode the vaporetto, making several stops and listening to the Germans behind us talk incessantly. See how travel broadens you? Today I learned that "external processing" is not just an American thing, and it's annoying even when you can't understand the language.

About the time our vaporetto was stopping at St. Mark's, the Royal Princess entered the Giudecca and we got our first look at her.

A tugboat pulled her as she passed us and another tugboat kept a line from the aft taut in the narrow, busy channel. A woman on our vaporetto speculated that the aft tugboat was "pushing" the ship.

Finally, we got to the Hilton Molino Stucky. (Tip: Go to the restroom before boarding the vaporetto.) The Hilton Molino Stucky is a fabulous hotel that used to be a flour mill and pasta factory. There is a little dock right in front of the hotel and staff members help you get your bags off the vaporetto and up to your room. We have a nice European style room that we are able to enjoy using Hilton points. Every room has a chandelier made from Murano glass.

The ceilings are exposed beams. There are pipes and pillars in unexpected places, but the effect is quite charming.

Our window looks out on the Giudecca and it is so interesting to watch all the different forms of nautical traffic passing by. There are tour boats, water taxis, police boats, ferries, ambulance boats, trash boats, shuttle boats, and BARGES. It is a constant, anarchic stream.

Last year we were in Venice in June, and it was outrageously crowded. Today it is off-season and chilly and damp, but it is still quite crowded. I am too tired to go across to the main part of Venice now,  in fact, I am so tired I let my purse in the Executive Lounge. That could have been a disaster, but it ended well. 

Our evening walk was cut short by rain, but we need to find our lost sleep so that we can get a lot done tomorrow.