Venice - Day 1

Saturday - After breakfast at the hotel, we took off to see Rialto Bridge. A famous landmark that I wanted to see. I guess we rode under it yesterday while on the water taxi, but I missed it. The streets were crowded with tourists wandering aimlessly gawking in the shop windows. 

The view from the bridge was nice. Here is the shot that must be on every camera that’s been to Venice. 

High tide was at 11:15am and water was part way up the doors in some lower areas. And water was backing up from the storm drains in the middle of St Marks square where we are headed later today. 

The area we walked through was the “touristy” part of town, according to the wonderful receptionists at the hotel. One even sat down with us when we checked in with a map explaining how to get around, what to see, where the less crowded areas were, and food recommendations. 

Last night, we went to St Marks Square, aka Piazza San Marco, and it was empty. We went through there today and it was packed. 

Just to mix something else in, my Apple Watch said that today was World Mental Health Day. Is Apple just making these things up? Anyway, it told me to relax for ten minutes. Who am I to argue with technology? Especially after dealing with crowds of tourists all morning. 

After lunch, we had a guided tour of Basilica de San Marcos. It was very crowded inside but the guide did a fantastic job explaining things. I’d recommend a guide. We also walked through the Doge’s Palace next door. The Doge was royalty for Venice. It wasn’t my cup of tea but Bridget thoroughly enjoyed it. Lots of huge paintings, government meeting rooms, and huge reception rooms. Plus jail cells and the armory.

Oh yeah, ended the afternoon with pistachio and lemon gelato. Fantastic! Especially the lemon…

Venice, IT - Day 0.5

Friday - The second leg of the flight was long and tiring. It’s hard to sleep on an airplane. Not as long as other international flights I’ve taken, but I’m feeling my age. We left JFK at around 10:30pm and we should arrive around noon local time.

In this picture, we are over the Alps. We will be in Venice, IT, for about four days before taking a train to Florence on Tuesday morning. Another adventure. 

Just getting to the hotel from the airport was a challenge. A water taxi which was an old school speedboat complete with a teak interior and a V8 engine. I asked some other passengers for help with the nap they gave us. The hotel had us walking through many streets and alleys before we found it. The hotel “sign” was on the ground in front of a very narrow alley. We walked past it several times. 

We had a small lunch at a small place near the hotel I just had a pizza slice and a Diet Coke though it had different labeling here. We were told not to eat the pizza in Venice because it pales compared to the pizza in Naples. I thought it was good with a very thin crust, as is my favorite. 

Getting Ready to Go

Tuesday - Still getting ready for our trip. Packing with suitcases is such a hassle compared to RV travel. Especially if the goal is carry-on only. 

Since it was cooler this morning, I changed the tube in the sidecar tire with a new one. I also changed the rim strip. The spare also lost some air but it had gotten too hot and muggy to change another tube. 

Wednesday - It was a very nice, 64°F this morning, but heated up to 90°F by late afternoon. I did send out my Winlink Wednesday email this morning but propagation was horrible. I ended up using a local San Antonio server on 40m.  Yesterday, I was able to retrieve my email using a Las Vegas server when propagation was better. 

Thursday - Thank you to Gary & Lynne for taking us to the airport. It’s about an hour away and we didn’t want to leave the Jeep in long term parking. I turned off the water to the RV, pulled in three of the slides, and set the A/C to 85°F.

The first leg is to JFK (New York). I had never been to that airport. Previous trips to the area went through Newark, NJ, so this will be a first. I think we have a couple of hours before the next flight. Delta offers free WiFi as long as you have a Delta mileage number. Back in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, I flew in Delta often since it was an Alaska mileage partner and they had regular flights out of Alaska. Not the case anymore. I think my last flight was Delta and KLM to Ethiopia. Or was it Japan and Singapore…

Later - We are still ~45 minutes out and the seat feels really hard. I hate flying now. Back 30 or 40 years ago, it was an adventure. Not anymore. I don’t like packing suitcases or all the security and crowds. RV travel is preferable for me. I watched ~2/3 of the first Harry Potter movie and part of Toy Story 5 but starting to feel tired. It’s going to be a long day…

Still near Hondo

Friday - A little cooler today, but still very muggy. I walked two miles around the park (twice), and I'm soaked. But I need to get some more walking in, as we will be doing a lot of walking about a week from today. Yesterday, I put the Class C back in storage after Bridget lent it out to another member while they were waiting for a repair. They had to replace their entire mini-split system after it stopped working. I think it was only five years old, but A/C units get worked pretty hard around here. Today's high is only forecast to be 82°F. Much better than the mid-to-upper 90s that it has been ever since we arrived back.

I need to order a couple of tubes for the Ural. The tube I found is already flat, and the spare mounted on the sidecar is down 6 psi after only 4 days. It’s hard to find small leaks without a large tub of water. 

Saturday - I just happened to get up in time for the early test session, and while I was making coffee, I ended up getting signed up to lead the session. The candidate was on PDT, and I thought that maybe he had signed up for this time slot by accident. But he did call me back in time for the test, and it wasn't an accident. He passed easily. Time to get on with my day…

I started out with a two-mile walk around the park. I figured I needed to take advantage of the 72°F morning. Though it is still humid. 

I was the lead for the midday test session as well.

I have been spending some time getting ready for our trib, which begins next week. We are trying to do only carry-on luggage, and that really limits what I'm willing to bring. Just a small-ish roller bag and a backpack. Plus, Bridget picked up some cross-body bags for essentials.