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The Vaporetto

Day 19: Friday, April 29, 2005
Getting to our Hotel
Photos by Pat Tyler


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Luggage On The Dock

7:59 AM ~ They were beginning to get luggage off the ship.
So it was time to pack the camera and get ready for disembarkation.

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On The Vaporetto

Pat had read that it makes sense go from the ship to Piazza Roma, the Venice transportation hub, to buy a 3-day Venice Card, and then take the vaporetto to our hotel. So that's what we did. The Venice Card pays for unlimited use of the vaporetto, public restrooms, and admission to some of the museums. By 10:08 AM we had disembarked the ship, ridden on HAL's shuttle bus to Piazza Roma, purchased the Venice Cards, and boarded the vaporetto for our first ride.

By the way, the Venice Card was a good idea. Using the vaporetto to get to the hotel with all the luggage for an eighteen-day cruise was not a good idea. Advice from here, is use a water taxi. It costs more, but save yourself for the fun things in Venice.

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Tourists on the Vaporetto

The Venice Card includes a nice city map with all the vaporetto stops marked along with the routes that stop there. So, to get from point A to point B, find the nearest vaporetto stops to both ends and see which routes include both places. That is the vaporetto you want to board for a successful trip. After a while you get to where you can follow along on the map and keep track of where you are.

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The Lady On the Vaporetto

This was our first trip, and we didn't really know where were.
We knew that we wanted to get off at the Rialto Bridge. This good lady
was kind enough to help us get to the exit at the right time for our stop.
Even though it was only a block away, getting from the vaporetto stop to the hotel
with the luggage was a challenge. We had to cross Rio San Salvador, and all those canals
have arched bridges over them with lots of stairs! Wheeled luggage wasn't made for stairways.

Next time we go to Venice, we'll spring for a water taxi which will take us right to the hotel.

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