9.12.15 Off to Croatia

We checked out of the hotel and took our bags to where we would eventually grab the shuttle to our ship. The rest of the day we wandered around the busy part of Venezia. This is the city of masks. They sell them every where as souvenirs. The night of departure there will be a masked ball so we shopped for a couple of masks only to find out once on board it didn't start until 10:00 which is way past our bedtime.

We found a nice lunch spot with what I'd call tourist Italian food. What that means is the carbonara had pieces of undercooked bacon, raw really, rather than pancetta (thick chunks of bacon) fried to crispness in rendered fat and spaghetti el dente. Listen to me. I sound like I know what I'm talking about but I love carbonara.

We took the water taxi to the port. I'm impressed at how many boats can negotiate the waters of those narrow canals and get ever so close but not touch. They are similar to the vehicles in Roma where there appear to be no rules but somehow the traffic flows smoothly. At first it made no sense to me and after a few days it made perfect sense. Why create rules - stop lights, stop signs, lanes - when no one is going to follow them anyway. We should adopt that sensibility in Salt Lake City. A perpetual roundabout.

I had some anxiety - pre travel jitters maybe excitement. It felt more like apprehension. I expected our quarters to be a lot tighter but was pleasantly surprised to find people spread out and our room as big as it was. We got underway just before sunset - a little after 7 pm. It was cool on deck and felt nice.

I've only been on 2 large ships. The previous on being the Aegean Sea cruise last year and this one. I like the imperceptible start of motion. Not like other modes of transportation where there is usually a jolt that signifyies motion - a plane backing away from the gate, a car moving forward - but an unnoticeable moment between absolute stillness and a drift where the front of the boat swings away from its mooring and sets its course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy