July 20- A Day Trip to Venezia

On the Wednesday of our week in Lignano, Lucy and I went to Venice for a girls' day trip. We had decided to take the bus from Lignano which took us to a ferry boat which would take us the rest of the way into Venice. I had been to Venice by train three years earlier and thought that going by boat this time would be fun- NOT! more explanations as this story proceeds.

Our bus left Lignano at a location approximately 15 minute walk away at 7:25AM. Consequently we had to get up and get pretty at 6AM! We had not bought tickets ahead of time- couldn't figure out where- so we got to the bus stop early just be be sure. The bus did arrive on time- first and only victory- and took us for a 2 1/2 hour ride through several other beach towns picking up more and more passengers before arriving at Punto Sabbiadore where we bought our tickets and switched to the boat.

What a zoo! Hundreds of people milling about and waiting for the boat. And what a boat it was!!
We had visions of being in the latest Italian news next day
                                             ' Overcrowded ferry sinks on route to Venice'

We did take some interesting pictures on the way even though we were inside and standing the entire half hour trip.  Getting close to Venice and one of it's hundreds of bridges.

                                          A yacht viewed from our location inside the boat

                                           Wished we were on that one! LOL

The pier where we landed had spectacular views across the water and was crowded with other tourists.

On the way to S Marco Square

Lucy posing in the square

We did have a map of the city and followed what we hoped was the correct route to the Guggenheim museum. We stopped at several locations for typical canal shots.

One more beautiful than the next

The canals were clean and definitly not polluted- we saw small fish- and NO smell! Whatever horror stories you may have heard about the condition of the Venice canals are not true. They are all incredibly scenic.

 And then of course there was the Grand Canal that we eventually found and crossed- absolutely beautiful!

 We spent some time in the Guggenheim Museum- Peggy Guggenheim's Venice home- admiring original paitings by Picaso and others. Her gardens were also beautiful and it is where she and her beloved dogs have their eternal resting place.

The Wishing tree in the garden donated by Yoko Lennon

And more typical obscure Venezia pictures

We had lunch at a little restaurant off the beaten tourist path- you can find many treasures if you go down a few alleys! The food- we shared a tomato & mozarella salad and calamari- was delicious.

Here I am standing in front of our find!

We finally wound our way back to the pier- the last boat left at 4:45PM- and we didn't want to miss it.
Along the pier are hundreds of souvenir stands- we bought lots of stuff to bring home to our family members.
                                   A slightly larger boat took us home and we did get to stand outside this time.

And were followed by a tall Ship

When we got back to the dock to meet our bus, we had to wait for over an hour along with hordes of others. Not a pleasant experience! Plus only one washroom for everyone!!

We finally arrived home in Lignano at 7:30PM totally pooped and wonderful Uwe had a home-cooked meal waiting for us.