Ann and Nathan woke relatively early and went off to the synagogue. I went to my own “temple” where I caught up on my email.

By 12:30, we had packed and checked out. We headed out to San Marco to meet up with our daughter Leah who had gone ahead to meet a friend from school. As we made our way through the crowds, I worried that meeting someone in San Marco was going to turn out to be as practical as the time in 1969 when I agreed to meet a girl at Woodstock. But, because we’d narrowed the area to the clock tower, we found her.

Paolo had warned us last night that it was going to be a crowded day. As he said, some of Venice’s streets were declared one way for the weekend. Yes, one way pedestrian streets…and thank goodness for them. We were packed like the proverbial sardines, except vertical and moving more slowly.

(I did have a million dollar idea during the slow-motion stampede: Stock the canals with dolphins.(tm))

We made our way through San Marco, looking to escape the crowds. Eventually we found a restaurant with an empty table and had pizza, and then wandered directionally back to the hotel. After a vaporetto (water bus) ride to the train station and some serious hoisting of our big three suitcases — not a great city for people who need ramps, not steps — we are now on the train to Milan.

I’m missing Leah more than Venice, but I’m missing Venice a lot. [Tags: italy venice venezia travel]

Categories: Uncategorized dw