We were supposed to wake up in Venice.  I was awakened by a <crash>, followed by a <chunk>, <chunk>, <chunk>, <chunk> sound around 3:00 am.  I was certain that we had hit something, explaining the initial noise, and then that object had been drawn into the ship’s propellers, accounting for the secondary sounds.  I stepped onto the balcony, but couldn’t see anything because of a heavy blanket of fog surrounding us.  My suspicions were never confirmed, but I still imagine some poor little fishing boat had a really, really bad night.

Fog horns from the ship started bellowing, and I noticed that we weren’t moving.  Since it was the middle of the night, I returned to bed, hoping that there would be some answers in a few hours.  When I awoke, announcements were being made that the fog was too heavy for us to travel, and that the ports of Venice were closed to any boat traffic.  We had to wait out the fog.

We didn’t get into Venice until about 3:00 pm, causing us to miss our morning excursions.  As we rode into the city, the fog was still fairly thick and made viewing the famous canals difficult.  I told myself that the fog made the city look etherial and mysterious and would make our evening excursion interesting.  That made me feel a little better.

O’ sole mio.

I love Venice.  I wasn’t sure how I would feel about it before arriving; all I had been told was that it stunk, the water in the canals was filthy, and that there wasn’t much to see.  I didn’t agree with any of that.  I didn’t think the city smelled like roses, but I didn’t think it smelled too bad.  It reminded me of the briny sea air you smell in Seattle, peppered with a “tide’s-out” fragrance.  If you live near the ocean, you’ll know what I’m talking about.  I also didn’t think it was dirty.  Of course, there was a little “grit”, but I thought that it was very well-maintained, overall.  And as far as there not being anything to do, I think that may only be true if you hate shopping, people watching, and seeing things that are just plain awesome.

Our excursion for the evening was a gondola ride on the Grand Canal.  I thought it would be a little hokey…I mean, how touristy is that?  I was totally wrong.  I loved it!  It was an amazing experience that I think everyone should do while visiting Venice…well, maybe not everyone.

Getting into the gondolas is a little bit challenging.  We happened to get assigned to a gondola that had the accordion player and singer onboard, so there was only four of us joining them.  As you line up to board the gondola, the gondolier (person who does the rowing) sizes you up and seats you to best balance the boat.  They told us ahead of time not to take offense with this, as it was required in order for us not to tip over as we rode down the canal.  I saw a couple of gondolas with a larger person on one side, with the majority of the party sitting across from them.  Poor guys.

After being seated, I had a few minutes of pure fright.  The gondolas are very narrow, and it feels like you’re going to be dumped into the canal at any moment.  After taking a few deep breaths, I realized that the boat is more secure than it feels, and I began to relax.  A few moments after the gondolier got us moving, I was completely enjoying myself.

We rode though the canals for about 30-40 minutes.  Our singer was fantastic, and his operatic voice reverberated through my body as he sang, giving me goosebumps.  His choice of songs were typical Venetian gondola songs, not something I would typically listen to, but I absolutely loved it.  I wanted to jokingly ask him if he knew any Lady Gaga, but I wasn’t sure if that would be offensive, so I kept my mouth shut and just enjoyed what he was offering.  Our gondola drew a lot of attention as we rode under bridges and passed restaurants and shops–people whipping out their phones and cameras to record us as we passed by.  I gave the spectators several of my best poses, hoping it will give them something to smile at when they watch the recording at home.  Kevin didn’t know I did this, and I’m sure he’ll roll his eyes and call me crazy when he reads this.

Sister radar, activate.

My sister and brother-in-law, Debbie and Donald, also arrived in Venice earlier in the day.  We hadn’t planned on meeting until we got on the ship the next day, but we would all in the city that night doing different activities, so there was the slimmest of chances that we would run into each other.  Since there were thousands of tourists mulling about the hundreds of small streets, I didn’t expect to see them, but I was scanning the crowds during our gondola ride and afterwards as we were meandering through the shops.

I was stunned with all of the amazing stores.  High-end clothing stores sit next to shops full of exquisite Murano glass pieces, which sit next to charming restaurants, which sit next to souvenir shops, which sit next to exotic furniture stores.  The combination of shopping options is eclectic and wonderful.

As Kevin and I were looking through a display window at some rings that had drawn my attention, I was grabbed from behind and heard, “Give me all your money!”  I didn’t jump because it only took my brain a split second to know that it was Donald; he’s been doing this to me for over 20 years.  He had seen us and ran over without saying anything to Debbie first, so she was standing there, puzzled as to what he was doing.  As soon as she saw us, she squealed with delight (very loudly), drawing the attention of everyone on the street, and ran over to give me a hug.  As we were greeting each other, people walked by, staring, not sure if I was being attacked or if we just had a couple of people who were really, really happy to see us.  Because of the attention, it kept me from crying as I embraced one of my most loved and favorite people on this planet.  I love my big sis.

The four of us chatted for only a few minutes; Kevin and I were headed back to our ship to make a dinner reservation.  Debbie and Donald were also jet-lagged and only planned on being out for a short time longer before returning to their hotel.  We briefly talked about how the next day was going to play out, and parted ways.  As we walked away, we were laughing about the probability of us meeting like we did.  I told Kevin that I’m just so in-tuned with my sister, that our radars homed in on each other and subtly guided us together.

Bittersweet.

The next day we had to say farewell to our wonderful Seven Seas Explorer.  The 22 days we were on this ship were amazing and went by way too quickly.  As Kevin and I disembarked, saying goodbye to all of our favorite staff, I think we both shed a little tear.  It was time to say hello to the Westerdam.

Kevin worked his magic and got us upgraded to a better suite at a fraction of the cost it would’ve been if we had booked it ahead of time.  The only downside?  We got the upgrade after I had already unpacked everything in our first room.  Whatever, it was worth it.  Now lets get started on this leg of the journey!