Saturday, June 20, 2009

Day Three-Traveling to Venice

Venice from the ship...can't wait to get back and see this place!
The countryside taken from the train. This area is known for its vineyards.

These little cars are everywhere...if they are not driving a teensy tiny car, they are driving a motorcycle!


Hi friends! We are ending up day three of our adventure. Today was a traveling day, so there is not as much to share as yesterday.

We were up very early this morning, leaving the hotel at 7:00 AM. We headed to Termini Station to catch our train to Venice. Once we figured out how the train system worked, it was relatively easy. We boarded our train about 8:30. We sat in first class on the train, and I say this is the only way travel in Europe! Our seats were a grouping of four seats facing each other with a table in the middle. We did not have seats with Jackie and Charles, but that turned out to be a okay, as we met Luca and Betta. They were our traveling mates for the first 1.5 hours of the trip. Luca spoke perfect English and Betta also spoke English. Luca works for the United Nations and just recently travelled to Atlanta to give a lecture at Emory University. He was very happy to report he had eaten shrimp and grits in Georgia and loved it! These were the nicest people. They also had two daughters (ages 7 and 11). They told us many interesting things about Italy, Italian food, olive oil, the transportation systems, family life, and the Italian countryside. Once Luca and Betta left in Florence, we had the four-seater all to ourselves the remainder of the way, which was nice for us to stretch out! We saw many interesting countryside scenes along the way…vineyards where white wine is primarily made, olive tree groves, lots of other farmland, and beautiful old villages.

We arrived in Venice at Saint Lucia Station about 1:15 PM. I was totally shocked to find it was windy and very cool! After 2 days of 90 degrees and humid, I would not complain much! Then we found our driver waiting at the end of the platform for us with a little sign with “Andrew Crews” printed on it. He took us straight to the port where a Royal Caribbean agent was waiting at the dock to take our luggage. From there, we checked in and made our way to the ship.
The Splendour of the Seas is a smaller ship in Royal Caribbean’s fleet. Many of you know we took a family cruise last summer on the Mariner of the Seas, which was soooo much larger! This ship is also older, but all around it is a nice place! As the ship left port, we took many pictures of Venice, as I know we will not be given the opportunity to take such pictures from this high up again. Afterwards, we met some of our friends Renee, Phillip, Ruth, Charles and Jackie on deck by the pool. We had a celebratory drink there….actually, we moved to an inside bar where it was not so windy and continued to celebrate our arrival on the ship. :o)

We just came back into the room from our first dinner. Hugo is our waiter. He is from Australia. Fernanda is the “bread and water girl” and she is from Brazil. Dinner was a nice time of fun conversation and comparing stories of what adventures everyone has had so far. We are very tired as we have burned the candle at both ends…so I must get to bed so we can be ready for our big day in Dubrovnik, Croatia tomorrow! Love to all! Cindy :o)

1 comment:

  1. I posted a reply on Thursday but it didn't show I guess!!! Aren't you glad ya'll did 1st class on the train? It is alot more comfortable.

    We have pictures of Rome just like yours and that little car must be everywhere because I also have that pic,lol!!!

    You are right about the way you felt at the Vatican and the Cathedral. To think about all the famous Popes that had been there and were buried there gives you chills.

    Larry said tonight, we should have gone with ya'll. Now he decides it,lol!!

    Take care girl!!! Can't wait for the next installment.

    ReplyDelete

Andy and Cindy are "Crewsin'"!

Welcome to our blog! We will try to add daily updates about our trip of a lifetime. Check back here to read highlights from our travels.

Rome, Italy

Rome, Italy

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Ephesus, Turkey

Ephesus, Turkey

Santorini, Greece

Santorini, Greece

Corfu, Greece

Corfu, Greece

Venice, Italy

Venice, Italy

Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy

Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy

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