After checking into our hotel room around noon on Monday Peg and I were completely exhausted and as much as we wanted to start doing things, it wasn't physically possible. We rested / slept for a couple of hours but the noises of the day and the paper thin hotel room walls prohibited us from falling soundly asleep. By late afternoon we found ourselves on the rooftop pool soaking up the 85 degree sun, and trying to imagine how early in the day it was back home. After a short swim we decided to put on some walking shoes and take the water shuttle over to the central island of Venice. We were instantly amazed by the water access ways, the bridges, the local shops, and the people. Imagine a city with no cars, only boats of all types. The most popular boat of all is the Gondola. We had to do it, so Peg and I jumped into a Gondola for a quiet ride through the canals of the city and a residential area. We learned it costs 30,000 Euro to build a Gondola (we actually went by a Gondola factory). We also learned that a 90 square meter apartment costs approximately 500,000 Euro in Venice. Venice is a city that is built on water so if you do not have a boat, your only choice is to walk. Peg and I walked and walked until we could not walk anymore. Many of the walkways / streets are very narrow and some of them were so narrow and empty they appeared at first to be unsafe. We actually found the entire city was very safe and easy to get around in though. They say when you go to Venice, you simply get out and walk! As the pictures show, that is exactly what we did. We ended up going back to the hotel Monday evening abou 8PM local time by shuttle boat. Peg laughed at me as I was falling asleep sitting up on the shuttle (head bobbing) with people staring at me wondering...what's with this guy? We slept for 12 hours and didn't awake until 9:30AM Tuesday. When you travel as far as we did you find yourself wondering NOT what time it is, but what day it is!
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