First let me tell you my tale of woe! Saturday night, the night before Venice, we decided to do some laundry and go to bed early. About 8 we went to our cabin and I started preparing the laundry and Ed left to go upstairs do to some work on the computer. I bent to pick up a scarf from the bed and felt something snap in my lower back. The pain was so intense I couldn’t move for several minutes. I have never had back problems in my life so I didn’t know what to do. I managed to turn myself enough to lie down on the bed but it didn’t help so I struggled for a while and finally I was able to get onto my feet. The pain was still excruciating and I could only take very small steps. At that point I thought I could work it out and it would go away so I grabbed the laundry bag and literally dragged it down the hall to the Laundromat. I wasn’t able to stoop over AT ALL to put the clothes in the washer so I had to sit down to do it. By the time I got back to the cabin, the pain had not abated; if anything, it had gotten worse. When Ed came in I told him what had happened and he went upstairs to get some aspirin and Advil and Bengay. He finished the laundry and we went to bed. I had a nearly sleepless night with the pain being so bad and my mind going 100 miles an hour. I knew I was going to miss Venice and I was so disappointed. Sometime during the night my mind moved from being disappointed at missing Venice to being afraid I had broken my hip so I decided that I would appear at the infirmary when it opened at 8AM. The doctor didn’t x-ray my back, he just pressed on several places and said he didn’t think there was bone or vertebrae involvement, just a pulled muscle. Because I was determined to get off the ship, he gave me a shot for the pain, along with pills to take later when the pain came back. It didn’t take long for it to work and I was miraculously able to leave the ship. On a day I didn’t think I would take 10 steps, we walked over 10 miles!!
We went with our friends Pete and Sharon. We were docked a few miles from St. Marks Square and had to take a shuttle boat to town. The weather was tolerable, about 55 degrees with a chance of rain. Venice is so beautiful and it never changes, except to get cleaner. The tiny winding streets lined with shops are so charming. The canals and bridges are so unique that they have to be experienced to be believed. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I won’t try to really describe the city. We walked and window shopped and walked some more. We visited some churches, had lunch at a small café and got lost in the maze of streets. We were scheduled to meet two other couples for dinner at 6:30 at the bell tower in the square, so we started making our way back there in time to have a glass of wine at Florian’s, the famous restaurant at St. Mark’s. Florian’s was built in the 1700’s and is absolutely gorgeous inside. They don’t build them like that anymore! The waiters all wore tuxes and white gloves and the service was topnotch. They brought little biscuits and olives and potato chips to go with the wine and we felt very luxurious.
At 6:30 we met Bill and Donna and Brenna and Austin and shared the events of our day. Bill had seen a place for dinner during the day so we set out to find it again. Luckily it was in the direction of the ship because the last shuttle boat left at 7:30 so we knew we would have to walk back or take an expensive taxi. Somehow Bill was able to find the place again and we had a wonderful Italian meal. I had the best lasagna I’ve had in many years. I had had a couple of pain pills by that time and a few glasses of wine (probably not the best idea) so I had no trouble walking back to the ship.
The next morning I woke up with a headache; one of those that gets worse as the day goes on. We went to town again on the shuttle and walked around some more. None of us was tired of Venice. It seems that all the streets look the same, yet different. The shops are so interesting and there aren’t any hawkers trying to bullying you into buying their stuff. The weather was warmer and sunny so we found a place to sit outside and have some pizza and a glass of wine. By the time we had to get the shuttle back to the ship we had walked over 6 miles and my head was pounding. We got back about 3; we had a mandatory lifeboat drill for all passengers at 4:15 but by that time I was in bed and missed the drill. I didn’t leave that bed until 7AM the next morning. I think I had overdone it!! The walking, the pain pills and alcohol just did me in. So I missed the sail-away party, the sunset, dinner, and the comedian show. But it was worth it to be able to experience Venice once again.
We went with our friends Pete and Sharon. We were docked a few miles from St. Marks Square and had to take a shuttle boat to town. The weather was tolerable, about 55 degrees with a chance of rain. Venice is so beautiful and it never changes, except to get cleaner. The tiny winding streets lined with shops are so charming. The canals and bridges are so unique that they have to be experienced to be believed. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I won’t try to really describe the city. We walked and window shopped and walked some more. We visited some churches, had lunch at a small café and got lost in the maze of streets. We were scheduled to meet two other couples for dinner at 6:30 at the bell tower in the square, so we started making our way back there in time to have a glass of wine at Florian’s, the famous restaurant at St. Mark’s. Florian’s was built in the 1700’s and is absolutely gorgeous inside. They don’t build them like that anymore! The waiters all wore tuxes and white gloves and the service was topnotch. They brought little biscuits and olives and potato chips to go with the wine and we felt very luxurious.
At 6:30 we met Bill and Donna and Brenna and Austin and shared the events of our day. Bill had seen a place for dinner during the day so we set out to find it again. Luckily it was in the direction of the ship because the last shuttle boat left at 7:30 so we knew we would have to walk back or take an expensive taxi. Somehow Bill was able to find the place again and we had a wonderful Italian meal. I had the best lasagna I’ve had in many years. I had had a couple of pain pills by that time and a few glasses of wine (probably not the best idea) so I had no trouble walking back to the ship.
The next morning I woke up with a headache; one of those that gets worse as the day goes on. We went to town again on the shuttle and walked around some more. None of us was tired of Venice. It seems that all the streets look the same, yet different. The shops are so interesting and there aren’t any hawkers trying to bullying you into buying their stuff. The weather was warmer and sunny so we found a place to sit outside and have some pizza and a glass of wine. By the time we had to get the shuttle back to the ship we had walked over 6 miles and my head was pounding. We got back about 3; we had a mandatory lifeboat drill for all passengers at 4:15 but by that time I was in bed and missed the drill. I didn’t leave that bed until 7AM the next morning. I think I had overdone it!! The walking, the pain pills and alcohol just did me in. So I missed the sail-away party, the sunset, dinner, and the comedian show. But it was worth it to be able to experience Venice once again.
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