Saturday, May 2nd, 2009: Venice at Dawn.

Bob:

We were both excited to get another day to see Venice, so we jumped out of bed, grabbed the cameras, and rushed out on deck just before dawn. As our ship glided slowly and quietly past St. Mark's square, an pale, ethereal pre-dawn light suffused the scene. No one was about, and the curious bluish cast of the light gave a distinctly ghostly impression to the deserted scene. The light was so dim, in fact, that we could still clearly see the streetlamps illuminating St. Mark's square and the wharf on the South side where all small ships dock during the day. The dock was empty, of course, but they had some kind of floating booms set out, possibly to keep drifting debris away from the dock. The one sign of life in the whole panorama was a vaporretto or water bus that had already started its daily rounds.

As the sun finally rose over the horizon, the pale blue lilght shifted into the very warm, ruddy light of sunrise. In just a few moments, that shift in light transformed the scene from a ghostly night scene to a cheerful break of day vista. As our ship pulled around into the cruise ship dock, we went below to have our last breakfast on the ship (sigh!).

After receiving permission to debark, we collected our wheelies from the pier and rolled them over to the Hotel Albergo Marin, stopping to take pictures of the new day dawning over the canals and homes. Even though it was still quite early in the morning, the water taxis were already out on the Grand Canal. We also saw a gondolier getting his graceful craft ready for the day's business.

We arrived at our hotel by about 8 a.m. and hoped that our room might perchance be ready. Unfortunately, we were informed our room wouldn't be ready until 2 or 3 p.m. at the very earliest (what would be the latest, I wondered!). But on the upside, the attendant was happy to let us drop off our "pack and sack" in a back hallway, and that let us explore the Venice for the day unencumbered by our luggage.

For the rest of our day in Venice, click below:

Venice at Night