Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Venice Day 5: Arrivederci Venezia

It's always a little nerve wracking figuring out how to get to an airport for the first time.  One wonders how long it actually takes the water boat to get there, what about the time for the walk from the dock to the check-in counter, what about lines at check-in and security.  Aargh. 

Our flight home was on US Airways, Venice to Philadelphia to New Orleans; departing Venice at 1135am.

After doing the timetables research, we planned to catch the 7:59 (or 8:29) Alilaguna from San Angelo. So we needed to take the San Toma vaporetto to San Angelo at 731 or 743 to allow enough time.  Estimated arrival time at Marco Polo was 9am.

None of us slept terribly well and were up extra early.   We got ready, cleared up the apartment, put out the trash, had breakfast and just headed out.  We caught the 719am San Toma vaporetto to San Angelo and ended up on the 729am Alilaguna boat to the airport.  We bought our tickets on the boat (15Euro/per person). 

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Last photo in Venice :(

Another beautiful day

 
We arrived at the Marco Polo dock at 8am, walked less than 10 minutes to departures, checked in, got breakfast, went through security, did a little shopping, and waited to board the flight. The whole process was a lot easier than we anticipated!

We boarded the US Airways flight and settled into our seats. They don't offer premium economy so I reserved seats in a "two" section of the 2 4 2 configured plane. The seats were relatively comfortable but not roomy; the service and food were ok; the entertainment system worked but seemed to offer fewer choices than on United; and the two women from Arkansas behind us kept grabbing my seat back every time they got us--so rude and annoying. The flight was delayed two hours on the tarmac because of a fuel pump malfunction. We weren't worried because we had three hours to connect to the flight to New Orleans.

We arrived in Philadelphia only one hour behind schedule so we didn't exactly speed through the passport control, reclaiming bags and customs procedures--but we should have. We only made our connection with 10 minutes to spare because of the incredible amount of time it took to get back through security. The process is so very ridiculous, unnecessary and annoying.

The plane used on the New Orleans leg was so old and dirty we were appalled. We were the last to board and they closed the doors on time. But we sat there for an extra 30 minutes because they couldn't pull out of the docking station. When we got to New Orleans, they couldn't park right away. And our luggage didn't make it (but they delivered it the following day).

In summary, US Airways was awful; there was a problem on every leg! I told hubby that they are "not quite ready for prime time" and I hope we don't have to fly them again any time soon.

We loved our time in Italy. It was much too short, particularly in Rome where we would have liked at least two more days. This trip once again brought to the forefront my dream of living in Italy for a year. I want to go to language school and hubby could go to cooking school. We could travel and explore more of this magnificent country. I guess we need to start playing the lotto!

Thanks for reading! Ciao



4 comments:

  1. Really enjoyed your report. It brought back lots of memories of many of my favorite places. We also did RowVenice and enjoyed it very much. How I would love to spend an extended period of time traveling through Italy! Maybe 6-8 weeks.

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    1. Thanks, Linda. We absolutely loved our time in Venice. We too wish we could spend more time in Italy. I dream of a year there learning the language and their cooking techniques. Fingers crossed for all of us to get the opportunity one day! Ciao.

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  2. Great report. Just finished planning my Venice itinerary. Will see/do lots of what you did. Love the pictures and that cap/hat you bought for your husband!

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    1. Thanks, Chris. I know you'll enjoy your trip. BTW, I'm a social worker too and one day hope retire and spend more time abroad. Ciao.

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