Day 83: Hello, London

We checked our bags for flight (the biggest one weighed over 29kg, which is over 63 pounds. Oh my. But, the gentleman at the counter didn't really bat an eye. He weighed the rest of the bags (one was 21 kg, and the two smaller ones were just over 11kg) and since, together, they weighed within our limit, it was all good. Phew. No penalty fines.

We go through security. As usual, some are anxious. And this time... we forgot some items. I forgot to mention the laptop in Venice's bag. So her backpack was "caught" and they had to take out the laptop and run that through separately. She also beeped and had to get "wanded" and patted. I beeped AND I forgot my Fitbit was on me. So that device had to go through again and I got "wanded" and patted. But, we all make it through, in the end. It wasn't too stressful, as the people were very calm and nice about everything (again, I guess there were just some grumpy workers on the day we went through Frankfurt that first day).

By this time, we're hot and thirsty. I swear security check keeps the heat up, so that when you get to the other side, you just HAVE to buy something to drink since you have no liquids over 3oz with you. So, we do. Cokes and waters all around. Our flight has not been assigned a gate yet, so we just sit in the hall, on the floor. Side note: the Shönefeld airport doesn't have much seating. Once you are in the gate for your flight, there is seating, but until you get into a gate, there is almost nothing. So, you sit on the floor of the other side of the glass of other gates. It's not like in the U.S. where the airport amasses tons of seats accessible by all gates.

After seeing a gate assigned to our flight, we get up and make our way there. Once we go down a flight of stairs and walk down a hallway, we get into a very long line (everyone else on our flight). To get to this gate, we must go through the passport check. When it was our turn, I have to say that I kept waiting for the guy to look at us and say, "You counted wrong... you stayed too long." But he didn't. He did, however, look through every single page of our passports to see if there were other stamps in there (Chris saw this, as he's taller and could see behind the counter). Then, with great emphasis and strength, he stamped all of our passports and we were on our way... to wait in the next line!

Ok, so it's not a line, but it's our gate's waiting room. It's not big enough. Not enough seats. So we stand and wait. We eavesdrop on our neighbour's conversation (a woman has told her male travel companion a riddle... he can't figure it out... we all know the answer and are dying... we want to help him... but we can't admit we've been eavesdropping... he FINALLY gets it and we all heave a sigh of relief).

At one point, there was an announcement that our flight was ready to board, so, of course, everyone jumps up and pushes towards the doors. But, there's no airplane. We all continue standing and waiting. Ugh.

Finally, a bus comes (oh, it's one of those... we have to get on a bus to taxi us to the plane somewhere out there on the tarmac). Fine. Half of the people get onto the first bus. Then a second bus arrives and we get on with the rest of the people. And then... we wait! We stand on that dang bus for 10 minutes, all squished in like sardines.

Finally, AGAIN, we head to the plane for boarding. Finally, we are off and in the air. Side note: The Captain did apologise for all the delays we had getting onto the flight when taking off and once again upon landing. This is nice and takes a little sting out of our frustration. But I have to say, when we were delayed on the train the other day, DB gave us "I'm sorry" postcards to mail in (we don't know what we'll get from them, but they said they could send it to us in the U.S... maybe train credits?) and so, it would have been nice to get something for this delay too (although it wasn't nearly as bad... I'm just being entitled).

Well, everyone has a pretty good flight. I do too, except the guy who's sitting to my left seems to think he can have two arm rests. He uses the one on his left (near the window) and the one between us. I understand that the window seat can sometimes lack space for your feet, but you have plenty of room for your arms (he is an average sized man). But instead, he pushes my jacket down, so he can have the entire arm rest between us and elbows me often throughout the flight. Argh. Thank goodness it's a short flight (1.5 hrs) or I was going to lose it with this guy (ok, passive aggressively I was quietly thinking of spilling my drink on him).

We fill out our Landing Cards for the UK border control. We are ready to land!

There are two lines for border control. One for UK/EU passport holders and one for "everyone else". We are lucky to have arrived when we did. We are about 10th in line, but a plane soon lands behind us and the line fills up quickly to be very long. Of course, there are about 6 desks working for the UK/EU and only 1 desk for "everyone else". Luckily, they did open up a second desk, but it was still very slow going.

When it was our turn to hand over passports, we were asked quite a few questions (why are you here, how long, where will you stay, what business do you do, etc.) The border control worker was very jovial and had even heard of HotelTonight. It felt like we were at a cocktail party, getting to know someone. Needless to say, we made it through that check point just fine.

Due to our plane being delayed and whatever problems we had on the tarmac, it's past dinner time and we're hungry. So, we must eat in the airport as we are looking at a 60 minute taxi ride to our hotel. The problem is that we're in a small airport and there is one market and one restaurant. Slim pickings. But we survive. We get meals as well as food for tomorrow morning (we have an early day and are not going to be able to get breakfast).

Venice and Chris landing in London (left), The essentials of a late night (right)

Chris calls for an Uber cab (an XL so we can be comfortable on our long ride). Funny thing, even though we can read all the signs, it took us about 15 minutes to find where to meet the car! And, as we were waiting... I swear I did a double take thinking a car was "empty" as it drove by (because I was looking at the passenger seat where usually there is a U.S. driver). And, when we were finally getting into the car, Chris tried to get into the driver's seat (where the passenger seat usually is in the U.S.) American tourists at their best.

Hotel lobby

It is a one hour taxi ride. Ugh. We listen to a football match (soccer) the entire way (except for the news break they took to talk about the Soviet plane that crashed in Egypt and how flights from Egypt are delayed into London... good thing we heard this AFTER our flight... I don't think it would have helped to be reminded of this incident just before getting onto a flight). But, back to football.. he shoots... he scores! Munich 4 Arsenal 1 (by the time we were getting out of the car). Side note: Since we haven't had a chance to get cash from an ATM, Chris pays with the Uber app and all is good.

We check into the hotel, which is another funny story. While the gentleman was checking us in, I had to squint (because that helps) and listen super carefully to what he was saying. He spoke so fast and low, we could barely understand his native English. I forgot to mention, person, on the plane, who told us about drinks for order, items for sale, etc... sounded drunk with all his slurred words. I could only think about Dudley Moore in Arthur.

Anyway, it's been a long day. We have adjoining rooms. We have internet. We have an early morning planned. So it's time to catch some Zs.

Day 4: First Day in Venice

Wahoo, and we're off to Venice, Italy! Just a 25 minute taxi to the Berlin airport, with a lot LESS luggage than the last time. Phew! Venice was a little nervous about going through security, remembering the last time, but we pretty much sailed through... until they found scissors in her backpack. Ooops. They've been there the whole time, but this is the first time security found them. They had her take them out, saw that they were "kid" scissors (basically blunt tipped) and let her keep them. Another, phew!

They checked ID (passports) at checkin, but then nothing when we arrived in Italy. We got to walk through the Schengen arrival doors, so no customs since we were flying from within the Schengen area. Cool! I think this was a bingo item for Venice.

Side note: Chris was signed a seat in a different row than us. But, just before take-off, he asked to change to an open seat and was able to join us. Just weird. The entire row in front of the kids was empty and the seat next to me was empty. And yet, Chris was signed a seat a few rows up next to a mom with an unhappy baby. He got to sit with his family, and the mom had more room to move with her baby. Win-win!

Ready! Set! Arrived!

Upon arrival in Venice, Chris and Xander figured out what tickets to get for transportation into Venice. The last time we traveled here, we took the train from the Bologna airport, so this was new to us. We took a city bus to Venice and then a water taxi. The water taxi was crazy full. People shoved right up into your personal space. A taxi worker kept telling us we had to take our backpacks off. You had to either stow it or hold it. I guess they figure it makes more room for people to be shoved all in. I think I stepped on a dog's tail, who was sitting so quietly with his owners. Sorry!

We checked into the hotel and left our bags (too early to get into the room), and went out to find lunch. This restaurant was just something to tide us over, so nothing special. We did find out something interesting about the bathrooms here. It is typical to have a door to the bathrooms open into a small sink area. Then, there are two doors, one for women and one for men. Doesn't sound odd. But the sink area is small and it is sometimes awkward to be sharing space with the opposite sex when you are used to having a lot of space alone. The first one had frilly mirrors and girls primping, so if you're a dude, you have to walk by them and into your bathroom stall, just inches away. Not horrible, just different. After a few uses, I got used to the idea and, really, I didn't bump into anyone in all that time... it was mostly just the anticipation that kept me on my toes.

Clock tower (left). Government building (middle-left).
The kids playing in a giant water puddle (middle-right). The left-front of the Basilica (right).

We walked to Piazza San Marco. Oh, my! It was crowded! Again, I don't remember it being this crowded. But the buildings were just as beautiful as I remembered. The kids took a break from the heat by wading through the giant puddle that covered the middle of the Piazza.

We had no real plans for today. Just to walk about and take it all in. We headed to the water's edge at the port. The kids stuck their feet into the water there. The beauty of the place definitely takes a little weight out of the heat.

Gelato. We must find gelato. Ok, not hard to find, as there is a gelateria on every "block". You just have to find a good one (but I still argue that they are all probably good). We hunted for a specific one recommended to us and enjoyed our first-of-many gelatos. Then onto our hotel to find our room and take a rest.

View from our balcony at the "Starhotel Splendid Venice" hotel (left and middle)
Venice, pretending to think the bidet was a water fountain (right)

We stayed at the Starhotel Splendid Venice, thanks to HotelTonight's help with this one. It is located between the Rialto bridge and the Piazza San Marco. Great for walking to all the main spots. But it is a slight trade-off in that you are in the heart of the the hustle and bustle (translate to noise and crowds). We are in a family room which is ginormous. Three big rooms (entry, kids beds, master beds) with a large bathroom (tub and shower, bidet, big counters). And thanks to science, we have air conditioning, the BEST thing about the room, really! We do have a wonderful balcony and a views of a canal and bridges... but did I mention the air conditioning? Love it.

Side note: The electrical plugs are NOT the same as in Germany. What? But don't panic, Chris brought one universal-converter and we were able to share that one to recharge all our devices. Phew! We didn't bring laptops, but boy, we needed our phones (for navigation and communication) and the kids NEEDED their iPods to be charged! We scraped by with the shared converter. It just meant that the kids had to leave their iPods to charge in the room during the day, so they couldn't take them out to take photos of their own. Lesson learned. May need more universal-converters for other travels in the future.

As much as we wanted to rest and not do much (we were all tired from an early start), we decided we must walk to the other side of the island to meet Alessandro, one of HotelTonight's hotel-side correspondents. He grew up in Murano and has now lived in Venice for many, many years. He works with the Hotel Antiche Figure on the Ferrovia side of Venice and LOVES his city. He loves to share his knowledge of its history and ideas of where to visit.

Kids and map (left), Chris and Alessandro (middle), Kids walking (right)

We met Alessandro at his hotel and were greeted with warm welcomes and bellinis. He spent a long time showing us the map and pointing out places to see, eat, and visit. The kids had their iPods this time (this was before we realised the outlets were different) and occupied themselves quietly as we studied the map. Alessandro then walked us to dinner before heading home, and we enjoyed a nice dinner to end our day.

Alessandro had sent other clients to the same restaurant (clients who were staying at his hotel) and they sat right next to us. They were ending their 2 week trip (a New Jersey family with three grown daughters). As we talked about their trip, our trip, and other niceties, Venice and Xander (but Venice in particular) were super tired and ready to go back to the hotel for some good rest.

Side note: I am now remembering how long the Italians like to eat (or enjoy each other's company at the table). You get service and food very fast, but it takes about a year to get the bill. EVERY TIME we have to say, "Il conto per favore". And even that takes a while.

As a result, no kid brushed their teeth tonight. It was straight to bed with those sleepyheads.