The flight went fairly quickly ...... only 5 1/2 hours. We had a nice dinner of salad, chicken and cheesecake and tried to get some rest for a couple of hours. The flight was wonderfully smooth and a bit ahead of schedule ....... great news except we landed in Dublin at 4:30 in the morning! So crazy ...... as this was actually only 11:30 PM Boston time! Talk about getting your body clock goofed up.
The walk from the plane through passport control and to our next gate felt like a marathon walk. At least we only had to deal with light carry-on bags. It is really quite strange to see how active the airport was so early in the morning. Our flight left at 7:45 and several other larger flights to Rome, Milan and Zurich left well before us.
While we were waiting we grabbed a couple of croissants and multiple cups of coffee! Although the airport was busy, we were clearly the first ones to arrive for the Venice flight!
Made it to Venice in about 2 1/2 hours. There was not a jetway, so we got to ride a bus to the terminal! It all went smoothly and our bags came up on the baggage carousel right when we arrived there.
We then flexed our tired muscles a bit and headed around the side of the airport to get to the water transportation center. Going by bus or even by public water ferries takes forever, so we had decided to hire a private water taxi. The trip was about 30 minutes and was absolutely fantastic! What a thrill ...... certainly moving faster than we had anticipated. We had taken the same ride with Noel and Clara ten years ago, but did not remember how much fun this was (haha, that trip was in January!)
Finally, Isola San Giorgio is in view! Almost there........
Wonderful rosemary hedges all over the garden walkways
One of the hallways leading to our rooms
We got settled in our apartment and decided to head out around 6:00.......first for an aperol spritz at the San Giorgio Cafe, which is literally in view of our residence building. It is the only restaurant on the island......and is charming, with great views over the marina to San Marco across the lagoon. After than we got on the vaporetto for a 5 minute ride to Giudecca, the adjacent island, which has a more active food and retail character.
What a truly amazing day. It is difficult to put a normal framework to when it started......but we are now shifting into an understanding of how it ends. As we go to bed at 11:00, we are starting to put aside the 5 hour time difference. Wonderfully tired and excited, we are looking forward to tomorrow......so great to be back to Venice!
