The gun laws in Europe require a permit holder for a rifle, and only that permit holder, to transport the rifle. What this meant is that Anna and her teammate were unable to drive with me yesterday to Venecia and had to wait until the team moved to their Airbnb before they could come to Venecia. I had mapped it all out for them, walk half a mile to the bus, bus to the train station, jump on a train, switch trains in Verona, and finally arrive in Venecia. Whew. More on that later.
This left me with a day to explore and wander around the streets of Venice. And have more than a few cappuccinos… It was fun to get reacquainted to the city (last time I was here was in 2001, I think). Along the way I kept track of possible dinner spots with gluten free pasta/pizza. The ladies jumped on the bus around 2:30pm and then after they worried a bit they confirmed they did get on the correct train to Verona. This was the first time for both of them navigating European trains and public transportation, so along with that came some worry and stress.
As the sun was setting I checked my phone and there was a message reminding me of my reservation for the terrace at Fondaco dei Tedeschi. I had totally forgotten that I made the reservation a month ago. I quickly loaded the address into my phone and was shocked, after walking over twelve miles today, that I was two blocks away. Crazy! And it was a good thing as I only had about ten minutes to get there. Into the department store and up to the top floor where my entry bar code was scanned and we waited a few minutes before they let us out. I was so, so thrilled that I checked my email because the view at sunset was AMAZING. I easily could have missed it. Whew.
I had been watching Anna and Cheresa’s train progress and it was a bit concerning that their train was late and they had a tight connection. We were texting back and forth, while I was watching the trains and watching for any track changes. I was able to direct them and it was a good thing I did because there was not time to look for the large board showing all the trains coming and going. Such a relief to get the message that they just made it on the train. Whew. Whew.
I relaxed a bit at the hotel before heading to the train station to meet them. Of course another track change. Everyone was deboarding the train but where were Anna and Cheresa… I walk down the track and found them surrounded by a group of people. Turns out it was a group from Spain who saw their Team USA jackets and started up a conversation. Anna has decent Spanish skills but they were a bit rusty since it had been years since she used them. She was able to communicate well enough and it was fun to watch them get the attention. From there is was a hustle to the hotel and then to dinner since it was 8:30pm already and they were starving. Yay! They made it 🙂
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