Italy as it Happened...Day 2

Italy as it Happened...Day 2

Thursday, April 11th

As soon as we boarded our AirBus A330/300 and found our seats we settled in, for this would be our home for the next 9 hours or so. As we departed Atlanta we headed up the coast before going directly out over the North Atlantic. Everyone around us was buzzing with excitement. Everyone had a reason for being there, sharing this space with Kerry and me.

What could possibly happen that would be note worthy during a long trans-Atlantic flight? Turbulence, food poisoning, screaming babies; all of these are possibilities, but none are close to the situation Kerry and I found ourselves in (for the entire flight). Allow me to explain. We quickly reached cruising altitude, you know, when the seat belt sign goes off and you can start using approved electronic devices and recline your seat if that is your desire. Before I could do any of those things the lady sitting directly behind me leaned over, touching my arm, trying to get my attention. She got my attention.

"You do realize that if you recline your chair, you will land right between my bosom," she said, with what I thought to be a joking tone. I replied, "Then I guess we are going to get intimate!" With that said I started to recline. She immediately hit the back of my seat and with all she had she pushed my seat back into the upright position, with me in it. "What the...?"

Now, the lady sitting next to this aggressive person behind me was quiet and had little to say, that is until Kerry tried to recline her seat back. She too then started pushing on Kerry's seat, her attitude being fed by the lady sitting beside her. The space you have (limited as it is) is maximized when the person in front of you does not recline their chair and you recline yours. These two ladies wanted to maximize their space at any cost; our cost!

We sat there listening to these two "NUTS" complain about us and our seat position. It was getting to the point where I wanted to get up, open the emergency door and toss both of them out...bad thoughts! When the stewardess came along to serve the first meal, the two behind us started complaining. She smiled and listened to their story before coming up to Kerry and me and asking what was going on. We explained about the flight so far, from the time we reached cruising altitude until this very moment (90 minutes after take off) these two ladies were abusing us. As we were explaining our dilemma, one of the ladies actually reached her hand forward between our seats and grabbed onto Kerry's arm. I couldn't believe it, right there in front of stewardess...perfect timing. The Flight Attendant assured us that the space we had was ours, paid for in full, and no one on the plane had the right to demand we surrender a square inch. She called her supervisor and explained to her (in Dutch) what was going on. The supervisor said she would speak to the two ladies...I took my ear phones off; I wanted to hear this interaction.

Well, you would think that these two were the sweetest old ladies ever. They were polite and in the sweetest voice explained that they simply wanted us to keep our seat backs up during the meal service, so they would have room for their own meal trays. The supervisor came back and asked us if we would adjust our seats, just during the meal service and we said we would (my initial thought was to say, "Just put my wife and me up in business class and that would be the end of that.") But I knew that this was a full flight, every seat taken. The supervisor explained to these sweet Jekyll and Hyde fems that we would give them room to eat but after the meal, our chairs were there for us to recline or not; it was our choice, not theirs. They smiled and thanked her for her assistance and understanding. I ate my meal with on eye locked onto that emergency door...here come those bad thoughts again.

We enjoyed our meal (with our seat backs in the full upright position). As soon as we were done, and the trays were picked up, I heard the one directly behind be say to her new friend, "I bet you that man doesn't care and fully reclines again." That was the first thing she said that was truthful. As soon as the tray was gone Kerry and I hit that glorious button and quickly positioned our seat backs into the fully reclined position (looking at each other, we smiled). Now it was time to relax and enjoy a movie or three...and I did as Kerry slept. For the rest of the flight we could hear mumbling behind us...we did put our seat up each time a meal was served, but as soon as we were done...RECLINE, GLORIOUS RECLINE!

We finally arrived in Amsterdam and from there a quick exchange to a flight directly into Venice. We had no checked luggage, only a carry on for each of us...we travel light. Once in Venice (arriving at 4:30pm) we followed the directions to our B&B, directions that left me somewhat confused.

Because the streets in Old Venice are all canals, and addresses are hard to find we were instructed to take the water bus (Vaporetto) to a specific stop. From there we were to get out and call our host and he would come and meet us. My only concern for the entire Plan B vacation was this part...calling our host. We did not buy a European cell SIM card or cell phone. All we could do was by a local phone card for 5 Euros and find a pay phone and try to figure out how to dial all of the numbers we had to dial. Apparently if you are calling across the country or across the street, you have to dial every number (at least 10 of them not to mention the 800 number for the calling card).

The nearest pay phone did not accept these calling cards so we had to wonder a ways to find one that did. Finally, we found a phone booth in an old looking square. After two or three attempts Kerry figured out how to dial the number we had. She had Mr. Ixe on the line (yes, our host was Chinese and didn't speak much English - a few words if that). We tried to explain to him where we were and he said he would come and get us. We hung up and waited. After 15 minutes passed we called him back wondering where he was. All he could say was the name of the stop where we got off of the water bus, so we assumed he was there waiting for us. We told him 5 minutes and he seemed to understand.

As Kerry and I walked back to that stop, there he was waiting. He knew us from our online picture and after looking at us and then comparing us to the image on his smart phone, he approached, greeted us and asked us to follow him. We followed, wondering where on earth he was going. Up the set of stairs crossing the nearby canal we went and down the other side. He did take the bag from Kerry, but left me with mine. Then we turned right and then left, eventually coming to a small door, in a lane that dead ended on a small canal. This would be our home for the next 3 nights. Ironically, this apartment was only a few hundred yards from where we made our two phone calls.

He showed us around the flat and everything looked fine. We had a choice of three rooms, since no one else was staying there (yet). I selected the one nearest the bathroom (with 3 beds...1 queen and 2 twins). He gave us our keys and then he was gone. That would be the last we would see of him during our stay in Venice.

Splashing our face with water, Kerry and I were somewhat refreshed and determined to stay up until bed time in Venice. That is the best way to avoid jet lag issues; go to bed when the locals do. We went for an exploratory walk around the area, making sure to note the location of our apartment. We purchased a piece of bread and some Salami and made an easy dinner we could enjoy while walking about. By 8:30pm we were back in our room, 3 stories above the streets and canals of old Venice. 

Let the vacation begin.