Italy as it Happened...Day 3

Italy as it Happened...Day 3

Friday, April 12th

Have you ever heard of the term B & E? If not, allow me to explain. B & E is an acronym for Breaking and Entering. the police (and low-life street hoods) use this term a lot.

Our first morning in Venice; Kerry and I were up and showered and ready to go out and explore all that Venice had to offer. That was when I was forced to commit B & E. But I wasn't trying to break in anywhere. Instead I was trying to break out (Breaking and Exiting).

The previous night, when Kerry and I were ready for bed, I took one last walk around the apartment to insure all of the lights were off and all of the doors locked. There was only one door so that was an easy task. On the door there was a keyed lock and a bar-latch. The key part was out in the hall and the bar-latch was on the inside. The bar-latch was in the "open" position so I grabbed onto the handle and slid it to the left. "Click" It was secure and so were we.

After our breakfast in the morning we dressed up and headed towards the door. It was 9:30am and we had a 10:30 tour booked at St. Mark's Square. As I grabbed onto that slide-bar, to unlatch the door, it wouldn't budge. The little locking knob thing in the middle of the lock was jammed in tightly and no matter how hard I tried, it wouldn't move. This was the only way in or out and being on the third floor, climbing out the window was not an option. Oh, and there was no phone anywhere to be found. We were stuck. What a way to spend our first day in Venice. Maybe those two nasty ladies behind us on our trans-Atlantic flight were sending us some bad mojo!

The yellow and black jackets you see Kerry and I wear when we travel are called the Bumble-Bee jackets. These work really well for standing out in large crowds as well as keeping us dry and warm. I had on my Bumble-Bee jacket with scarf and as I stood there looking at that stupid door, I was beginning to sweat. Were the walls actually closing in on me? For a brief moment they seemed to be doing just that. Off came the Bumble-Bee and the scarf. It was now time to tap into my engineering background and go directly into MacGyver mode. I searched every drawer and cupboard there. Not a tool anywhere. Then I found a cork screw and thought to myself, why not? On the door frame side of the latch, there was a piece that was securely attached with 4 flat head screws. If they were Philips head screws, we would have been screwed ourselves. As I tried to slowly turn the first screw, it wouldn't budge. I moved onto the next one. It moved, ever so slowly. The cork screw was bending. Would it last? "Probably not," I thought to myself. Finally, 10 minutes later that first screw was out and there were three more to go. I worked on each one, managing the screws (and cork screw) with the hands of a surgeon. Each move, each twist done with precision and care. Two screws out and the sweat was slowly dripping off of my nose. These screws must have been in there for decades.

Almost 40 minutes later, all four screws were out, the latch part attached to the door frame was attached no more. The door swung freely. The surgery was a success with only one fatality...the poor cork screw. It took one for the team.

I left the pieces on the table near the door and Kerry and I hurried out to catch our tour at the square (a 10 minute walk from our apartment). We got to see St. Mark's Basilica, the square, the Doge Palace and the attached prison. We also visited various churches and quaint neighborhoods. A stop for an espresso was the perfect way to keep our motors running (decaf for me and high octane for Kerry).

As our hunger for supper started to grow, we found a market and purchased a fresh tomato, fresh mozzarella cheese, salami and rolls. That was the best tasting sandwich, ever! Kerry also found a great bottle of Pinot Gregio and some amazing pastries. The wine went well with the sandwich and the pastries would take care of our breakfast needs the next morning.

We found this little out-of-the way Gelato shop nears St. Mark's Square. The sign said, "Worlds Best Gelato." That was no exaggeration-we returned often. As the evening fell upon Venice and our dinner digesting in a wonderful way, we headed back to St. Mark's Square, just to sample the night life, Venetian style. Amazing!

I found it interesting that when we finally returned to our flat, those screws and latch piece were back on the door, the latch-bar itself returned to the far right (open) position, the same position it was in before I secured the door the night before. I never touched that latch again and nothing was ever said about our Great Escape. Interesting in deed!