Re: More Central and Eastern European bling (incl Transylvania); *A flights, Accor ho
We had a final hour in Sibiu, another old city with defenses etc but to be honest, our heart wasn’t in it and I’ll spear you the pics and details. Off to Sibiu airport, which received about six international flights a day; it’s a bit bigger than Hobart airport (but no lounge
). Brasov, bigger and more touristy, has no commercial airport. Our trusty Austrian Airlines Dash 8 arrived, and departed on time.
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We arrived Venice on time and got a bus ticket to the road terminus on the island. And things went downhill quickly.
I must confess, in thirty years of travelling the world, I never had any great urge to visit Italy. Don’t know why - maybe it’s the reputation for chaos, and I like things ordered and predicable. I did visit on business once – to Florence, Pisa and Tuscany believe it or not – and that didn’t sway my priorities. But my friends did visit about 20 years ago, BK (before kids) and were keen to go again.
Trying to find the right bus from the airport to get to the island, I’m pretty sure we were sworn at by two divers when we tried to find out if we were boarding the right one. Before the end of the day, I observed [/rant warning]:
* Venice is just a huge tourist trap – great vistas and art, but hard work;
* Public transport types are unfailingly rude (and yes, we always tried our basic Italian when asking for anything). What's the Italian for "You may not like us, but we give you a job - mate!";
* The streets are dirty – household rubbish is put out in plastic bags along the alleyways, and the stray dogs and birds open up the bags and spread the rubbish about the streets;
* Urine from various species running across the pavements. At one small bridge, I watched in morbid fascination as a dog squatted at the top, and a small waterfall of urine cascaded down the stairs, pooling artistically in the indentations caused by millions of users of the steps;
* Notwithstanding it’s a tourist trap, the signages etc are simply hopeless. I don’t find ‘getting lost in Venice’ to be one of its charms;
* Oh, and when you buy a ferry ticket for route 4.1, why does the ferry leave from the pontoon marked Route 7, and not the adjacent pontoon marked “4.1”?
* Many of those outwardly charming cafes sell horrible food for horrible prices;
* The buildings are dirty and crumbling. I have no doubt that it costs a bucket to just maintain, but the monuments which must rake in €100,000 a day, at least might at least repair or maintain the crumbling rendered facades (Ducal Palace, for instance).
[/rant mostly over]
I’m happy for people to say I’m being too hard, or not looking at the romance and history of the place (and the irony of being part of cause of the tourist crush is not lost on me
). But sorry, it just didn’t float my boat, if you’ll pardon the obvious pun. My friends lamented that it wasn’t as pleasant experience as they remembered from before.
Like with the Habsburgs, I’ve never figured out the Medici’s, and can’t be bothered doing so on this visit. And since Venice has been done a million times, I think I’ll just post some pics and details that people might find interesting.
But first we check into the Accor Mgallery Hotel Papadopoli Venice. “Mgallery” brand I understand is assigned to Accor hotel with ‘classic’ or ‘grand’ aspirations, or pretentions depending on your point of view. They are pitched between Sofitel and Novotel, on par with Pullman. All four hotels we had in Italy were Mgallery and I must say on the whole we were disappointed. There were some glaring deficiencies.
The Papodopoli is beside the Papadopoli gardens immediately off the Piazzale Roma where the busses and cars have their nearest approach to Venice, and across the canal from the railway station. We chose it because it was Accor and its proximity to the bus station (our arrival) and rail station (our departure). But it did mean a hike to the main tourist sights (no problem there).
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My room was possibly one of the smallest I have ever had in an upscale hotel. There was barely walking room around the bed. I am travelling with a suitcase and a carry-on; the suitcase had to sit on the bidet in the bathroom as there was no room otherwise.
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In the evening we found out that the restaurant was closed because it was Sunday night even club sandwiches were off because it meant frying the bacon. Major fail in an upscale hotel. We went to a café over the road for a very average introduction to Italian dining.
And before we get to the bits of Venice that I liked, can I get something off my chest? OK, you are going to build a new bridge in Venice, over the Grand Canal. It’s the 1980s or 1990s. Its linking the Piazzale Roma and the Papadopoli part of the main island with the railway station and the the other side of the canal. Hundreds - ?thousands? of suitcases will be toted across this bridge every day. SO, FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE,
can some-one tell me why there were no frigging ramps put in? They have been retrofitted to some of the old bridges, but not on this new one, leading to the blessed railway station? And after the bridge, with the new canal-side pathway immediately next to the train station, did we really need to have only these steps? No room for just a teensy ramp? :evil::evil::evil:
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Normal 'on holiday' spirit will resume tomorrow.
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