Thanksgiving Vacation 2013: Last Day in Venice and Bologna

Rialto Bridge

This was our last day of vacation in Italy. We had time to spend in Venice before taking the train back to Bologna. We had our breakfast and checked out of the hotel, leaving our luggage at the front desk so we do some more exploring of the city before heading back to the train. We only had a about two hours, because we wanted to get back to Bologna with enough time to see a few more sites before the sun set. So we started following the signs along on the buildings that guide you through the narrow streets and over the bridges towards St. Mark's Square. We didn't have time to walk there and back, so we made the Rialto Bridge our destination, stopping at various shops along the way. Before too long my sister had to head back because she was flying out of Venice in the afternoon. So we waved goodby as she left Venice and I continued walking with my brother and his wife. We hadn't bought any Venice made glass souvenirs yet, but the one shop we waked into actually had a man make making small glass animals at the front counter. So my sister-in-law bought some small glass animals. I wanted to buy some but was afraid they would break on the way home.

Grand Canal, Venice

We continued onto the Rialto bridge, which I had seen the first day in a boat and later in the dark, but this was the first view in clear sunlight. Being off-season, I'm told that usually there are so many people on the bridge that you can't get a good photo. I had no problem viewing the canal from the bridge and taking some photos, but I forget to get one of myself. We then turned back and headed to our hotel where we got our bags, bought a train ticket, which we now knew we needed to get validated before boarding the train, so there was a lot less panic than there was on the way here.

We found seats in the first class car, and the train slowly left the station. I could have spent another day in Venice, but as usual, our trips are quick and we had to see as much as we can in limited time. As the train got to each train station, more people got on. By the time we got to Bologna, the cabin was almost full and most everyone got off with us. We thought about going to our hotel first to drop off our bags and then coming back to the city, but with limited time, we opted to leave our bags at the train station where you can store your luggage - for a price. 

View from the twin tower in Bologna

Our main reason for going back to the city center was to walk to the top of the hopefully now open tower. After a quick cab ride to the plaza, we found the tower open and after buying our tickets we started walking up the 500 stairs to the top. Many of the steps were narrow and small, not made for someone with big feet. Luckily it wasn't to busy, but there were a few places where we had to stop and let the people heading down pass us, as there was only one set of stairs. Once at the top you realize how high you are when you look down on the other other tower and buildings. I took many pictures through the iron gated windows and it was pretty clear, as you can see from the photo of the city. Just some smog along the horizon. It was cold and breezy at the top, so once we saw all of the 360 degrees view, we headed down, which was almost more difficult than walking up because of the small steps

Looking down at Bologna

Once at the bottom we headed to the plaza where there was a band playing Christmas music and people watching. There was also unfortunately the people begging for money, including two women with all white mime-like makeup and an old man that wouldn't leave me alone. I was ready to punch the man but that would have been a bad idea.When we arrived in the taxi we saw the Christmas tree lit up, but now the lights were off. They must have just been testing them. We saw signs of Christmas lights and decorations being put up along the streets and buildings, but very few were turned on. We had hoped that as it got dark they would turn on, but that was not the case. I guess it was still too early for the Christmas celebrations. However, they did have a booth that was selling hot wine, so I bought a cup and it helped warm me up. 

After walking around some more we were ready for dinner. We knew that there were places to eat, but once again, they were all the small bars with no sit-down seats. We eventually did find a place that had seats and they squeezed the three of us into a small table, but we were happy to sit down, warm up and get some food. We all enjoyed our meal and dessert. We almost had a small emergency when they said cash only, but we had just enough Euros to pay for the meal.

Me at the top of the Tower

Since it wasn't that far back to the bus station, we decided to walk. Along the ride here we saw what looked like a Christmas market. As we got closer to the stations, sure enough, there was a Christmas market, but it was still being set up, with just a few booths open. So we continued walking to bus station and stopped to look at some more ruins, which were hard to see in the dark. So back at the station we had to find an ATM to get cash to pay for our luggage storage. We found one, collected our bags and got a taxi to our hotel which was located near the airport. It's always nice to have a hotel near the airport on your last night so you have an easy ride the next morning to catch the flight out. Our flight left at 8:30, so we planned to get there by 7:00, which was plenty of time.

Christmas Music

The next morning we checked-out and took the free shuttle to the airport, which turns out is pretty small. Since we had all booked our flights in business class using frequent flyer miles, we had access to the executive lounges at each airport. The one at Bologna was small, but I was happy with a coffee, juice and pastry. Our plane left on time, if not early, and we quickly arrived back at London, where we had about three hours before our flight back home. The British Airways club there is huge with all the food and drinks you can consume, plus free WiFi. Time went by so fast we almost didn't notice when they posted our gate for the flight, and we got to the gate as they were boarding. But with our tickets we got to use the fast line so we were on board quickly.

Christmas Tree in Bologna

This was going to be a long flight, about 11 hours. I planned to watch a movie, read, listen to music and try to get some sleep. I did all of the above, but it was still a very long flight. They did have good service, with all the beer you wanted (or wine for most people - only I was drinking beer in business class). The food was good and topped with a nice plate of desserts. As we got closer to home they served another snack and then we were set to land. Luckily we got in near sunset, so it wasn't too late and I wasn't too tired. After all, I had to drive home still. Once we cleared customs, using our fast track global entry, we got the shuttle to the parking lot and I said goodby to my brother and sister-in-law and drove home. By the time I went to bed, I had basically been up for 24 hours, but I know I got some sleep on the plane. I had Sunday to recover before going back to work on Monday. So another year's overseas trip was complete and now we get to plan where to go next year.