By 7:30 AM, we were on the bus for our optional excursion to see the Swiss Alps. After about half an hour, we arrived at Mount Stanserhorn. We rode two different cable cars up. The first one was made out of wood.
Our ride was about 20 minutes and we passed by so many cows, each one wearing cow bells ranging in size. One cow wore one that looked like the size of a baby's head. It was huge and loud!
For the second cable ride, 30-40 of us crammed into it and had to stand for about 7 minutes. I held onto Hubby since there were no rails for me to hold onto.
When we got out, it was really cold and cloudy so we couldn’t see anything…like the Alps.
Where Hubby is standing, we were supposed to see each Swiss mountain. Clearly the fog was so dense and it was completely overcast. That was a real bummer.
We lounged around outside for a little bit and then we went into the gift shop so we missed Richard’s guide up to see the marmonts. Hubby saw this and insisted that I get it since he is really into getting me stuffed animals when we/he travels and also because I love dogs. (It's a small St. Bernard.)
Afterward, we ventured out on the trails on our own. I was so disgusted by these slugs…yet so fascinated by how long they were.
When we got back to the common area, we actually saw a real St. Bernard! I got to take a pix with the dog’s butt (he was camera shy). See how small my St. Bernard is compared to the real one? The dog is huge! I was excited because it was my first time seeing one in real life.
We met up again at 9:30 AM and descended down. While we waited to go down, we goofed off a little bit.
We eventually arrived in Venice in the late afternoon. We stopped before our destination to use the restroom for one euro; definitely wasn't even close to the pointwc in the Louvre. At 5 PM, we arrived at Venice port (or beach?) and went on our gondola ride. We had to break up into groups so we got lucky and sat with Burt and Nancy, the couple from Arizona. We also got lucky because our group was broken up into 2 fleets of 6 gondolas and our gondola was the only one with musicians on board! The other gondolas around us had to get near enough for the live entertainment. We opened up a delicious bottle of champagne and celebrated health, wealth, and happiness as we rode through the Grand Canal, listening to songs in Italian accompanied by an accordion.
After our half hour ride, we did our walking tour of Saint Marcus’ Square (San Marco Piazza). On the way, we saw the St. Mark’s Basilica, monuments, and shops. Prior to our walking tour, Richard told us about Venice and how he believes that Venice won’t be around forever. The salt water is naturally eroding the sand-base that these beautiful buildings are built on. Some of the many bell towers are already leaning from the erosion (like the one below).
There are many cathedrals because each parish had their own and when the Black Plague hit, all of these churches were built to thank God for those that survived. Currently, no one has the money to maintain these ancient buildings any more, though. When the government can afford it, they will restore it, but they have to prioritize. They try to get corporations to sponsor the restorations. It’s weird to think that this city may not be around any more in our lifetime. To say that we were once here is amazing.
(If you look closely, the bottom half of this building is a facade/billboard to cover up the renovation taking place behind.)For an hour, Hubby and I window shopped. We both had to use the wash room so we spent 1.50 Euro each! The hour passed by so quickly so we didn’t get anything. We passed many high-end stores: Louis Vuitton, Prada, Chanel, etc. The only thing I got was tiramisu ice-cream for 1.50 Euro. It was delicious! Richard recommended us having fresh bellini (fresh peaches with champagne). It sounded delicious but I knew I couldn’t handle it, especially after the gondola champagne. We eventually met the group and got on a private water taxi...where we subsequently saw this:
When we got on the bus, we realized that the couple that sits behind us (that jacked the mother-daughter's seats) were missing. Richard had us leave for the Antony Hotel first and go straight to dinner. At dinner, we sat with the couple from Anaheim, Nancy and Burt, and Pat and Mary, the two ladies from Maryland. Bread was passed around and then we had a pasta dish. We wolfed it down so fast, but when the waiters came to pick up the dishes, they had us keep our knives. Next thing we know, we’re being served the real entrée! We were laughing so hard; some were admitting they eat 2 huge rolls to fill up. That’s when I realized that the rigatoni with red sauce…was our “antipasta.” Our entrée was two slices of veal, green beans, and potatoes. I only ate half since I was already full. Dessert was tiramisu (finally!) and I had a sip of very bold coffee. Best coffee we had on our entire trip. I was expecting nothing less considering Italy is known for their espresso consumption and aficionados.
The couple made it back on their own after our antipasta…but we didn’t know that they hadn’t contacted Richard so when Richard got back, he was not the happiest camper. I overheard him saying he was checking with the police, hospitals, etc. That especially sucked for Richard since everyday, he reminds us to keep his cell phone number on us just in case.
After, we finally checked into our room. We are staying at Antony Hotel, the biggest room yet and with A/C. (Maybe it's big b/c they gave us a room with two doubles.)
Our day was amazing, going from Stanserhorn to Venice Canal (20 degree weather to 90 degrees). Two beautiful cities so rich with culture and history yet so different. If we come back to Venice, I definitely want to do the gondola ride again, have a fresh bellini, and indulge in a gourmet cup of coffee at a cafe overlooking the Venice Canal.
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