The Waiting Game

We’re in Venice now. We made it here about 9 PM, wandered down from the train station in the general direction of the hotel and ran into some Brits along the way. They were very nice, and reminded Tiff and I repeatedly that London is no more representative of England than New York is of America (that is, don’t judge the country by the city). We talked about England a while, the election briefly (without specifics, thank goodness), Rome, Venice, and Germany. Once we got to the hotel our British friends traded email addresses then we headed up to our room.
This Holiday Inn is much like the one in Rome, but thankfully with working air conditioning. It still has that ugly carpet, and the modern look with all the straight angles, light wood, and bright colors or metal. It’ll due.
Today’s been very nice. Before leaving Rome we walked along about a quarter mile of the Appian Way, seeing a few nice houses and a couple of old buildings. Most of the exciting stuff was further down, and we hope to see it another time (possibly in December). It was neat to walk in the old chariot tracks, though, and reflect on the things that have passed. I still don’t have internet access, because every hotel in Europe seems to think “high Speed” means “dial up.” Sure, I can have “high speed” access if I put in my dial up access number. Idjits.
We spent the rest of the day on an Italian IC train. It was a sleeper train running during the day. We rode with a pair of Venetians who spoke nearly no English. For a brief stretch we also had a cute Italian kid with us, but he got off pretty quickly. With light conversation and plenty of time it was a wonderful change of pace. I read The Three-Penny Opera just out of curiosity. Quite a piece. Once again, I think you have to be German to really get it. Bits clicked and connected, but it just wasn’t all that astounding. It’d be interesting to see, though.
I need a new book now.
Venice is going to be mostly a church and city tour, which will be nice. Our British friends said the most flooding (beyond usual, of course) is during the high tide around midday, so we should be ok for a few hours in the morning and again in the evening. We’re going to scout it out tomorrow. We’ve got 4 days, so we should be ok.
Yay for Election Day tomorrow! Finally free of the waiting!
I’m going to bed… it’s like Christmas Eve with more of a gamble.