Day 11 - Ciao Italia!

Departure day.. I am so sad to say goodbye to Italy.  We departed out of Marco Polo airport in Venice today.  We got up early, around 7 am to pack and get ready for a 1:40.  We had to walk to the St. Zaccharia port near St. Mark's square to catch the Alilaguna boat to the airport.  It was only a few minute walk but we wanted to give ourselves enough time with luggage to give over the little bridges.  We stopped in St. Mark's square for a quick goodbye and then walked over to the port to catch our boat-it was right behind Doge's palace.  It cost 12 Euro each to ride the boat, but it was so worth it because it took us directly to the airport-it went so smooth.  The whole experience in Venice has gone so smooth-transportation is very easy, although more costly than Rome (1 euro for the metro/bus in Rome, 6 euro to take the water taxi in Venice).  We caught the 9:25 am boat (it comes every hour on the :25) and it was much nicer and bigger, and it did not make me seasick thankfully.  However, JoAnne and I still feel dizzy even today.  We had a 7 minute (signs gave exact minutes) walk to terminal.  The Marco Polo airport is so nice, smaller than Rome and JFK, and very well marked by signs.  We ate a delicious lunch of pizza and salad, and then did a little shopping  in the duty-free shops.  

We departed on time and the plane was much more comfortable than the one we took coming.  We had a bonus- when we took off we flew north which meant we would fly over switzerland.  It was a clear day and so we got a beautiful aerial view of what I think are the Swiss alps (correct me if I am wrong).  I took a picture through the plane window, but it doesn't do it justice.  It was an 11 hour plane ride to Atlanta, but it went smooth and we had a very good flight.   We arrived in Atlanta and went through an uneventful customs line.  The only problem we encountered was Frank's luggage got lost in Atlanta (we were supposed to get it and recheck it in Atlanta after customs).  Thankfully it showed up in Raleigh!  We tried to carry-on most of our souvenirs, so it wouldn't have been too tragic if it did get lost.  Anyways, we had a very tiresome layover in Atlanta (4 hours-and we were on Italy time so it was like 4am for us).  But we made it home and I got the best hug from Madelyn.  

Words cannot express how amazing our trip was.  It was just incredible and I am so thankful to Frank for letting me plan this trip.  I love you babe!  I highly recommend taking a trip to Italy if you have the ability to-it was worth every penny.  I also highly recommend Rick Steves' book (if you didn't figure that already), it was so worth it to plan this trip ourselves and explore Italy like a local.  Thanks everyone for reading the blog-check back again, as I will be posting more pictures to it.

Ciao!!  Arrivederci!!