Ray

Covent Garden is a nice location, very central within walking distance to most sights. Depending your budget you have The Savoy and directly opposite the less expensive Strand Palace.  There are other hotels in the area also. 
Very safe area even to walk about at night ( which is something you should actually do ) 

Covent Garden is a nice location, very central within walking distance to most sights. Depending your budget you have The Savoy and directly opposite the less expensive Strand Palace.  There are other hotels in the area also. 
Very safe area even to walk about at night ( which is something you should actually do ) 

Covent Garden is a nice location, very central within walking distance to most sights. Depending your budget you have The Savoy and directly opposite the less expensive Strand Palace.  There are other hotels in the area also. 
Very safe area even to walk about at night ( which is something you should actually do ) 

Just in case you try and book a train or taxi in England its Southampton not South Hampton 

Just in case you try and book a train or taxi in England its Southampton not South Hampton 

Still showing same deals as last week! Not even a mention of Black Friday on my screen lol 

We’re excited! 12 of us going. We’re sailing along the Danube with an overnight in Vienna. Also Krems, Passau, Regensburg. Then taking train to Prague for 3 nights. Should be epic! (And cold!) 

You will love Budapest and the Christmas Market, i was there last year for 4 nights and didn't want to leave 

Jetblue flys direct from NYC to London and have a new route planned for Edinburgh. 
I flew with them across the pond in March, price was good and so was the flight itself.
Icelandair is another airline to check out. 

Jetblue flys direct from NYC to London and have a new route planned for Edinburgh. 
I flew with them across the pond in March, price was good and so was the flight itself.
Icelandair is another airline to check out. 

Did auto correct get you on that last word...?

With Teddy Being a Butcher i thought he meant Rump 🤣

With Teddy Being a Butcher i thought he meant Rump 🤣

With Teddy Being a Butcher i thought he meant Rump 🤣

With Teddy Being a Butcher i thought he meant Rump 🤣

@teddy take all the time you need. Doing a recap is supposed to be a pleasure not a chore. I've enjoyed what you've written so far. 😊

Friday October 20
Transportation Strike Day!!
We got back to the airport at 500 and had no problems going through security. The process was fast and simple...nothing came off our body or out of our bags. They didn't care about liquids, tablets, etc. In addition, since our flight was within the Schengen Area, we didn't have to go through any kind of passport check.
Our flight took off and landed as planned...it was rather uneventful. Two and a half hours of nap time for us.
Once we landed, we had to figure out transportation to our hotel since there was a scheduled National Transportation strike in Italy today.
Our original plan was to take a water taxi from the airport to our hotel when we arrived, but the canceled flight changed that. Thankfully, one of the bus lines, the ATVO bus is privately operated and we were able to take that from the Venice Airport to Piazzale Roma at the end of the bridge to Venice. The cost was 20 € for the both of us. Tickets can be purchased inside the airport just beyond the baggage claim area or outside at ticket machines in the ground transportation area. We bought ours inside because I wanted to try my hand at Italian. The woman at the ticket counter understood me fine, but replied in English. This was a common theme in the Venice area....people seemed to rather speak English than risk a non-native Italian speaker misunderstanding something.
The bus trip was 20 minutes and you get off at Piazzale Roma, right in a big area with lots of bus and car activity. Watch out for vehicles cause they don't seem to watch out for you. There are many vaporetto stops nearby and the train station is a very short walk away.
Since no water buses (vaporetti) were running because of the transportation strike, we decided to walk to our hotel....Google Maps said 35 minutes. We didn't have a ton of luggage, and we're both in good physical shape...what could go wrong?
This was one of the only real mistakes we made during the whole trip. The walk on the uneven ground and narrow alleys in the heat and humidity was brutal....and the crowds. Holy S the crowds!! The popular areas were shoulder to shoulder people. It's currently the time of “acqua alta” (high water) in Venice so the water was shin deep on me in places...and I'm 6'4”...my wife is 5'2”...she was not impressed.
The Rialto Bridge was so crowded that it was an exercise in futility. We ended up finding a reroute which added another 25 minutes to our walk.  We were absolutely exhausted when we arrived.
On the flip side, the hotel experience was great.
We stayed at the Locanda Silva. It's an easy walk (5 mins) from a Vaporetto stop, and the owners are wonderful. I had contacted them the day before to let them know we would be a day late and they said not to worry. I neither expected nor asked about a refund for the missed night of lodging due to our canceled flight. We have trip insurance for that.
Our room included a private bathroom, included a breakfast, and ran us 200 € each night.
The check in process was easy and the owner spoke good English and humored me while I spoke in Italian.
After changing clothes and hydrating, we spent the next few hours walking around Venice...unencumbered by luggage.
Our hotel was in the Castello neighborhood and we headed deeper into it, going away from the tourist areas. We love to see normal people like us going about their daily lives rather than fighting the crowds.
Dinner tonight was at place recommended to us by the young man who was at the hotel desk. He even called to get us reservations.
We ate at 6342 Alla Corte. Dinner ran us 75 € and even our “thrifty” selves thought it was worth it. There are pictures below. The appetizer was a local seafood platter, I had a chicken dish, and my wife had bacon wrapped monkfish. We're not foodies, so I can't tell you the names of the dishes. Sorry.
The restaurant was very nice and to be honest, a lot higher class than we're used to. I felt like the proverbial bull in a china shop, but everyone was really nice to us. The owner felt bad that we didn't have a drink and wanted to give us one on the house after dinner, but we don't drink alcohol.
This was a recurring theme. We ran into a lot of confusion from people who didn't understand why we wouldn't have a glass of wine or an after dinner drink.
The walk back to our hotel from the restaurant was amazing, even in the drizzle. Venice at night is worth seeing.
We were in bed by 2230. Tonight, we had two single beds pushed together, so while we could sleep together, there was a light outside our window that shone in on us all night. We were exhausted, so it didn't bother us, but I could see some people complaining about it. It's something to be aware of at least if you consider staying here.  Another consideration is there are no elevators at the hotel.  You will have to walk up stairs to get to the desk and then more to get to your room.
Tomorrow: travel to Ravenna
 
Edit: Added one final picture to this reply...it's of the entrance to our hotel, Locanda Silva.   It's the brightly lit open door.
 

Would be funny if it had to be removed due to breach of copyright! 
 
100% correct 
Some people talk about kids having no manners! Blame the parents for not bringing them up correctly then behave like spoilt brats themselves when things are not to their liking. 

Would be funny if it had to be removed due to breach of copyright! 
 
100% correct 
Some people talk about kids having no manners! Blame the parents for not bringing them up correctly then behave like spoilt brats themselves when things are not to their liking. 

Would be funny if it had to be removed due to breach of copyright! 
 
100% correct 
Some people talk about kids having no manners! Blame the parents for not bringing them up correctly then behave like spoilt brats themselves when things are not to their liking. 

Hopefully the complainant doesn't look at booking a 2025 cruise from Rome or a cruise that stops off a Le Harve ( Paris ) or Southampton  ( London ) 🤣 

More chance of getting robbed by a TSA worker in Miami than someone stealing your bag on a ship! 

Just spotted in my cruise planner

Roll out of this program had been delayed until 2025 so no one ( anyone outside of the EU ) can apply for it until then. 

Roll out of this program had been delayed until 2025 so no one ( anyone outside of the EU ) can apply for it until then.