Late in the trip kinds of thoughts

I did a good job with logistics for the most part. The hotels I picked were all very good except for one (which was fine, really) and a couple were excellent. You can read my reviews at TripAdvisor if you're interested.

I completely bungled much of the car rental operations in Florence but everything else was pretty smooth. We had a big-ass Mercedes for the Rome-Florence leg. This was a big, black, impressive-looking thing that was very hard to park but easy to find in lots because it was the one sticking out a foot further back than the other cars. The car we had for the second part was a Peugot Picasso, which I despised. It was an automatic transmission car with no Park. When you turn the engine off, the parking brake engages automatically and it also disengages automatically when you start up and put it in whatever they call Drive (A, I think, for Abominable) but not before you have a second revving and feeling like you're trying to drive with the brake on, only to surge forward a moment later. At low speeds, it drove like that all the time- surge and slow, surge and slow, with steady pressure on the pedal, very unpleasant. You're best off in Europe if you can drive a standard. I can do it, but it's not my idea of a vacation.

Today I saw the UPS guy. Can you imagine? Trying to deliver packages on a hand truck (no, they're not brown) in narrow alleyways among hoards of people who have no idea where they are walking? Now that's a job I don't want.

There is nobody walking on the streets of Venice who is not a tourist. The largest contingent are German, with lots of French too, especially teenagers. There are a decent number of Americans here, especially teens and young adults, but most of the time's that we've seen groups and assumed they're Americans we've been wrong. But think of the ramifications of having the vast majority of people in a city being visitors who don't speak the language. I've never been in a place like that before. It's a weird atmosphere.

One of the things I think what I'm most tired of is hotel rooms. These are very strange things. They are a place for you to live for a short period of time, but they are really just a bedroom and a bathroom, with some simulation of a sitting room or office. I never spend any time in my bedroom when I'm not in bed, and it's strange to be in one for hours every day. I've become a much bigger fan of renting apartments. I'm not sure how that would work for 3-4 days at a time, and there is something to be said for the pampering you get at a nice hotel, but life is much more normal in an apartment.

Everyone says the nicest way to get to the airport from Venice is by water taxi. What they don't mention is that you have to walk from the dock to the terminal. When I ask, the hotel people say, "only 7 minute walk." You know how far I can walk in 7 minutes? About half a mile. That ought to be fun with 200 pounds of luggage. They say it's flat and covered, but I didn't hear "air conditioned" mentioned anywhere, so I guess I can add to my collection of sweat-soaked shirts.

I've know I've been whining plenty about Venice, but I must say that the neighborhood the hotel is in (behind the Accademia Gallery if you know Venice) is lovely. It's busy but not at all crowded. It's maybe 300 yards from canal to canal here, and the southern waterfront (Zattare docks) is wide open and very pretty. We got pizza tonight from a little neighborhood place that looked, well, like a regular neighborhood restaurant rather than a tourist mecca. If I ever come back I'd definitely like to stay around here again.