After stowing away our luggage, we went down to the lobby check-in counter to request a shuttle to Piazzale Roma. The shuttle wasn’t available at the time – I think they were picking up other guests and wouldn’t be back any time soon – so the concierge helped us call a cab and also helped us communicate our destination to the driver. The ride was pretty pricey compared to taking the hotel shuttle, it cost us about 50+ euros, but it was the price we had to pay to get to our destination earlier.
We had originally planned to go on a short 2-hour walking tour which included a gondola ride – had it booked up and all [if anyone is interested, here’s the link to it] – but unfortunately, we couldn’t make it in time for the tour. Luckily, the organizers of the tour were understanding and allowed us to get a refund. I wonder if the tour actually happened though, what with the pouring rain and all that.
It was raining so much that we decided to just walk around Piazzale Roma instead of taking the water bus further into the waterways. Plus we didn’t think there was enough time (I think on account of the water bus ride being too long).
Photo of a canal at the Piazzale Roma. I took this while under some cover, didn’t want my baby camera to get wet…
Waterbus @ Piazzale Roma.
While walking around, we spotted a booth that offered tours. We saw that they offered gondola tours so we enquired about booking one. Unfortunately, the agent/attendant told us that the gondola tours were cancelled due to the heavy rain. We wanted to book one for the next day before our cruise departed, but the gondolas only operated in the evening. *sigh* I was pretty bummed out about missing such a quintessential thing to do in Venice. Definitely going on a gondola ride the next time I’m back in Venice. Hopefully it won’t rain the next time I’m there…
Next up: Walking around Piazzale Roma.
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