Delays in posting / Civitavecchia - Venice

You'll note that I have just posted 3 days experiences in 1 hit.  This is because on the ship we had a very slow and expensive satellite internet connection.  So I would compose posts in word as we went and then upload them as & when I could do so.  It has been very frustrating.

We're now in Venice - will write up the transit day later.  But we now have normal internet - it's amazing what you take for granted.  So after walking around San Marco Square etc last night we're now ready to go exploring.

Will post about today soon.

Oh - and if you want to see where we are staying it is Hotel Bisanzio - perfect location - thanks for the advice Dowlings.  Here is the link http://www.bisanzio.com or http://book.bestwestern.it/EN/hotel_in_Venice_98042.aspx 

I have missed the opportunity to add a sequential post about getting from the cruise to Venice so I'll retrospectively adda  bit here:

We had bought tickets for the local commuter train to get from Civitavecchia to Rome so boarded the train with cases - along with perhaps 50+ others from the cruise.  We opted to stand with our luggage.  As we got closer to Rome the train filled up to squeezing point - as it was a commuter train for people on their way to work.  Consequently it was slow & we got into Rome Termini at 9:30.  No big deal - we had until 1:25 until our train to Florence.  

On this train we'd booked seats in the 1st class area.  We got window seats facing each other & the seats next to us were occupied by a gay couple from Boston.  The train ran at up to 250Kms/hour & was so smooth.  Before we knew it we were in Florence (Firenze) train station waiting for the connection to Venice.  About 40 minutes later we were again seated in window seats with an aisle next to us & we were on our way to Venice.  this train was much slower, but still very comfortable & we were pulling into Venice within a few hours.

The travel through the countryside was really enjoyable.  I can cope with trains when they work like this & the scenery is so beautiful.

Of course we were met with the ubiquitous hawkers, touts and "helpful" people, but being forewarned we headed over to the ticket office & for Eu7 each were soon on a local water bus around to the stop closest to our hotel.  After about 5 hours of travel it was wonderful to walk into the Bisanzio & be greeted by helpful friendly staff & fall into an air conditioned room.