Friday, October 21- Boats, Trains, Planes and Automobiles

Left the hotel a little after 9 am via private water taxi directly from our hotel entrance. What luxury and decadence! The ride via motorboat was exhilarating and I was glad to have my giant camera with me. I tried to capture some of the fleeting scenes of daily venetian life: gorgeous architecture, a funeral with casket being transported via boat, garbage boats, police boats, etc. Everything in Venice is done via boat.

Weather is lovely today; clear sky and moderate temperature. Our flight left Venice at 12:20 connecting through Paris at 4:30 for a flight to London. And yes, 22" roll a-boards are allowed on these Air France flights. It seemed like a very long day.

Upon arrival at Heathrow we bought tickets for the Heathrow Express train to Paddington, a ride that took only about 15 minutes. Forgot to mention that somewhere during the afternoon the handle on Ferris' carryon bag broke so she had to pull the bag with only half a handle! Took a taxi from Paddington to our hotel at Marble Arch - The Cumberland - which is not far from Paddington. Unpacked our bags and by the time we finished it was 8pm (London is one hour earlier than Venice) so we went down to the Rhodes Brasserie in the hotel for dinner. I had salmon and Ferris had Wild Boar and Apple Sausage.