Sleepy Little Quatro D'Altino {Adriatic: Day 11}

I basically thought today would go something like:

1.  Get off the boat

2.  Wait for our flight tomorrow. 

And instead, it has been one of my favorite days.  (I think I've already said that eight times this trip, but really, today was a sweet surprise.) This has certainly been the most disorganized trip I've ever planned. Probably not great when it is also the biggest trip we've ever been on. I like to blame it on two baby girls who are way more fun to be around than my printer. Well, that, and it is a lot more fun to buy new shoes online--for the trip, of course--than to use that little slice of quiet Internet peace to look at bus timetables. So, we basically came to Europe with a broad outline--our accommodations, our cruise, and our flights--but really no bullet points under there. No file folder with printed tickets. Just the Trip It app loaded with our bookings. 

And if your personality can stand it (and mine would never be able to if we had the girls with us), I would recommend it in a heartbeat. 

 

So, even though I didn't flip through an accordion file to the tab labeled "Disembarkation," we managed to say goodbye to the Jade, grab some tickets for the People Mover, walk through the Piazzale Roma to the train station, buy regional train tickets, and proceed to barely make a train that we weren't really even sure was the right one.

 All with our luggage. 

I know some of you just had a panic attack, but we really did manage with public transport just fine. And instead of the 65 euro for a cab from the port to the hotel (which I just bothered to look at the name of that morning), we made it door to door for 6 euro a piece. It is amazing how much a little bravery and some willingness to walk will save you. 

Because I hadn't even paid attention to exactly where Hotwire had booked us for our last night (all I knew was it was a 4 star in the suburbs for a third of the price of our Venice hotel), I hadn't paid attention to them having a shuttle from the Quarto D'Altino train station to the hotel. So, we just looked at the town map as we came out of the train station and decided it didn't look that far.  You could say it was an invigorating 1.5 mile walk at noon in 85 degrees.  :)

It really didn't look THAT far on the map.  Just from one corner to the other.  :)

But, oh, adorable Hotel Villa Odino was worth the walk. This historic boutique hotel nestled in the sleepy, sunny cornfields of Quarto D'Altino was a bit of heaven. The staff was so kind to greet us, and didn't hesitate to let us check in early when they found out we had walked for thirty minutes from the train station. They also did not hesitate to look at us sympathetically (read: like morons) and tell us they have a shuttle to and from the train station.  

The room was a great size (by Venetian standards) and oozing with quiet, rustic charm. Sam had to duck to get into the bathroom, but it, too, was more spacious than our cruise cabin. Cue the "Movin' on Up" song...

 

We were starving after that long walk and having only had an abbreviated breakfast onboard, so we asked the receptionist if there was somewhere we could walk to easily that had pizza. It's our last full day in Europe and have yet to have Italian pizza. I was sure she was thinking, "you fat Americans," ;) but instead she said the thing I had been waiting all. week. long to hear. 

"We have biciclettas gratuito just out by the parking lot that you are welcome to take."

What?  Free bikes??  I have been dying to do a bicycle tour!  Sam has probably questioned my age a few times this trip as I've looked for the opportunity to ride bikes at every port we've stopped in. And here, on our last day, we just happened to be staying at a not-so-close-to-the-train-station-but-super-cute hotel that offered guests free bikes to ride around the town. Serendipity. 

Armed with our Hotel Villa Odino white cruisers, we ignored her suggestion of a little place serving lunch about 200 meters from the hotel, and decided to venture back to a place we saw on our walk through the town earlier. However, it wasn't open for lunch, and neither were any of the other four restaurants we rode to.  I finally know why people refer to these small, quiet towns as "sleepy."  How is no one open for lunch?  So, eventually getting super hungry, we rode our bikes back to the little place near our hotel that the concierge recommended, just to find that it was about to close for the time between lunch and dinner as it was now almost 3:00 p.m. Though they spoke very little English, they were kind enough to serve us "anything-a but-a the pizza."  (Please say that in the thickest Italian accent you can muster.)  Guess that means pizza tonight for dinner, since several of the closed pizzerias were only open for the evening. 

Coming back to the villa, we opted to go down to the pool for the few hours before dinner. I cracked open my Kindle to finish up a book and Sam took a power nap.  I couldn't help but just look around in absolute awe.  Is this really my life right now?  Of course that also means I took advantage of the inn's free wifi to check out real estate prices in this picturesque little town we've found.

 

I let Sam keep snoozing while I went up to the room to get ready for our very last dinner in Italy.  Insert frowny face.  By the time I got ready, the clouds were beginning to roll in, and I was pretty sure we'd be seeing our first drops of rain since we were in Venice last weekend.

But that didn't stop us front hopping on our bikes to cruise down to the cafe.  So after ordering our long awaited Italian pizza, we gave a toast.  A big ol' cheers to eleven of the most amazing days together.  We are going home with a head full of memories, heart full of love, and a belly full of pasta.  That can't be beat.

This place is magical.