Escape from Lido

"Is it four o'clock already?" I asked groggily as the phone rang.

"Sure is," she said, removing the receiver from the phone, " We have an early train to catch."

I dragged myself out of bed and glanced out the open window noting the deserted street below.

We we in the Hotel Cristallo Venezia  on the Island of Lido, about fifteen minutes across the water from Venice's Grand Canal. Lido is a natural island, unlike Venice, and has a beach, airport, and wheeled vehicles. It also forms a barrier from the Adriatic Sea. We had spent a delightful few days in Venice, but we had a 6:15 train to catch for Rimini.

"Come on now! We don't have time to waste.  The first vaporetto comes at 4:56, and we have to be on it to get  our train!" She referred to the water bound bus which moved people around the city built on pine and oak pilings driven into the lagoon floor.

Twenty minutes later we had our backpacks on and were in the hotel lobby. There was no desk clerk, and we had checked out the night before to save time in departing. I placed the key on the counter as Claudette headed for the door. I was feeling proud of getting up on our own so quickly.

"I can't get the door open.  I think it's locked!" she said with a hint of concern in her voice.

I grabbed the handle and attempted to open the open the door without success. "Hit the bell on the counter," I said.  The bell rang loudly.  We expected to see a sheepish desk clerk appear.  "Ring it again!" I said.  She did, but the sound fell only on our ears.

"What are we going to do?" she asked.

"Call 'em!" I said, then added sheepishly, "That won't do any good.  The phone will just ring here, and there is nobody to answer it but  us.  Maybe there is another way out..."

"Where?"

"I don't know, but I think there is a patio on the other side of the dining room," I said as I walked through the doorway into the dining area where we had had breakfast. One wall had a ceiling to floor curtain. I opened the curtains to find sliding glass doors beyond through which I could see the outdoor dining area. I slid the doors open and entered the patio in the cool morning air. The dining area was surrounded by a vine covered fence two meters high.  No gate. I kicked one of the chairs against the fence in frustration. What next?

I went back into the lobby area. Claudette had found a key and was trying it in the door. No luck.

"We have to get out of here.  We can't wait for someone to come and open up.  We have reservations for that train with our Eurorail passes. We have to make it!" she said with desperation in her voice. "What about the burglar alarm? We've ransacked this place and no alarm goes off...why? Maybe someone would come..."

"Hey, don't think about it.  We don't need to be confronted by the Italian police now!" I added quickly.

I went behind the counter. The desk was a mess; she had already gone through everything on the desk and all the unlocked drawers. "There's gotta be a key here somewhere," I said.  I don't know if I believed there was a key or was trying to convince myself that there was. Behind a stack of papers and some magazines on a bookshelf I found a small metal cabinet mounted on the wall. The door was slightly ajar. The grey metal door swung open easily.  There was a row of hooks about seven inches long and upon them hung keys.  There were individual keys and several keys on keyrings. Keys!

"Hey, I've found some more keys! One of these has gotta work!" I said with new hope in my voice.  "Here try this one!" I said as I tossed a large key across the counter to Claudette at the door. I rounded the counter with a handful of keys as she tried to get the key into the door with shaky hands.

"Better let me try," I said as I elbowed her out of the way at the door. I methodically tried each key with no success. They were all either too big or too small or would enter the lock and not turn the tumblers. "Are there any more keys there?" I asked in desperation. Claudette was behind the counter now.

"I don't think...Oh, here's an old one," she said as she tossed it to me.

It fit the lock.  I turned it gently with anticipation. To my disbelief the door opened.

We wasted no time in congratulating ourselves.  We had a train to catch. At a rapid clip we walked nearly a kilometer to the vaporetto dock. My injury from a few days earlier in my right leg was throbbing as we passed the pizza parlor, gelato shop, and newsstand. We could hear the boat approaching as we bought our tickets from the vending machine.  Of the half dozen people boarding we were the only travelers. The other people were on their way to work. Water traffic was slight. Unlike the norm there were many seats available on the boat, so we settled in for the forty-five minute ride. It was like riding a commuter train with many stops on either side of the canal. The evening before we had taken this ride on the No. 2 boat to see the Grand Canal illuminated at night. Many of the lights were still on in the misty morning light. The ride was a bit smoother due to the lack of traffic. The crowds of tourists, that blemish on the cityscape, were missing as our boat continued toward the train station and the terminus of this voyage and our visit to Venice.

The dock at the train station was the last stop. We scrambled off the boat and ran for the train. Soon we were aboard the train for Rimini. We finally relaxed in the deeply upholstered seats and enjoyed some coffee and brioche. Soon we would be on a bus to the mountaintop country of San Marino.