"From right out of a spy novel"

Departure time for our flight out of Venice was circa 7 a.m. Since it is/was  an international flight, we had to be at the airport two hours early, to get through customs, etc. Add in the half an hour it would take to get to the airport by boat from the water door nearest our hotel and you will have the explanation we were given of why we were to be in the hotel lobby by 4 a.m. to meet our escort/guide.

That meant we were setting an alarm for three o'clock.
It was not fun. And it was not pretty. But it was necessary.None of us are morning people. We are especially not three in the morning, morning people.

It took us a while to wake up.  Fortunately, we'd packed the night before. The walk to the water door was a quiet one. The only sound was the click click clicking of our bags as we wheeled them over the cobblestone streets. The wait for the water taxi was brief. The boat driver, unlike the gondolier, was helpful as we boarded and he stowed our bags for the trip through the darkness to the airport. The ride through Venice was quite beautiful with her lights reflecting on the water and it was also quiet. For the longest time, there was no talking at all.

Then there came a voice from somewhere in the cabin of the boat that said "doesn't this feel just like something from right out of a spy novel?!" 

And it did. It was very 007ish.

 Leave it to my Baby Sister to sum it up, liven things up and make things fun... even as tired as we were, as early as it was, and as sad as we were to be reaching the end of our trip of a lifetime.