It’s Saturday evening. I am on the Seabourn Encore, well fed and soothed by balmy breezes, soaking in a bubble bath and deeply content. I wasn’t sure I was ever going to get here and I am so thankful I am.

Happy feet We packed up this morning after our second night at the Hotel Metropole in Venice and hopped into a water taxi. I love taking a boat every where I go. Being on the water makes me happy. And in this godforsaken heat, it adds just a little bit of moving, coolish air. It’s a great way to travel.

Bye, bye, Hotel Metropole Ship-bound in a water taxi Seabourn did a hell of a job getting us all on the ship. I’ve seen it done at urban ports when you emerge from a taxi, but this was nowhere near as easy. From our arrival in a bobbing boat…