Ferries and Water Ambulances

 I've been super impressed with the ferry system in Venice. For the most part, the schedules are easy to read and the system runs on time. The only tricky part was that not all stations have a way to buy tickets, so we had to have a ticket (or have purchased a pass) before approaching the station.

Schedules are big and bright at frequently used (and possibly other ones - not sure) stations. 

After you validate your ticket at the kiosk, you enter this "waiting room" which is a floating dock.

There are lots of seats both inside and outside the ferry.

Steps up to the embarking area.

It was fun to see how expert they were with looping the mooring line around the cleat.

                                    Emergency Room entrance, Venice style.

Occasionally, we heard boats with sirens wailing. These water ambulances are part of the Venetian Emergency Medical Service (SUEM) and are equipped with advanced life support equipment.  

 On the way back from Murano, we saw a water ambulance racing through the water and decided to walk past the hospital to see where they were docked.

                      Off to the rescue!

One of the docking areas.

This boat and the two photos below show an ambulance turning around. They are the experts at this kind of maneuvering.