![\"Marco](\"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2018\/01\/FullSizeRender-1-300x225.jpg\")
Marco Polo Airport in Venice ferries passengers to town via water taxi docks<\/p><\/div>\n
I\u2019ve often also had haircuts, pedicures and massages at airports, which is a nifty use of time, if you think about it.<\/p>\n
Experiences such as mine and countless others play out in airports around the world every minute of every day \u2013 even Christmas: a solider coming home; a college student going off to school for the first time; a grandmother heading back to Phoenix after flying in for the week to see her daughter\u2019s new baby; a businessman slinking back into town after failing to make the sale. The human vignettes are everywhere if you just look.<\/p>\n
I always keep my eyes open for celebrities and notables at airports, too. Surprises happen in the forced commiseration. For instance I once found myself, at the conclusion of a flight to Montego Bay, Jamaica, waiting at the Sangster International Airport baggage carousel – for half-an-hour – with baseball All-Star Roger Clemens. The small talk we made staring at the empty belt was a form of bonding that made for a nice round of golf that weekend and dinner with \u201cRocket\u201d and his wife Debbie. I also had a brief conversation with actress Brooke Shields during the immigration line wait in Bermuda\u2026which was not followed by golf and dinner, by the way.<\/p>\n
Marco Polo International Airport proved to be a fun arrival to Venice since passengers float to the town\u2019s Grand Canal aboard a water taxi and, in my case, a drop off at the dock\/door of the Hotel L\u2019Orologio\u2026with a similar departure, on New Year\u2019s Day, from the Londra Palace Hotel.<\/p>\n
Though sensory research indicates the anticipation of travel outweighs the resulting memories, I have thought about my Venice visit virtually every day of 2017. It was another enlightening international adventure that began \u2013 and ended \u2013 in the embrace of the airport.<\/p>\n
Travel Writer Michael Patrick Shiels may be contacted at\u00a0MShiels@aol.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0His radio program may be heard weekday mornings on 92.1 FM.\u00a0\u00a0His latest book is \u201cI Call Him Mr. President \u2013 Stories of Fishing, Golf and Life with my Friend George H.W. Bush\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"