Portabagagli at Venice bridge

The only thing I was dreading in May 2016 about my umpteenth visit to Venice was the Calatrava Bridge (aka Constitution Bridge). What? That stunning structure of Istrian stone a few steps from Piazzale Roma? What I dreaded was, after arriving on the airport bus (€8), trying to manage my luggage up the stairs and over the bridge in order to reach my hotel.

Although I’ve seen tour groups in Venice using the over-water porter service Trasbagagli (located at the airport and at Piazzale Roma), when traveling alone I’ve been reluctant to hand over my luggage to a porter. Instead, I’ve always started to laboriously drag the luggage, myself, until some kind person has offered to help me.

This time, rather than hope for good luck again, I had decided to offer to pay someone… but my magic carpet suddenly appeared in the form of a man with a small flat pallet covered by a beat-up rug. 

At first I ignored him, but then I sized him up favorably and offered €5. He said he wasn’t able to do it for that, so we agreed upon €10 (near $11). Apparently, in the two years since I had been there, a small business had been born.

In no time flat, my carry-on and one 22-inch bag were loaded and then quickly bumped up and down the wide stairs. I was almost running to keep up. As I had directed, once across the bridge, the man continued a couple of long “blocks” to the train station, and soon after passing it he turned left and went to the end of a long, narrow, blessedly quiet street. Up a few more stairs was the entrance to Hotel Abbazia (www.abbaziahotel.com). 

I thanked the man, paid him and asked for a business card. Before he quickly disappeared, he surprised me by handing over two of them.

Here is his information: Chowdrury Asadujjaman, Servizio di Portabagagli (Via Gazzera Alta, 13–30174, Mestre [VE], Italy; cell phone +39 3294793234). Hours 6 a.m.-10 p.m.

In seeing and overhearing conversations with others afterward, I learned that there were more of these porters and that they had to work within a certain radius for the €10. If one of them had space available on his “dolly,” he would carry additional luggage for the same amount.

On other days, I saw a couple of them working farther into the interior, so I guess anything could be negotiated.

By the way, the latest business on another bridge I crossed (this time luggage-free) was selling not silly little mechanical toys but long extenders for cell phone cameras with which to take “selfies!”

MARILYN HILL

Portland, OR