After travelling over 7,000 miles we have now reached Venice
– our most easterly city on this trip. My sister Gill and her husband Rob have
arranged to come out to meet us, although they will be staying in a hotel near
St Mark’s square and we will be in a campsite at Punta Sabbioni. Luckily there is a Vaporetto water bus that
will link us to Venice so meeting up should not be a problem.
We arrived early to take the 8.30am bus with hoards of other
tourists and the weather was sunny for Les’s first view of this amazing city
and of St Mark’s Square. We have all
seen photo’s of Venice before but there is nothing quite like seeing this place for yourself and although it is very busy at this time of year, it’s still possible
to get away into the back streets to some quiet corners.
We easily found Gill and Rob among the crowds and after a brief
wander around the many narrow lanes, we came upon one of the Traghetto gondola’s
which cross the Grand Canal at right angles by weaving around the other boats
and ferries dashing up and down the canal.
It’s a good way to get a trip on
a gondola without breaking the bank.
A
short trip up the canal to Rialto from the favourite photo spot on Accademia Bridge and we were ready for our first Aperol Spritz in a waterside restaurant.
Les and I had decided to go back to the campsite to change
rest up a bit before returning that evening – a big mistake – the water buses were full and it took us 2
hours to get back!……..not really an option next time.
Having discovered a lovely restaurant during the day, all
four of us returned for a fantastic meal ( albeit a bit late! ) and finished up by chatting with an interesting
Canadian tourist on another table. By
this time we had missed our 10pm boat back so it would be the 11pm instead …..
plenty of time to stroll in the moonlight back to St Mark’s. Of course the lovely full moon meant high
spring tides so we found ourselves threading our way through the water which
had risen in St Marks square and for some unknown reason Gill and I found
ourselves dancing to the lovely music provided by the coffee house musicians. It must have been the glass or three of
Prosecco we had enjoyed earlier in the evening!
Next day all of us took the boat out to the interesting and
totally different islands of Torcello, Burano, with its colourful houses and
Murano, with it’s many glass factories and shops and we just about missed the
threatened rain and thunder.
Our last day in Venice so we decided to try and stay there all
day until early evening rather than return to the campsite for a rest as
before. As it was a bit chilly Les had
worn his long trousers and brought shorts with him to change into. Unfortunately, his decision to make his
discrete change into the shorts while sitting outside a small café was
definitely not one of his better ideas. He was spotted by the waiter who gave a loud
whistle while shouting “ El Nudo” all around, much to the amusement of the rest
of us.
 |
| Spot came too! |
After saying our goodbyes to Gill and Rob around midday we
sauntered around the various canals and back lanes, jumped on the water bus for
a trip right up the Grand canal and sat people watching while having a coffee
or two and planning to get back to the Rialto area for early evening.
Eating cicheti with a small drink of wine or Prosecco in the small bars around the Rialto early evening is a local pastime and as there are a few cichetti bars around here, it makes for good evening entertainment going from one to the next. What a way to end a lovely few days in Venice.
We arrived back at St
Mark’s square just as the Campanile tower bells were chiming 9pm – how
romantic!
