We've just had a fantastic weekend in Venice. Neither of us had been before,
the Memsahib found a very good Groupon deal for two nights B&B.
Still dark when the cab picked us up for the airport but it did mean we were in Venice before midday having dropped our bags at the hotel, flight couldn't have been better! However, in the past we've always placed safe and had package type hols, so once we got out at Marco Polo Airport on our own we looked at each other & said 'What do we do now?!'
Venice is hardly the back of beyond and every local we spoke to had at the very least passable English which was considerably better than our Italian which was non -existent, got a bus sorted to our hotel. Three star allegedly, all OK but a bit shabby and the blandest most boring room ever! As I say, we were in central Venice by midday and spent the afternoon pottering around the alleyways and over canals stopping for ice cream ( had to be done) and the odd liquid refreshment, weather was in the low 20's and perfect. Lots of eateries to choose from and many did gluten free pasta but gluten free pizza took a bit of finding which we did eventually. Eating in Venice isn't the cheapest but to be honest, you're there, you're hungry, it was suggested to us that as public transport is cheap you could get a bus out of Venice, have something to eat then go back. Yes you could do that which would be quite tedious and with no idea where to go we plumped for looking at the menus where we were and ate in Venice. When in Rome do as the Romans, when in Venice have another beer and find a nice pizza joint, the first one we found at the side of a bustling square. T certainly missed Ida as she noticed every single dog that passed us, of which there were many and alot were off the lead all pottering along with their owners. Seems a strange place to have a dog as there is precious little greenery for them to run about on, and they call the English a dog loving nation, I think Italy must be similar.
Parts of Venice were more crowded than others, the bridges off of Piazzale Roma where the buses stopped were busiest of course though it thinned out the further you walked. I dread to think what its like in the height of the season, we went into a very interesting museum about Leonardo Da Vinci, though he wasn't born here, in his later life he lived and worked in Venice, it was really good, in particular I liked his inventions and in this museum many had been replicated, maybe not full size but big enough to work them to get the idea. It was a good couple of hours.
We bumbled back to the hotel in the early evening absolutely shagged out! We'd been up since 4am and it was beginning to tell on us, T in particular had been cooking on gas determined to enjoy all the our weekend away had to offer. Popped into a supermarket to get some fruit and drink and water for the room. Disappointed not to be able to find local produce but to be fair we were in what appeared to be a bog standard supermarket though we found a 1.5L bottle of Italian Merlot for about 4Euros which was quite delicious and a couple of different flavoured Bacardi Breezers for T.
Brekkers next morning then. Plenty of it but things like fruit cocktail out of a tin let it down somewhat. Photos I'd seen online showed sumptuous trays of sliced fruit, don't know where they were, just a bowl of apples and oranges is all I found. Plenty of yoghurt, boiled eggs, sliced meat and cheese and cakes did make for a good feed though and very pleased to note that on asking they provided T with gluten free crackers, biscuits and cake. Bus to Venice just outside the hotel and we were off, Twenty minutes later back in Piazzale Roma and today we had decided to get the ferry to the islands of Murano then on to Burano.
The ferries were quite crowded so we stood for the duration of the trip, about half an hour I think. Pottered around Murano and found one of the glass factories where there was demonstrations of glass blowing. Its a real skill and of course the chap doing it made it look easy, hustled bit in their shop 'Oh zis eez honly 50 Euros special offer,' and all that. Next stop was the island of Burano famous for its lace. Unfortunately no demos or old ladies making the lace on their doorsteps though there was alot of really brightly coloured houses. It seems like a trade mark of the island, you'd think it would look terrible but strangely it all went together, we didn't spend long on this island. Back to Venice, found a very ornate church to look round and then went for dinner and guest what? We had pizza again! I had air dried beef on mine which was pretty well like ham to be honest, it was very nice though. Had a beer while we waited for the bus back to our hotel and again hit the sack quite early but managed to get through the Bacardi Breezers and most of the wine.
Breakfast day two was much the same as the previous day but once again, a good feed. We decided we'd get the bus into Venice and go back to the airport from there, Tara pretty knackered by now, she'd let nothing stop her enjoy the city but it was just beginning to catch up with her. Standing and having to balance on the ferries the previous day didn't help! We found a nice canal side café, sat and watched the world go by until it was time to depart for the airport. Flight home again very straight forward and on time. When it all works it's great! We really must go back to Venice at some stage, not least because we never actually got to St Marks Square, the Doges Palace and Bridge of Sighs
( Like the Bridge over the River Kwai but without a good signature tune and no Japs!). On our return to Luton Airport we elected to get the bus home rather than being ripped off by the licensed bandits they call Addison Lee taxi's which is the only cab firm allowed to work the airport. Bus seemed to take an age and we had to change at Asda once back in Dunstable. We were opposite the Gary Cooper & decided to have something to eat there then go home. Eventually picked Ida up about 8pm I think. It was truly a great weekend!
 |
| Ice cream in Venice. had to be done! |
 |
| Canal side |
 |
| Interesting pasta shop |
 |
| Us on a bridge |
 |
| Burano |
 |
| Pizza's on the second night |
 |
| Gondolas pass as Tara stands on the bridge |
 |
| Church we looked in |
 |
| The Alps from mid air |
