Venice

I have just written my diary. Not that exciting a statement to be honest, but on reflection, without knowing it, I have used words such as 'immersed', 'plunged' and 'waves' to describe the slight aquatically themed visit that is going to Venice. So yes, we were immediately plunged into the Venice atmosphere from arrival off our ferry boat. You are immersed in the very fibre of the place, the elegant buildings, the obvious canals and bridges. And the sheer waves of bus boats that came and went throughout the Grand Canal was quite something, even in winter! 

Our day then: We drove from our Area de Sosta 15 miles to Punto Sabbioni, a spit of land that is slightly to the east of Venice. From here we took the boat across to the 'Islands' of Venice. 30 mins or so later, we arrived right by the waters edge along the Doge's Palace, Bridge of Sighs and walked through to Plaza de San Marco where we photographed the basilica. Quite a sight! Venice itself has a kind of immediate impact though due to the volume of boat traffic in all directions. A remarkable place. The small streets which lurk between the stacked up buildings seem to interweave, cross cross and become infinitely confusing. We did however find some of the special places. The first one was Punto di Rialta on the way to the Mercato del Rialto. From here the bombardment of "selfie, selfie?" happened once again, so once again we demonstrated with a long armed prowess, as 4 or 5 of the sellers watched, the ability to take a selfie without the use of an illegally sold stick!

We were next bombarded with dining options after we left the bridge. We found an appropriately priced place canal side. Sat underneath a patio heater to take the chill away, our outside dining experience was great. In fact, the third set of red awnings in the photo on the right, is where we were.

From here we watched the comings and goings from close up and were treated to a lively lunchtime. Although the water bus stops were busy, and taxis came and went from next to us, the noises were not busy. It was quite odd, everything was relatively quiet and calm. Had it been a regular street then it would've been quite an aural event too. Thank goodness the smell of the canal that we'd been warned about doesn't seem to exist (much) in winter! That would have been interesting!

From here on in, Venice seemed to be a theme of continued tall and elegant buildings, water streets and bridges. The interesting thing is that obviously different places have different types of shops. I'm not sure if we blogged this, but for example, San Marino was all about gun shops, perfume, handbags and watch shops, whereas Venice was all about Carnival mask shops, antiques, and then endless shops of stuff you can't afford. I did almost have a moment as we passed the Dolce and Gabana shop, to go in and ask for an item, but then haggle with them, reasoning that 3 people in one shop with10 items for sale is not good and that I would not pay the full price as I don't need to pay 3 people to sell me something. I then however, recalled who I was and quickly remembered that I am generally styled by Tesco.

More sights were consumed throughout the afternoon, this being the 'Snails staircase' or 'Scala contari di Bovolo.' A real hidden gem, where nobody was. I am still however, trying to work out why the snails want to go upstairs anyway?

Venice then is done for now, but worth another visit we think. We've had a real flavour, we've emptied our pockets, but we have witnessed quite a fascinating place. And before anyone asks, no, we didn't go on a gondola. Clare asked what the cost was to be told 80€. When we commented that it was too expensive, we were told by the gondolier, "Nothing is cheap in Venice".