Hello Venice

My room, Hotel Iris, Venice
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I met up with my fellow travellers at Newbury station, where we packed ourselves into a minibus with Steve the driver. This worked out the cheapest and easiest way of getting to Heathrow. Poor Steve – I’m not sure he really knew what he was in for. Apparently our conversation was a bit too girly for him and he was finding it very hard to drive with his fingers in his ears.

The journey didn’t take long, possibly because we were nattering so much. Apparently this was Steve’s second trip to Heathrow this morning. Being very well organised, we had already checked in via the internet, so we only needed to drop off our bags. In fact the only slight hiccup was getting through security. Apparently our printout wasn’t good enough to be read by their barcode scanner. So off we went back to check in to get proper boarding passes printed out.

He did speak some English and insisted on saying we were all bella and called us sweetheart!

Hotel Iris, Venice
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After a quick bite to eat in the airport we made our way to the gate. We sat there for ages listening to Boris Johnson’s bid to become the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London. Heaven help London!

Finally we all piled onto the plane. It was a BMI flight, but the seats were really comfortable with plenty of room for hand luggage. However it was a no frills flight so if we wanted anything to eat or drink it has to be paid for. I didn’t really fancy any of the sandwiches, so ended up with a cup of tea and some snacks.

Rialto Bridge, Venice
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Although it was a fairly cloudy day we did get some good views over the UK. I spotted the coast as we reach it and got a real surprise. I recognised the shingle ridges down below, it was Dungeness and I could even make out Camber Sands and Rye Harbour.

We got our first view of Italy when the clouds cleared and the mountains peaked through. We could make out glaciers melting into small mountain streams that finally ran into large blue lakes. It was a magnificent sight. Then the landscape flattened out and we began our approach over the plains of the Po valley. Finally the lagoon appeared and we were treated to one of the best views you’ll every see from an aircraft, Venice was there laid out before us with easily recognisable landmarks. Finally we hugged the edge of the lagoon as we came into land at the waterside airport, Marco Polo.

St Mark's Basilica, Venice
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Having cleared customs we found to our delight that our luggage has also made the trip. This was quite a feat, particularly if there is any truth in the stories about Heathrow. On the way out of the airport we spotted a desk that booked water taxis. We quite fancied the idea of booking one, but weren’t too sure whether they would take all of us, or if they would be too expensive. In fact it turned out to be quite reasonable. €120, but divided by six that’s not bad. The alternatives would have been a bus or a vaporetto (a water bus), both much cheaper but somehow not quite as appealing. What swung it was a bit of advice my brother gave me before I left. Apparently Bill Bryson recommends arriving by water – well that was good enough for us.

Bridge of Sighs, Venice
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It took us about five minutes to walk to the water side where our taxi was waiting. Wow, what a beautiful boat! It was a speed boat made from highly polished wood, whilst the seats were finished in soft cream leather. The back of the boat was open and J, S and R settled themselves in. The remainder was covered by a very low ceiling, which despite the driver’s warnings, I still managed to smack my head on. A, D and myself sat inside, arranging ourselves so that we balanced out the weight of our luggage. Then we dashed off in the direction of Venice, leaving everyone in our quite impressive wake. These taxis really can move and it has to be the best and most exhilarating way to arrive in Venice for the first time!

Gondola in Venice
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As we steamed across the lagoon, we passed the glass making island of Murano and then the cemetery island of San Michele, with its red brick walls and towering Cyprus trees. We finally slowed down when we reach the Rio di Noale canal and picked our way through the city to the Grand Canal. We travelled down this for a while, admiring the palaces along the way. Eventually we passed beneath the Rialto Bridge and on to the San Toma’ vaporetto stop. Then we turned down a tiny little canal and immediately spotted our hotel, Hotel Iris, just a few meters away.

San Giorgio Maggorie, Venice
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After unloading, we popped round the corner and into our hotel where an elderly gentleman welcomed us. He did speak some English and insisted on saying we were all bella and called us sweetheart! D and I were the last to be allocated a room, but apparently this did bag us the best! The ceiling was painted with a slightly dodgy design but it was very light and airy. Best of all it looked straight out onto the canal. Tired and sweaty from the trip we took it in turns to freshen up before joining the others back outside for a walk into the heart of Venice.

We followed the yellow Per Rialto signs that you find all over the city. They took us down tiny narrow streets, through various campos or squares and past numerous churches. R was really impressed with our sense of direction, but I pointed out that getting to the Rialto was easy; it was finding our way back again that would be really impressive!

Once past the Rialto we followed the next set of signs to San Marco. I took some photos along the way but I was still feeling a little self conscious about my huge new camera. I had brought my old one with me just in case I couldn’t cope with it. Suddenly we passed through an arch and into the vast space of San Marco’s Square. It was an amazing sight, packed with thousands of people. It was almost too much to take in. There were huge queues of people trying to get into the Basilica or the Campanile; amongst them we could make out the guided tours all following umbrellas. For once I was quite glad not to be one of them.

We headed off along the quayside past the Doge’s Palace to take a quick look at the Bridge of Sighs, before heading back towards the Royal Gardens. We were looking for Harry’s Bar. Apparently it was where the rich and famous used to hang out including, almost inevitably, Ernest Hemmingway. No matter where we looked we just couldn’t see it and had almost given up when we realised we were actually standing just outside. The only indication is the subtle wording on the windows. We took a quick look inside but decided that we should visit when we were more properly attired and preferably after dark.

Next we headed back towards our hotel via the Accademia bridge. This wasn’t as easy as we had hoped. I ended up navigating and could see our canal, I just couldn’t work out how to get to the bit we needed. There are plenty of paths in Venice and plenty of bridges, but they don’t always take you where you want to go. In the end we made it to Santa Maria Gioriona dei Frari and whilst everyone debated which way to go I spotted a tiny little alleyway tucked away in a corner. I didn’t want to drag everyone down a dead end so I took a look and found myself looking at our hotel. After a few minutes frantically waving at the others to attract their attention, they eventually followed me and we finally made it back.

After a quick pit stop we headed back out to a lively campo just round the corner from our hotel, Santa Margherita. We had spotted plenty of places to eat here and figured it would do for tonight. There was a really good atmosphere at night, it felt like the locals were all out and about. Indeed there did seem to be lots of kids playing and running about. We stopped at the first cheap café we spotted and had an excellent meal. I had the clams with spaghetti or in other words Spaghetti alle Vongole. It’s a subtle garlicky dish and is a speciality of Venice.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel where most of us called it a night and turned in. However S and R were made of sterner stuff and headed back off into the night to find a bar.

Our room really wasn’t too bad. I discovered we had air-conditioning which I eventually got to work by turning the temperature dial as high as it would go! However I ended up having to turn it off in the night as it just got too cold and kept making me want to sneeze. In the early hours we were kept awake by a really impressive thunder storm that rumbled on all through the night. It seemed to be stuck over Venice, becoming quieter and then suddenly returning directly overhead. It was accompanied by an awful lot of rain. I spent most of the night dreaming about buying some Croc shoes, which everyone had been taking the Mickey out of last night. However, lying in the dark listening to the rain lashing down, they seemed a really good idea!