Ciao Venezia!

Sunrise, Venice
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I woke up feeling a little rough; my throat was sore – not a good sign as R had been suffering from the reminents of a cold throughout the trip. Rather than try to get back to sleep, I got up early and disappeared for a pre-breakfast walk. Unfortunately I woke D up – and yet she slept through the bells and my alarm clock yesterday!

Venice was still very much asleep. I caught one of the first vaporetti down to the Accadamia and then walked through the deserted streets to the Santa Maria della Salute. Along the way I passed a few people making early morning deliveries and even a singing bin man!

Along the way I passed a few people making early morning deliveries and even a singing bin man!

View over the Giudecca canal, Venice
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I had hoped to take a photo of the sunrise but sadly there was a heavy black cloud obscuring it. Luckily it didn’t affect the day, just my photo opportunity. On the way back I walked along the Guidecca Canal, making it back in time for breakfast.

After a brief debate about the confused flight times we had been given, we arranged for a water taxi to pick us up at 1.15pm. The rest of the morning was then our own. We brought our bags down into the lobby and settled our bill, saving 10% because we paid in cash. Once we had sorted ourselves out, D and I caught a vaporetto to The Rialto Bridge. The others were planning a trip to Burano, I warned them that it was quite a long journey, about an hour each way if I remember rightly.

Gondola workshop, Venice
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D and I wandered round the Rialto markets, admiring the fruit and vegetables on display, particularly the bouquets of chillies and garlands of peppers. Many of the stalls sold souvenirs and we noticed that as we walked further from the Rialto Bridge the prices went down. As we passed a newspaper stand our eyes were drawn to the headlines. Even we could understand “Pavarotti e Morti”. He had died the night before.

Eventually we needed a break and found ourselves a café beside the Grand Canal and ordered coffee. Sometimes it's fun just watching everyday life passing you by. There were plenty of deliveries coming in from everywhere, linen for the hotels, groceries for the restaurants and even building materials. In fact we were convinced we were hallucinating when two cement lorries floated past on a barge. Later we saw a police boat forcing its way through the morning traffic. Rather than use its siren, a police woman stood on the front using whistle and waving. Amongst all of this traffic, gondolas picked their way through, no doubt fleecing the hapless tourists.

Sights you don't expect in Venice!
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When we dragged ourselves away we caught our final vaporetto round to St Mark’s. We took our time window shopping whilst slowly working our way back through the maze of streets towards the Rialto. I was convinced some of the Per Rialto signs were home made and designed to lead you to shops that are nowhere near the bridge. D was by this stage totally disorientated. When I pointed out that we had made it back to the Rialto Bridge she couldn’t understand why we would want to be there. She had forgotten we were still on the wrong side of it.

Rialto Bridge, Venice
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With an hour to spare, we headed back towards the hotel with me navigating without a map. I was reasonably sure I knew where I was but I will admit to a certain amount of bluffing. In the end I dutifully checked my map, mainly to set D’s mind at rest.

We arrived back at the hotel in plenty of time, so we settled down outside the little bar adjacent to it and bought some rolls. We were still sitting in the sun soaking up the last few rays when the others arrived. They hadn’t made it to Burano – it would have taken too long to get there and back. So the went back to Murano instead, making use of every last minute they had on their vaporetto tickets.

St Mark's Basilica, Venice
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We collected our bags from the hotel and settled down in the sun to wait for our taxi. Ten minutes after it was due to arrive we begin to worry and J tried to find the hotel receptionist to see what was going on. Unfortunately she had gone to lunch and the girl on the desk didn’t speak any English. As we began to panic the receptionist spotted us from the neighbouring restaurant and came out to assure us that the taxi was on its way.  They had thought we wanted it at 1.30pm. As promised the taxi appear on time. I was initially surprised to see a female driver, until he got close enough and I realised it is a very handsome man with lovely long blonde hair.

As soon as the taxi pulled in, we lept aboad and there was a mad scramble to grab the open seats at the back.  I was too busy making sure I didn't smash my head again.  Still sitting at the back of the taxi turned out to be a double edged sword. Once we were out of the city and onto the lagoon, our driver decided to add a little excitement to the journey, deliberately making the boat leap about. It sent showers of spray across them.

As we approached the airport we passed through apparently untouched, wild areas of the lagoon. There were plenty of water birds around and I secretly wished I had my binoculars. Andrea realised what I was up to and wanted to know if there was anything unusually out there, I was just in time to point out the egrets outside the airport quay.

Check in was almost deserted when we arrived. We had made it with just 10 minutes to spare; of the two flight times we had it was the earlier one that was correct! Still it did have its advantages. We were quickly processed and didn’t have to sit around waiting for hours. The only hold up was when S was stopped and her bag checked – twice! I was amazed to find the flight half empty. I had been feeling worse throughout the day and just as we were about to get on the plane, I started to sneeze. I became that person that everyone hates, the one spreading their germs around all over the place.

Another advantage of arriving late is that our bags were the first to appear on the luggage carousel back in Heathrow. We quickly grabbed them and then took in our surroundings. We were absolutely stunned by the sight of so much lost and abandoned luggage. It was a truly appalling and deeply shameful sight. In fact there was nothing to stop us helping ourselves to an extra bag if we wanted – a kind of lucky dip!

Once we clear the airport we found our taxi driver Steve waiting outside, with a different vehicle just to confuse us. By now I was feeling quite ill and just wanted to get home and go to bed. I knew I was in for a rough weekend. Still at least it hadn’t affected me on the trip and I would be able to dream of canals and vaporetti whilst sipping my hot lemon and honey.