Venice 1

Well what can I say? It is everything you see in the movies and pictures. But, the one thing I don't understand is how come there are so many pigeons and that they aren't all dead from heart attacks? Seriously, they are the fattest laziest pigeons in the world and they kind of just waddle around waiting for some other tourist to feed them some more! It's quite funny.

So, I got to Venice by flying the Swiss national low cost airline called Flybaboo. I know! The name itself is a bit of a worry isn't it? I was originally only supposed to fly out on Tuesday but they rang me about 10 days before to say that there was something happening at the airport on the Tuesday and instead of arriving at 2pm I was to arrive at 10pm. Well considering I was travelling on my own and that Venice (a city I have no idea about other than you have to walk everywhere so grabbing a cab wasn't an option) is over an hour away from the airport, I didn't fancy getting there at Midnight. So I changed the flight to Monday instead.

I get to the airport and the plane is one of those little dash8 ones. The ones with propellers you can see and you all know how much I hate those! But it sat about 24 and it was on time and there was a hostee and we got bottled water and cold pizza! Perfect for soothing those frazzled nerves. Once at Marco Polo Airport you then get a bus to Piazalle Roma where you then get a Vaporetto or as I call them, a ferry!

A word to those of you who are going to be travelling to Venice on your own. All the guide books say that you get the number 82 to Vallaresso and so at Piazalle Roma you get the the number 82 which says it is going to Vallaresso. What none of the guide books tell you is that Vallaresso is actually San Marco!! When you get to San Marco there is nothing that says the stop is Vallaresso. It was a tad confusing. But, after I sorted that out I then had to make my way to my hotel with this rather rickety map which is so tiny that it was funny. After a couple (or 15) wrong turns I found the hotel. The first night I stayed at the Hotel Colombina which was fantastic!! I leant out of my window and could see the Bridge of Sighs! Now that might sound awesome and at first glance it was. However, my room may well have been situated 6 foot above Pitt Street at 11pm! It was the main thoroughfare for all the gondolas to try and be under the bridge at midnight! it was bedlam but it was only for one night so for one night I had a view from my window of the Bridge of Sighs.
Once I got to the hotel, I dumped the bag and headed on out armed with my rickety map. I was about 2 minutes from San Mark's square and basilica. Above is me outside the Doge's Palace. That is next to the Basilica. What an awesome building this is. I did the "Secret" tour which basically lets you also see the living quarters of the various Doge's that ruled Venice and they are decorated as would have been befitting the period. Very sumptuous and it would have been fabulous to have been the elite during the period.
Above is Saint Mark's Basilica. At high tide there is about and inch of water in Saint Mark's square but they have these scaffolding things that lead to the entrance of all the touristy things so you don't have to get your feet wet. Pretty considerate actually but I had my hiking boots which were great because they are waterproof to about 3 inches. The brick building that you can see next to the Basilica is the Campanile or bell tower. The bells are very pretty but play at odd times of the day and not just on the hour. I never did find out why. Above and below are views from the top of the Basilica. The above shows "The Entrance" to Venice which is marked by the 2 large columns atop which sit 2 statues. From the lagoon it is really impressive but the weather was so hazy I never managed to get a decent photo. Below is the view over Saint Marks Square from the top of the Basilica. You can see on either side that there are 2 pagoda structures. They are located in front of 2 restaurants and at night there is a battle of the bands so to speak. I loved just to sit in the square and listen because it was all the fabulous music from the movies and the big band era. So one band would play "Quando Quando Quando" and when it had finished the other one would start playing a glen miller medley! It was Great! One band was brassy and the other was stringy so you got a great selection of music. One night I even paid ten euro for a coffee just for the privilege of sitting right in the middle of them both. Ten euro well spent.


Below is the view from my bedroom window of the Bridge of Sighs. I new I stuck it in here somewhere. On the first night in Venice I also went to a concert of Vivaldi's 4 seasons. It was in the Theatro de Fenice and it was trully magnificent. It was a 16th Century theatre and it was straight out of Amadeus! I sat in the stalls and not in the loges but that was okay because the sound was better and I got to listen to Vivaldi in Venice! A great night.