Venice...

If you stand very still in the centre of this room with all the doors and windows shut, you can hear all the traffic noise of the bustling, yet laid back city of Venice. (That should be none at all...) What a delightful place... I'm not entirely sure what I expected, but it wasn't much... I think I had heard of Venetian's being something like the Parisians - somewhat up themselves and not too keen on the thousands of tourists that flood their city... But I was pleasantly surprised... Genuinely friendly people, a city with a quiet, safe feeling inner city, romantic for sure with the silence and gentle lapping of the water , especially away from the grand canal in some of the back alleys/canals, loads of stylish shops interspersed with local traders, some expensive, some not so, Good food (well the places we went) and GREAT atmosphere... a real excited buzz around the place.

I was quite taken with the place, and felt like a wee boy exploring, and wondering with fascination what was around each new corner... we didn't really have a lot of time in the place, just 24 hours in fact so we had to make the time count... Stated 'best of' from cousin's Dan and Jax was the Gondola tour... for €100 it would want to be, but I have to say it was definately a highlight and i'd pay it again, if only for the relaxation of it... being guided around some of this famous city in one of these most famous (and expensive = €40,000 each) craft is just fantastic. The ride took us through part of the grand canal and a few of the back canals... Past Cassanova's 15th C house (left) who our guide (thinking we didn't know who he was) described as 'you know, Cassanova, Sex Machine!' and Antonio Vivaldi's house (right) and Marco Polo's house (lower left). The Venetian's are proud of their past and rightfully so, once upon a time they were one of the most powerful republic's in the Mediterranean and Adriatic regions...

Aside from that we got as far as seeing San Marco's square, with its thousands of poo bum pidgeons (quite gross) and the magnificant facade of San Marco's Basilica. Never managed to get inside as we kinda ran out of time meandering around the shops... but would be happy to return for a second pass at some stage in the future...

Our somewhat relaxing time in Venice got much less so as it came time to leave... We missioned back across the city from San Marco's square to the main bus station and then had to collect our luggage and haul it in the 30 degree heat, a couple of Km to the port. On another day i'd take a taxi (and ever will in the future) but decided we had time to walk. Unfortunately we walked to the wrong terminal and then freaked out and had to run to catch a taxi across to a different port to catch ours. Turned out we had plenty of time, but at the time it was quite sweat inducing!!! Abbey Of course took it all in her stride, and still looked stunning, without so much as a glistening on her angelic forehead. The excitement of this most romantic of cities had clearly taken it's toll however as she collapsed in a heap and slept on my lap for the best part of the three hour ferry trip across to Pula in Croatia. Great start to our journey.