Venice - Spring 2007

Holidays. One can never have too many of it. A bit like shoes really.

Venezia was ab fab; even better than what I remembered it to be. Maybe because when I was backpacking I didn’t have as much time at my disposal. Or perhaps, it could be due to the pleasant weather; it simply wasn’t as hot as it had been back in summer of 97. We were blessed with lovely weather every day - sun drenched with sufficient light breeze to keep you cool.

We covered all four mode of transportation in Day 1 – air, land, water and foot! Landed at Trevisio Aeroporto at about 10 a.m. local time. Cleared immigration + collected our luggage within 40 minutes and after almost an hour on the bus and another 45 minutes on the water taxi, we finally checked in to our hotel, 5 minutes by foot from San Marco Square, at noon-ish. The hotel, despite being centrally positioned, was a little disappointing. It had no air-conditioning and if not for the window, it would have been quite stifling for all three to be stuck in the room together.

Day 1 was uneventful as we were dead beat from all the traveling. We managed a walk around San Marco Square and its nearby surroundings. Wandered through the little alleyways, over bridges and finally stumbled upon Rialto Market. Snapped lots of photos, window shopped and headed back to hotel for dinner and retired early for the night.

The next morning, we took a speed boat to the island of Murano famed for its hand blown Venetian glass. At this three-in-one factory, gallery and shop, you can find jewellery, decorative items and every type of glassware imaginable. Strolled around this beautiful island and our next pit stop to Burano Island, known for its delicate and fine lace, was abandoned as we headed back to Venice to appease the (my) rumbling tummy, however, not after getting a little lost as we had embarked the water taxi going in the opposite direction!

After lunch, did the customary souvenir shopping – water colour paintings for the house and some beautiful Italian silk scarves for the ‘lil old ladies’ back home.

Next on the itinerary - we were in the pursuit of finding a reasonably priced gondola ride. We discovered that prices start at Euro 100 and that business must be slow (May is the peak season I’ve been told) because if you walk away, the gondoliers will offer you a discount of sorts. We found one near our hotel for a little less than 100. Our gondolier – Luciano - was a very informative man who provided insights to the buildings and sights and satisfied all our queries regarding this amazing island. An example – all the buildings are built on wood stilts and it is in fact the water that is preserving them from rotting. How remarkable is that. Luciano steered the gondola with great precision and ease through the little canals, we were suitably impressed!

On the final day we spent some more time at San Marco Square, feeding the pigeons and taking more photos (!), before finally departing for the ‘aeroporto’ to head back to Londres.

This trip was easy paced simply to accommodate our not-so-young guest. We may not have been able to absorb as much as we would had we been on our own, but a slow and relaxing holiday is rather enjoyable once in a while.