Venice - Day 1

Well, our passports are getting a good work out this year! James loves looking at the stamps in his, and of course he is always accompanied by Doggy (with his own passport!) on his overseas trips.

We booked a 4 day trip to Venice only a month ago. Martin had previously visited Venice 12 years ago and was just so happy to be back. As he was in Melbourne at the time of our 10th wedding anniversary in January we had decided to celebrate at a later date, and Venice was the first and unanimous choice! It also coincided with my birthday so it was extra special!

We flew out of Heathrow on a morning flight on Thursday 22nd. James remembered Terminal 2 from our trip to Rome with Mum and he told Martin how the last time he was here he had a fruit salad.Which was true and we were so amazed! Maybe he will remember all this!

Our flight was via Milan and we arrived in Venice at 3.30pm, right on time. A short walk from the arrivals hall was the Alilaguna Water Bus service. It was a strange feeling standing on a dock with planes roaring past us on the adjacent runway. It was very foggy so we couldn't see much. The trip into Venice proper took just over and hour, stopping at the island of Murano, famous for it's manufacture of Venetian glass. This was our first glimpse of real life in Venice - no cars! James stood on the seat most of the way.

As we approached the iconic San Marco and Doges Palace James claimed that he would catch a fish in the Canal for our dinner! Yummy! I couldn't believe that I was actually standing here in this Piazza. Our hotel was only 50 steps or so from the square and we found it easily enough. Our room was perfect - so dark and quiet at night it was hard to believe we were in the heart of the city. But, that's Venice! The silence is the most astonishing thing.

After we'd settled we headed straight out to explore. Martin did his 'usual' trick (gets me every time!) of turning a corner and there was the Rialto Bridge all lit up. It was beautiful. We had pizza for dinner followed by the first of many gelati! On the way back to our hotel we bought some biscotti at a store very much like our favourite in Carlton. The selection made buying just a few a difficult task!

Photos are here.