Venice - Thursday

The weather forecast for Thursday had been bad ever since we had set off from home so we were expecting to have to write the day off. But it turned out to be pretty good. We set off on foot across San Polo and Santa Croce to visit the Rialto markets where there were some stunning mask shops.

We had promised ourselves a gondola ride if we had any money left on the last day and we spotted our opportunity whilst pausing for coffee close to the Rialto Bridge.

Guide books tell you not to expect your gondolier to sing to you (although you can pay ahead for a serenaded gondola tour). But our gondolier not only whistled and sang but also looked like Richard Gere. What more could we ask for?

He took across the Grand Canal and through a maze of smaller canals past Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Marco Polo's house.

After the ride we headed back slowly, saying we mustn't get distracted along the way. But when we got close to the bus station at Piazzale Roma, we allowed ourselves to stop for a ham and mushroom omelette and then a final impulsive visit to a handbag shop.

Lanterns were the theme of the holiday for me and I took lots of pictures of them. These are the ones which hung outside that last restaurant on the Fondamenta San Simeon Piccolo.

All that remained was to retrace our steps to Marco Polo airport via the hotel in Mestre and hope that the sun would be shining at home too.

Venice - Wednesday

On Wednesday morning we walked across Santa Croce and San Polo to Campo Santa Margherita. It was quieter than I'd expected but we caught a few fresh fish stalls and were not at all tempted to buy the squid!




We then made our way to the Grand Canal where we jumped on a vaporetto to go to St Marks's Square. It was busy but stunning.




Then we made our way back to Cannaregio where we caught a vaporetto to the lagoon island of Mazzorbo. It felt very different from what we'd experienced so far of Venice. There were a few buildings that looked like farmhouses and open fields alongside the canal. We walked for a little while then turned a corner to reveal this view of Mazzorbo's neighbour.




Across a bridge we reached Burano, famous for its lace and local fishing trade. Pictures of Burano often show its coloured houses and I had imagined it was always the same row of houses. But all the houses along Burano's canals look like these.




Burano felt quite distinct from Murano. There were plenty of shops and restaurants catering for the tourists but the sights and sounds of Via Baldassarre Galuppi were those of the locals, especially as it drew towards evening. We ate at Restaurant Galuppi where our waitress brought us complimentary glasses of limoncello at the end of the meal.

In contrast to the rest of the island, the vaporetto station on Burano was quite modern and high tech. It had been a long day and we still had to change boats at Fondamente Nuove and get the bus back to Mestre.

Venice - Tuesday

Tuesday was spent on the Venetian lagoon island of Murano, famous for its glass. Murano has its own Grand Canal and the wonderful Rio del Vetrai, lined with shops selling all kinds of glass including the most fantastic chandeliers.

Around the island are many glass sculptures.

We walked through the island to Piazzale alla Colonna where we sat to eat at the Gran Caffe Laguna.

We all ate mushroom risotto but I'm more likely to remember the ice cream I had - 8 euros worth of black cherries, chocolate and vanilla ice cream and cream.

The vaporetto ride back to Venice took us past the cemetery island of San Michele and through the Cannaregio canal, which I had not seen before. We arrived back as the sun was fading and casting the most wonderful golden glow on the buildings. We wandered around the Fondamenta dei Tolentini for a while, collecting photos of the reflections of the buildings and bridges in the water. A glorious end to the day.

Venice - Monday

On arrival in Venice I'd advise anyone to take a No1 vaporetto ride down the Grand Canal.

We had the perfect day for it. We also wisely walked one stop back from the railway station to get on the boat before the crowds. That meant we got the perfect seats at the back of the boat, with good clear views of both banks of the canal. On the boat Karen made friends with a gentleman and his mother who was a native Venetian but spoke no English. Between them they were wonderful guides. We stayed on a little longer than any of our previous trips and got off at Giardini.

I believe this is where the Biennale is held. From there we explored the outer reaches of Castello. This area was very quiet and more obviously residential, with lots of laundry hanging across the alleyways.

One of the highlights of Venice at this time of the year is the glorious Wisteria which seemed to grow everywhere.

We had a cool drink in the Campo Ruga then headed off towards San Marco Sestiere, discovering the Arsenale by accident along the route.

We stopped at Ristorante Alla Conchiglia just as the light was starting to fade. The restaurant is on the canalside (Rio dei Greci) close to Greek Orthodox church, San Giorgio dei Greci, and its famous leaning tower.

After eating we walked through St Mark's Square in the dark and back to the Rialto where we caught a vaporetto back to the bus station and thence back to our Hotel, the Golden Tulip Tritone in Mestre where I had stayed last year.

Venice - Saturday/Sunday

Date: 12th - 16th April 2009
Purpose of trip: holiday
Getting there:

• Easyjet from East Midlands to Marco Polo.
• ATVO flybus from Marco Polo to Mestre.
• Trenitalia train from Mestre to Santa Lucia.
• ACTV buses between Mestre and Venice.

Travelling companions: Karen and Cynthia

A year ago, it looked like I would never make it to Venice. But here I was on the brink on a second trip in just 6 months. This time it was a girls' trip so it kind of qualifies as an Off The Leash. It had been booked at the beginning of the year and hadn't taken a lot of planning. But things looked grim 24 hours before we were due to fly, as I slammed into the doorway in a fit of excitement. My toe is still tender now and I suspect it may be broken. But as long as I could get my shoe on and hobble, I was still going to be on that plane. A bag of frozen smoothie mix applied to the affected toe for a few hours on Saturday night worked wonders and by Sunday morning I could even walk without limping. On Monday morning it looked like this.

Return to London with a Vengeance

Date: 6th April 2009
Purpose of trip: various
Getting there: Bus to the station, train to London St Pancras. London transport buses and tubes
Travelling companions: Pete and Hannah


It doesn't seem so very long ago since I was ranting about our experience on the train to London. East Midlands Trains did respond to my complaint and sent us 3 complimentary first class tickets. On Monday April 6th we used our tickets to repeat the trip to the capital.

Travelling first class for the first time was a nice experience. Just a few days earlier I'd 'enjoyed' a bacon sandwich on the trip to Darlington. It tasted good but was presented to me uncut, microwaved in a paper bag. This time I got something rather nicer and which I felt warranted a photograph.

We'd all gone with our own agendas. Peter's was magic. We headed off to the International Magic shop in Holborn but it was closed when we arrived so we took a detour which led us to the fantastic Magma bookshop on Clerkenwell Road. It had something that apealed to all of us and could have spent hours in there. I investigated their website when I got home and wasn't too surprised that Magma is more of a philosophy than a bookshop.

Another detour found us in Waterhouse Square.

From there we went to Covent Garden.

We often have waffles when we go there but today I got to try Amy's paella in the courtyard. Wonderful. We watched the street entertainment for a while and Pete and Hannah visited David and Goliath.

From Covent Garden we made our way towards the British Museum. I wanted to call in at Blade Rubber Stamps so dropped the kids off at Starbucks with money for lunch and went to indulge myself. The British Museum looked enticing and I'd never been but we already had too much on our itinerary. We did peek through the gates and saw what we thought at first was an archaeological dig. But it turns out they were preparing the ground for an Indian landscape display.

Hannah's priority for the day was to visit Harrods to do research for her A level Graphics project. I'd never been before so had a very pleasant surprise. We roamed the food departments with our eyes on stalks and considered getting a bank loan to finance a treat at Morelli's Gelato.

Hannah wanted to visit Piccadilly Circus and Peter wanted to check out Hamleys. Their magic section was disappointing really but a visit to the Bear Factory resulted in Pete and Hannah becoming the proud parents of a baby panda called 'Bamboo'. I was flagging by this point so had a brief saunter (okay, stagger) down Carnaby Street before collapsing in Starbucks with a fruit salad.

We ended the day at Davenport's magic shop at Charing Cross station where Peter picked up a few bits of kit. Then it was back to St Pancras for the First Class return home.

It had been a good day but we'd have liked to visit the Palladio exhibition at the Royal Academy which has now finished and the Le Corbusier exhibition at the Barbican. I guess we'll just have to go back again soon.