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.

Detour

Just occasionally, I submit to a regular family holiday. My trips off the leash are quite self indulgent as a rule so I feel that the family holiday is sometimes a compromise. Any compromises I made last week were well worthwhile however. I haven't blogged the trip here, as it breaks the rules. But, should you feel inclined, you can view my travel photos in my Venice album or read the minutiae on our family blog, newly created to brag about the holiday.

Gone to the Dogs?

Date: 27th - 28th September 2008

Purpose of trip: Visit to the Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show, Alexandra Palace, London

Getting there: Bus to the station, train to London St Pancras. London transport buses and tubes

Travelling companions: None

This is a bit of a cheat as it is a regular trip of mine and I was sure I'd blogged it before. But I see I haven't so I really must get it 'out there'.

Alexandra Palace is the most wonderful venue. It is imposing on the outside and just as impressive on the inside. My experience of the interior is limited to the Palm Court and the West(?) Hall.

The Great Hall is truly magnificent but I've only managed to see that on tiptoe with my nose against the glass from the West Hall doors. The show is here twice a year and the weather has been great every time, showing the park at its best with great views across the city. I usually have sunshine for my visit but on Saturday morning the whole planet seemed to be inside a cloud. I expected to be disappointed but I wasn't. I just saw another side to the park. And, as you can see from the photos, the sun had broken through by the time I reached the palace.

My usual accommodation at Borehamwood was out for this trip because I didn't book soon enough. Instead I stayed in Chingford/Walthamstow at the Holiday inn Express. I wasn't daunted by the 2 bus journey in each direction. Quite the contrary!

Extra points for:

1. My local bus company who run a service to the station early enough to have saved me from a long foggy walk in the dark. Barton buses celebrated their 100th anniversary just this week.
   
2. All day travel tickets which save the problem of trying to describe your destination to bus drivers. Then, when you find you're on the right bus but going in the wrong direction and have to jump off fast and cross the road, you haven't wasted your bus fare. (Not that it happened to me of course :-) )


3. The Transport for London journey planner. Love it! Especially the 'wizard' which shows little stick man me, walking to the bus stop on my virtual, mapped journey.


4. All those wonderful craft demonstrators who keep going all day, showing us how they achieved their masterpieces. It must get very boring by the 10th time.
   
5. Walthamstow didn't sound too inspiring when I booked my room but when I saw the Stadium across the road I was quite chuffed.
   
   
   
   What an iconic place. The race at £3 was a snip but sadly clashed with Strictly Come Dancing.
   
   
   



6. Art at Kings Cross
   
   



7. History at Kings Cross. I once read an article in the English Heritage magazine about these gas tanks. Not everyone's idea of heritage but another icon nevertheless.
   
   
   

Points deducted for:

1. Having to get up at 4am to get the train as it meant I snoozed away the whole of the train journey.


2. I think the barista at Costa was still training. She took forever. I was there around 9am and thought at last I'd catch sight of the elusive Chocolate Twist. Wrong. I asked the guy in charge how early you have to be to get one. He said he sold the last 2 at 8.30 but they are changing their supplier any time at all. Better quality, he promised, and pain au chocolate too. I first fell in love with Costa many years ago when they were Costa Coffee and serving (no pun intended) at the Guardian Direct tennis tournament in Battersea. The coffee was nicer then and no frills (although I seem to remember that was the first time I'd seen sugar in paper tubes). We hadn't seen them in the provinces. I could go on but suffice to say my last stop before the train home was Starbucks.
   
3. No workshops at the show. The organisers told me there wasn't sufficient interest from the exhibitors.


4. Missing demonstrator! I love to watch Rob demoing at the shows. He is one of my faves. But he wasn't here and my friend says he wasn't at the Harrogate show either. His blog has gone quiet too so hope all is well.

Crafters' Day Out

Date: 2nd September 2008
Purpose of trip: To check out Whichcraft in Doncaster
Getting there: Bus to the station, train to Doncaster
Travelling companions: None on the journey but spent the day with my crafting 'kindred spirit', Lesley


After meeting in the virtual world, Lesley and I met in the real world at a Graphicus workshop this summer. Having found that we share similar tastes and hitting it off really well, we promised ourselves that we would meet up again before I went back to work in September. Our first choice was another workshop but we didn't quite pull that one off this time. Instead we went to visit Paula Walters' Whichcraft in the Corn Exchange at Doncaster. We thought we had plenty of time but we filled lots of it with chat and nearly ran out of shopping time. Next time we will manage a workshop.


Extra points for:

1. The man at the station ticket office. I think he smiled at the lady in front of me in the queue. Or it may have just been wind.
   
2. The Corn Exchange. What a beautiful building. The ironwork inside is superb. I remember it from my childhood when I made shopping trips to Donny with my parents but hadn't realised that was where we were heading. We had lunch in the Gallery Tea Room and I really can't think of a nicer setting.
   


3. Coffee and Walnut cake in Costa. We almost didn't care that the chocolate twist shelf was just crumbs.
   
   Points deducted for:

1. The Frenchgate Centre car park. Yes, there are apparently three Level 4s! So, of course, 66% percent of first time visitors are going to think they have had their cars stolen.


2. Being too busy talking to get out my camera. There were plenty of photo opportunities but I don't multitask. Sooo...we have to go back!