View of Venice from the boat as we docked about 8am you can see the dome of St Marks Basilica in the background
and another one with the clock tower of St Maks Square in the background
and another one which is a better closeup
and the highlights of St Marks Square ... oh yes and Coraleen of course
another one of those little island things in the canals of Venice as we came in on the boat
finally docked and in Venice with the gondalas in the background
now this is picture postcard Venice stuff.... bloody pigeons!!!
Me on a Venice Bus with the `road`
a skull on display for some exhibition which we didnt venture into
another waterway ... well at leqst you know its VeniceArriving in Venice this morning was spectacular... the boat comes right up through the main canal ways.. and you get a close up view of the beauty of it all.. not that I will say the canals are beautiful.. because of course they are rather dirty.. but the buildings.. absolutely amazing.
We ventured out to Venice today but once again, have to admit being the heathens we are had no idea what we were gaping at! The building are beautiful.. the crowds overpowering.. and the pigeons awful!!
And we had RAIN!! Yes we were in St Marks Square when the lightnight clapped.. the pigeons crapped (literally on everyone!!) and the heavens opened.. it was torrential. Not to worry as we had no idea what sights were what we are back there tomorrow anyway.. just to make sure we havent missed anything.
The Campgroundm here seems pretty good. Very social.. or so it seems. Huge.. swimming pool and jacuzzi, soccer thingmy, table tennis, bus right into town, internet on site, international phones, restaurant, bar, happy hours.. and hundreds of young people!! Still.. never fear we will go chatting.. have already had conversations with two groups of NZers
It was definitely an eventful few days with Coraleen getting sea sick on the water transport the first day, me getting a 24 hour bug on the second and lo and behold on the third I lost my cute little brand new Nokia flip top phone that my dear friend Trevor gave me before I left. The worst thing is I use it like a PDA with all my numbers, birthdays, addresses and reminders in it.. still one must move on and utilise the experience Travel Insurance I bought I guess.
We ventured into St Marks square again, admired St Marks Basilica from the outside, took photos of the beautiful bridges (all with names that elude me at the moment) and the Venetian Architecture. I must confess it was wonderful to see .. but dirty and definitely nowhere you would want to live.
We wandered around the Academia and Rialto areas of the Grand Canal.. 6miles of waterway and we walked around most of it. Expensive.. we chose to eat lunch in their one day .. a pizza to share and a half pint of beer NZ$40.. you better believe it.
The last day was spent driving around to the police station and bus depot (in case my phone fell out in the bus..) and then we motored off.
By this time we had decided .. or Coraleen had decided she really didnt want to go to another big City.. Milan.. and I wasnt too fussed either way.. so we drove towards Verona and then on to Lake Como.. and thats about it for now.
