Ah Venice....what more can I say? There's nowhere else in the world quite like it, which has to make up for the high prices, the completely disoriented tourists (they just need to let go and get lost like the rest of us) and the kamikaze pigeons in Piazza San Marco.
I zipped up on the train last Thursday to meet up with Sharon, who was on a 'glass research' trip - pity it couldn't be tax deductible for her, I say! I'm sure there's a way to wrangle it somehow given that she's working at the local council in the recycling department. Surely that involves glass, but perhaps just the smashing of it! Anyway, having caught the local train to Florence, I had just enough time for a cappuccino and a croissant with custard in it at the bar before my next train came in. I decided to catch a
Eurostar (2nd class only, drats!) but it turned out to be the new, even faster version. It was tremendously stylish, even with the chocolate brown interior colour scheme. Even better, there was enough space to stretch out and enjoy the view as we hurtled through the countryside, which was disappointingly devoid of snow.
I arrived in Venice just after 3pm and was once again bemused to stroll out of the station and be presented with that first view
of the Grand Canal. Our 4 star luxury hotel was definitely very swish with a view out over the hotel garden (and the back of the building but we won't dwell on that). The Hotel Amadeus is certainly worth a plug - and if I have trouble remembering the name in future, I just have to look on the sewing kit, pen, shoe sponges or soap that I collected during our stay. Not to mention the selection of jams from the breakfast buffet, which was also excellent I have to say. Since Sharon's flight into Milan didn't arrive until later that evening, I decided to head off for a stroll via the Rialto towards San Marco. Despite the hordes of tourists (because I of course am a local - not!!!) stopping dead in the middle of a narrow calle whilst trying to get their bearings, Venice still is a great place just to wander. And get lost of course. Sharon's train finally got in at around 11pm, and then we had to chat for a while, before finally crashing out for the night.
Our first full day in Venice was spent just walking until our feet steamed. Despite the mammoth breakfast, I still felt the need to maintain my caffeine level a few times - although Sharon has tried to claim that I gave her the cafe tour of Venice. Clearly this is an exaggeration. We also made it up to the top of the Campanile which would have given us the usual beautiful view were it not for the arctic wind buffeting us. We did one quick circuit before joining the queue hopping about waiting for the lift to return us to the much warmer ground level. It's amazing what a difference 100 metres in altitude makes. We also toyed with the idea of taking a gondola ride but decided that the 60 euro 'special' winter price was still a little high. Finally, to round off the day we had a Bellini at the 'Olandese Volante' - hmmm.....they're nice!
Our second day was taken up with a visit out to the island of Murano. Of course, we visited the glass museum which had some tasteful pieces, but these were discounted by the sheer volume of so many truly hideous monstrosities. Sadly, photos weren't allowed but that's probably just as well. Luckily there were 'installations' dotted around the island so we snapped them instead. Because it was Saturday afternoon, none of the studios were open so we had to content ourselves with watching videos of the glassblowers at work instead, and look in a few shops of course. We found a little cafe for a late lunch which was obviously frequented by locals - Sharon managed to try a few local delicacies as well as the cheapest Spritz in Venice. On our return to Venice we tried out an Irish pub and then Sharon discovered, much to her incredulous delight, that Scotland had beaten England in the rugby. In typical unbiased fashion, BBC World managed one line about the game but neglected to comment on the loss, focussing instead on Johnny Wilkinson's record for the most number of tries.
Sunday was once again spent wandering the backstreets of Venice. I offered to let Sharon navigate but she declined, so we just walked with no real plan, around to the Biennale Gardens (stopping off at a tiny bar for a coffee obviously frequented by locals, along with their dogs of course), the Arsenale and along the canal back to San Marco. It was very relaxing, especially away from the crowds, although we both soon admitted to suffering from glass shopping overload.
The following day we jumped on a train and headed to Verona to check out the main sights - Juliet's balcony and statue, the Arena, the crenellated bridge, the Piazza dell'Erbe....the usual day trip. I had to have a meringue gelato for Cathryn but have to admit that I was a little underwhelmed by it - I'll stick to pinolata, cassata, tiramisu etc in future. The other thing to remember about Verona is that the public toilets at the station cost 70 cents a visit - even Harrods Luxury Washrooms aren't that much. But they were definitely better than the ones on trains and if you've got to go.....our return to Venice was by double decker train - stylish for a simple regional train. I looked out for Castelfranco Veneto but must have been going in the wrong direction - missed it again Steve. Upon our return, Sharon had to stock up on her local delicacies such as Colombe and the luridly green pistacchio flavoured Pan del Doge, and then we decided to splash out on dinner so that Sharon could have tiramisu for dessert. One final Bellini at a bar on the way back to the hotel, and that was the end of our jaunt to Venice.
The next morning, Sharon had to catch the 6:30am Eurostar for Milan (poor her!!!) while I had the much more leisurely 1:30pm departure, weighed down with Sharon's Scottish 'Daily Mail' newspaper and an 'OK' magazine - so exciting!!!! Now I'm back in Perugia and have made it through my long day of lectures today. Once I've recovered fully, perhaps I'll head off to Cortona on Saturday if the weather looks nice. Then I guess it will be time to study for those exams!!
I zipped up on the train last Thursday to meet up with Sharon, who was on a 'glass research' trip - pity it couldn't be tax deductible for her, I say! I'm sure there's a way to wrangle it somehow given that she's working at the local council in the recycling department. Surely that involves glass, but perhaps just the smashing of it! Anyway, having caught the local train to Florence, I had just enough time for a cappuccino and a croissant with custard in it at the bar before my next train came in. I decided to catch a
Eurostar (2nd class only, drats!) but it turned out to be the new, even faster version. It was tremendously stylish, even with the chocolate brown interior colour scheme. Even better, there was enough space to stretch out and enjoy the view as we hurtled through the countryside, which was disappointingly devoid of snow. I arrived in Venice just after 3pm and was once again bemused to stroll out of the station and be presented with that first view
of the Grand Canal. Our 4 star luxury hotel was definitely very swish with a view out over the hotel garden (and the back of the building but we won't dwell on that). The Hotel Amadeus is certainly worth a plug - and if I have trouble remembering the name in future, I just have to look on the sewing kit, pen, shoe sponges or soap that I collected during our stay. Not to mention the selection of jams from the breakfast buffet, which was also excellent I have to say. Since Sharon's flight into Milan didn't arrive until later that evening, I decided to head off for a stroll via the Rialto towards San Marco. Despite the hordes of tourists (because I of course am a local - not!!!) stopping dead in the middle of a narrow calle whilst trying to get their bearings, Venice still is a great place just to wander. And get lost of course. Sharon's train finally got in at around 11pm, and then we had to chat for a while, before finally crashing out for the night.Our first full day in Venice was spent just walking until our feet steamed. Despite the mammoth breakfast, I still felt the need to maintain my caffeine level a few times - although Sharon has tried to claim that I gave her the cafe tour of Venice. Clearly this is an exaggeration. We also made it up to the top of the Campanile which would have given us the usual beautiful view were it not for the arctic wind buffeting us. We did one quick circuit before joining the queue hopping about waiting for the lift to return us to the much warmer ground level. It's amazing what a difference 100 metres in altitude makes. We also toyed with the idea of taking a gondola ride but decided that the 60 euro 'special' winter price was still a little high. Finally, to round off the day we had a Bellini at the 'Olandese Volante' - hmmm.....they're nice!
Our second day was taken up with a visit out to the island of Murano. Of course, we visited the glass museum which had some tasteful pieces, but these were discounted by the sheer volume of so many truly hideous monstrosities. Sadly, photos weren't allowed but that's probably just as well. Luckily there were 'installations' dotted around the island so we snapped them instead. Because it was Saturday afternoon, none of the studios were open so we had to content ourselves with watching videos of the glassblowers at work instead, and look in a few shops of course. We found a little cafe for a late lunch which was obviously frequented by locals - Sharon managed to try a few local delicacies as well as the cheapest Spritz in Venice. On our return to Venice we tried out an Irish pub and then Sharon discovered, much to her incredulous delight, that Scotland had beaten England in the rugby. In typical unbiased fashion, BBC World managed one line about the game but neglected to comment on the loss, focussing instead on Johnny Wilkinson's record for the most number of tries. Sunday was once again spent wandering the backstreets of Venice. I offered to let Sharon navigate but she declined, so we just walked with no real plan, around to the Biennale Gardens (stopping off at a tiny bar for a coffee obviously frequented by locals, along with their dogs of course), the Arsenale and along the canal back to San Marco. It was very relaxing, especially away from the crowds, although we both soon admitted to suffering from glass shopping overload.
The following day we jumped on a train and headed to Verona to check out the main sights - Juliet's balcony and statue, the Arena, the crenellated bridge, the Piazza dell'Erbe....the usual day trip. I had to have a meringue gelato for Cathryn but have to admit that I was a little underwhelmed by it - I'll stick to pinolata, cassata, tiramisu etc in future. The other thing to remember about Verona is that the public toilets at the station cost 70 cents a visit - even Harrods Luxury Washrooms aren't that much. But they were definitely better than the ones on trains and if you've got to go.....our return to Venice was by double decker train - stylish for a simple regional train. I looked out for Castelfranco Veneto but must have been going in the wrong direction - missed it again Steve. Upon our return, Sharon had to stock up on her local delicacies such as Colombe and the luridly green pistacchio flavoured Pan del Doge, and then we decided to splash out on dinner so that Sharon could have tiramisu for dessert. One final Bellini at a bar on the way back to the hotel, and that was the end of our jaunt to Venice.
The next morning, Sharon had to catch the 6:30am Eurostar for Milan (poor her!!!) while I had the much more leisurely 1:30pm departure, weighed down with Sharon's Scottish 'Daily Mail' newspaper and an 'OK' magazine - so exciting!!!! Now I'm back in Perugia and have made it through my long day of lectures today. Once I've recovered fully, perhaps I'll head off to Cortona on Saturday if the weather looks nice. Then I guess it will be time to study for those exams!!
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