We’re now at the tail end of what has been a truly memorable trip. There is, as they say, icing on the cake to come. Today we depart Lake Garda for destination – Venice.
I’d only ever heard special reports of Venice, largely from my Mum, Sarah, Stoker and even one of the guys at work. Although Stalks, didn’t you have a slightly iffy time from what I vaguely remember?
It also means I get to drop off the car today so my fingers are crossed that no crazy Italians bump into us which is entirely possible!
That saying of the there is always somebody worse off than you is never more true when we do eventually make it to Marco Polo airport (still on the mainland) and join the queue to return the car. The situation going on around us was that a couple in their 60’s I would say had put the wrong “gas” into the car prior to returning it and of course, it broke down swiftly after. Now add to the situation that the couple were good ol’ Americans and the girl behind the counter didn’t speak much English. A recipe for seriously heated times and summit I was thankful not to be part of.
We eventually find a bus that takes on to the Venetian Island/s to the main hub of tourists entering and leaving the city. The Pizzale Roma. From here we caught a Vaporetto and got off at the Cal d’Oro stop not long after. Needless to say the sights were spectacular from the boat, movie-like even.
Here is a typical view looking back from the water taxi:
We depart the boat and navigate through the side streets of Venice still truly stunned by what it’s all about. It’s the weirdest thing coming to dead end but instead of being blocked by a concrete wall, it’s a river!!!
We find our pre-booked hotel with relative ease. I unearthed many months ago that pretty much every hotel looks the same in Venice – from the outside anyway. Here is an unassuming shot of the outside of our first night hotel. All the innate character you would expect from an ancient Venetian building but was more modernised as I had hoped for due to the insane amount of money these places appear to cost to stay in!
Our room was a delight, not sure whether it’s appreciated from this photo.
Archaic roof beams, a stunning bed, views of the river behind the curtain and for the piece de resistance, a scanky Tesco carrier bag in the background. Doh!
It was late afternoon so we showered, chilled and then headed out for 5pm whereby we wondered, explored, ate and drink into the early hours of the morning.
Okay, okay, late hours of the evening.
Here are some of our favourite pics of today:
Beautiful, you’ll agree. (The backdrop too).