Feb 23: Venice 10 - 13

 Friday 10 February

Up at 2am to get organised for 7am flight.

Beautiful snow capped mountains - the Appenines? Must Google it!

Then a water taxi from the airport to the centre of Venice 

An easy walk from the vaporetto stop to the hotel where we were able to leave our bags in order to hunt for some lunch - with our first aperol spritz 😋

It was warm enough to sit without coats - though a bit chilly out of the sun. Wind/sun burned face later on!

Then back to the hotel to book in, dump the bags and set off towards St Marks square for the sunset 

Hard to take a bad photo with views, gondolas and bridges round every corner!

Beautiful masks all over for the carnival.

Lots of walking.

Walked about 10 miles in the end after we got lost and couldn't find a bridge to cross over the grand canal. But found out later we didn't need to anyway as we were on the right side and hadn't crossed over to start with.. 🙄

Managed to limp back to familiar territory and had a pizza and local wine in a small restaurant near the hotel. 

Both shattered so an early night.

Saturday 11 February

Early morning walk - hard to find a point where I could see the sunrise as everywhere is so flat or closed in. 

But lovely to see all the morning hustle and bustle.

Back for breakfast - in the breakfast room overlooking the Grand Canal.

Views from the hotel terrace.

The cocktail bar.

Beautiful table tops!

Had a wander - very busy already for the carnival processions in the afternoon. But we were off on a boat trip..

As we went to wait for our boat we saw loads of police with shields and batons. We soon found out what they were for as they heard a roar in the distance and serried ranks.

A sea of blue and white striped scarves came round the corner. Load of football fans singing and changing food naturedly as they waited to board there boat transport to the match. 

Turns out there was a derby match - Ferrera v Venicia. These were Ferrera fans 

 A few minutes later we had to push through them all to reach out boat on the other side. All very good natured 😁

First stop Murano and a glass blowing demonstration. Short and sweet so it was ok.

Bought a couple of reject fish - not that keen on Murano glass anyway and wouldn't have been able to afford the good stuff! This is the good stuff..

My little beautiful but ugly fish..

Next stop was Torcello.

 - an abandoned island - only 8 or 9 people live there permanently. All set up as a tourist spot though with two old churches and bars, stalls etc.

Pit stop for an aperol spritz 😁

No idea what I'd pressed but we were the same colour as our drinks 🤣

Then on to Burano last with beautifully coloured house. Apparently the fishermen started to paint their houses so that they could recognise them from a distance.

The sun was setting as we got on the boat and made our way back to Venice. 

We eventually disembarked near St Mark's Square - but it took ages as it was a bit of a free for all with everyone trying to dock. Boats hooting as they backed out, more boats trying to nip into the vacant spots then other boats lurking round the other side to steal the place - bit like having your parking spot nicked when you patiently wait for the car to back out 🤣

Wouldn't like to try that in summer 🙄

A wander back via the Rialto bridge.

Then back towards the hotel and a meal at the lovely restaurant we were in yesterday that makes its pasta fresh every day 😋

Sunday 12 February

Early morning walk. Not as far today.  

Huge contrast between the bridge early this morning and at about 10am yesterday as everyone rushed off to the carnival procession!

Leisurely breakfast then out for a walk with a rough idea of our route.

Once again we actually - walked further than we thought we would - over 9 miles. But with plenty of stops and lots of wandering. 

The costumes in St Mark's Square were fabulous.

Bridge of sighs.

More wandering around the square.

Eating, drinking, being tourists.

Decided to walk towards open water to see the sunset. Didn't work 🙄 and ended up in a car park near a sort of docks area. 

But we found where they keep all the cars on the island!!

And the route back was faster as we were able to short cut through the station - wish we'd known that in the way out!

Another fab day. Ended it in another lovely restaurant with pasta and fish.

 

Monday 12 February

Vacated the room, left the luggage and went for a wander round the St Paul's area which we hadn't been to.

Our hotel from over the canal.

More lovely shops and canals.

Did our only bit of culture today - visited a church while it was quiet. Lit a candle for Carol too - she would have loved Venice 😁💕

Watched the bins being emptied. By boat of course.

Pizza and an aperol spritz for lunch then off to the airport and home.

Over 35 miles walked in 4 days - a bit less for Mike who preferred to stay in bed rather than come out with me at sunrise 😁

Now we need to plan return trip to visit all the cultural nooks and crannies we missed this time 😁