I caught a bus to the Bologna Railway Station, noticed on the large electronic boards that a train was due to leave shortly for Venice and hurried to the automatic ticket machines. After two attempts it became apparent that foreign credit or debit cards were not the flavour of the day and I had to queue at the ticket office. Of course by now the train had already left....
A second class single to Venice was €10.50 and the next train was some 50 minutes later. Luckily there were lifts down to the platforms, not so luckily there were too many people around me smoking.
I was sitting in luxury heading for Venice when an inspector came along and told me that my ticket was not valid for the train that I was on and that I would have to cough up a further €26. I pleaded both ignorance and poverty and he told me to get off at the next stop and wait for the "ordinarie". It was not far behind and not too packed. I managed to sit with my case and next to an open window, joy of joys - a breeze to reduce the thirty degrees and an opportunity to take photos as we approached Venice.
To the left...
And to the right....
The prepaid data micro sim that I had purchased yesterday came online and I was busy emailing Peter when my iPad suffered a heat stroke and switched off. Luckily as with all things Apple it cooled down, switched back on and there was my email waiting to be finished. Why can't all computers work like that.
My next problem was the left luggage at S. Lucia station. I had been spoilt last year in Paris and Barcelona by the left luggage lockers which were coin operated and allowed you to sort out what you wanted to leave and what you needed to take with you. You could leave loose stuff as well as your case. In Venice it was the old cloakroom ticket system with a charge per case and nowhere to sit and re-organise. I was carrying my hiking boots in my rucksack and Peter's fleece was now in the suitcase which I had needed to sit on to close that morning. I decided to take the case along.
I had written down the walking directions to the hotel from Google Maps and set off confidently to the Hotel Bernardi Semenzato. What a maze of small streets and passageways! Bridges to cross with steps to be negotiated with the suitcase, crowds to avoid and street names to be spotted.
I got lost and had to get the iPad out to find myself on the map with the gps system. By the time I reached the hotel it was around 2pm, more than 5 hours since I had left Bologna.
Well it was a relief to jettison the luggage and set off to explore. But even with the city map that the hotel receptionist had provided I found it tricky to find my way around. Other tourists all over the place were stopping and looking at their maps. I would start to follow signs to the Piazza San Marco or the Rialto bridge and then at one of the turns the sign would be missing and I would guess - usually incorrectly.
I walked in quite a few circles!
Of course my first photo had to be of a gondola....
And a water taxi....
I stopped and had a really bad pizza for lunch and a bottle of water that exceeded even the cost of a Sun City bottle. I asked for an iced coffee and it came in a mug. Still, at least I got to sit down for a while. There was no 3G signal in the city so I made use of the wireless network in the restaurant to catch up on some emails.
Then the view of the Grand canal from the Rialto bridge..
In both directions...
Shops selling masks.....
Or glass....
Or pottery....
En route to...
The views from the top.....
The liner leaving down one of the canals....
One of the bells...
Back down in the square..
And to cap it all I became thirsty in the evening and went in search of a beer.
My first stop was at an outdoor restaurant which charged €5 for a small glass, not even a half.
Then, marking the landmarks carefully for my return to the hotel in the dark I stumbled on the ubiquitous Irish Pub.
It just happened to be half time in Euro 12 Italy v Republic of Ireland. The Italian guys were signing and jumping around. Especially when the second goal was scored. Beer was delivered to the tables in bulk in containers that had the appearance of giant blenders. Here a pint of Pilsener was €5 - a much better proposition.
As I was watching the match it took me back in time....
Last week I was in Spain watching Spain take on the Republic of Ireland, now I was watching Italy v Ireland in Italy.
It reminded me of Soccer 2010 when Peter, Geoff and Graham had travelled to Rustenburg to watch England v USA and then a group of us had watched South Africa play Uruguay at Loftus Versveld in Pretoria. We then went on holiday to England and watched England v Germany in Robin and Wendy's house in Milton Keynes and then once back again in South Africa, Peter and Graham had gone to Johannesburg for the final between Spain and Holland.
Memories.... That was a great holiday in England.
Not too impressed with Venice although the ice creams are delicious.....
Perhaps a guided tour would have been a better option?
Oh and just to round the day off nicely, I did a bit of laundry when I arrived at the hotel, 12 hours later it is still wet....
Off to Cortina in the Dolomites tomorrow. The temperature on the weather forecasts is half of what it is here. Still warmer than England???
Location:Venice
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