An Angel, A Train Ride and a Floating City...

Buongiorno! Venice is as welcoming as ever, and whilst the massive hordes of tourists have remained, this city still holds a special place in my heart. Todd and I caught the Vaporetti to our hotel, and it is amazing! The lobby is all wood panelled and beautifully laid out. Unfortunately, as with many Venetian buildings, there are lots of stairs! Thankfully the porter took our bags up... Todd and I were huffing at the top, whilst the porter wasn't even breathing heavily after making two trips with bags! Gah!

The trip here from Vienna was probably the most horrific travel experience I've ever had, however. Todd and I struggled to get help from the various Austrian Rail officials... the only respite was when we were permitted access to the "lounge" for 1st class rail passengers. (Think Qantas Club, but from the 1940s). The woman who validated our EurRail passess was clearly more interested in her biology homework. (She was studying and labelling parts of the human body). When I indicated to Todd that I really would've liked to blast her, Todd's suggestion was to point out on the diagram which body part I thought she was most like... I'll let you figure that one out. Proving that the lounge was a dive, an older man walked in carrying a bronze coloured angel carving about a foot long. This was strange, however I thought that maybe it was a souvenier that he didn't want damaged. It got even stranger when the man proceeded to hold the angel (a cherub) to his nose and sniff deeply! He only removed it in order to take a sip of his drink! I'm not sure what the angel smelt like, but it must've been good!

When we boarded the train, the "family sleeper" we had booked turned out to be a room as big as a toilet, with a bunk and a tiny space to walk in (where we had to place our bags). We had been advised that there was a small "wash area" in the cabin, so I tried for about 30 seconds to open the only other door there was (a sliding sort of door) until I heard someone call out - "No!" I thought that maybe it was a shared toilet, however we soon worked out that I had spent the last minute trying to gain access to the other cabin next door! Most embarassment! The "wash area" turned out to be under-neath a small table in the corner! Gah! Todd had to virtually stand on my shoulders to access the top bunk as there was no discernible place to erect the ladder! After a terrible night's sleep, finally we arrived and I couldn't have been more relieved to get off that train!

We spent some time wandering around the city... Venice is great like that... you can just walk around, get lost and then find yourselves again! We then took another boat to go to the beach island of Lido, where we had a pizza and antipasto lunch by the sea. The weather was spectacular!

We went back to the hotel for a short rest before heading out for dinner. Prior to this however, we decided to have a look around the Rialto bridge, and of course, the revered bookshop, Rivoaltus! We went in and it was like being transported back in time. Remembered smells of the leather and cotton paper came flooding into my senses. The soft glow of the lights against the window, reflected off the many hued feathered pens also for sale, made them them look like jewelled feathers. The same woman who runs the shop was behind the counter and Todd and I spent some time talking with her as we picked out our purchases. Eventually, all the books (I stuck to three for myself!) were wrapped and it was time to leave. The lady behind the counter gave us a discount and some freebies, so we left very happy!

I had wanted to go to an area that I had previously visited when in Venice, however couldn't find my way there - even with a map! I guess it just proves how much I relied on Emma for directions last time I was here! After arriving at two dead ends that ended with water and no bridge, we gave up and decided to try a restaurant recommended by the hotel. The food was fantastic, the wine average, but the ambience was brilliant. I became a little tipsy on the wine and when we walked the sort distance back to the hotel, we pretty much crashed straight away.

This morning we slept in, have had breakfast and will now shortly be leaving to pick up our car and drive to Bologna. I am hoping to engage the services of the porter once more in retrieving our bags as I can't even think about having to bring them down ourselves!

Apologies for lack of photos, I will add more as soon as possible!

Baci, baci!