Dec 10, 2012 - Venezia

This morning, unlike other mornings, we waited and waited for the bus while several empty buses went past us. We had given up and started to walk back to camp when a bus finally arrived and we had to run to catch it. Then when we got to the bus station in Venice there was a major traffic jam and police everywhere. We never did find out what was going on. We walked to the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute which overlooks the entrance to the Grand Canal across to San Marco Piazza, then walked back to the Museo Correr and spent about 3...

Dec 9, 2012 - Murano and Burano

A beautiful blue-sky day again today so we decided to do the ferry trips. Again we caught the bus into Venice and at the information centre purchased 12 hour ferry passes for €18 each. From Ferrovia we took the ferry to Murano and walked to the Glass Museum where we spent an hour before wandering back through the streets stopping at a glass factory (where we watched a couple of pieces being made) and looking through the many glass shops. From Murano we caught another ferry out to Burano and at the pier had a welcome snack of calamari and...

Dec 8, 2012 - Venezia

It snowed for several hours last night and we awoke to a white wonderland. We caught the bus into Venice later in the morning and walked to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. This was originally the private collection of modern art of the American heiress Peggy Guggenheim housed in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, an 18th century palace on the Grand Canal, which was Guggenheim's home. We spent a very enjoyable 3 hours or so looking at the varied paintings and sculptures among which are works of Picasso, Balla, Dalí, Magritte, Miró, and Ernst...

Dec 7, 2012 - Venezia

We caught the bus into Venice this morning and walked into a travel agent near the Piazzale Roma (after being sent on a wild goose chase yesterday by the information centre!) and we sorted out our ferry travel from Venice to Igoumenitsa in Greece for Tuesday. It was trying to snow as we walked to Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace) to take the tour of the Palace, which included the Bridge of Sighs and the “New” Prison. We bought the “11 Museum” pass for €20 thinking that we should get our money’s worth over the next three days. Sue visited the...

Dec 6, 2012 - Venezia

We spent another day and night at El Bacan; the day was overcast so we took Homer a few kms up the road to a large shopping centre and spent some time here in the warm, and stocked up on provisions. Yesterday we drove the 120kms from Verona to Venice and found our way to Venezia Camping Village in Mestre (N 45°28'51.528" E 12°16'30.5754"). This is a very convenient campground just next to the bus stop into Venice and with fantastic facilities. We took a walk in the afternoon to check out our surroundings. This morning we caught the bus into...

Jun 11, 2011 - 16. Castel San Pietro Terme to Venezia

Day 27 Castel San Pietro Terme to Chioggia Today is one of the longest rides so we are asked to have breakfast at 6:00 am instead of 7:00 as usual. There will be virtually no climbing as we head across the flat plains leading towards Venezia. Initially we ride in small groups at a fairly fast pace but it is not long before my group splinters as some of the leading riders take an incorrect turn and I am unable to call them back. I'm left with a group of four; Alison, Chris, Robert and myself. We ride on together until we get to a confusing...

Jan 9, 2011 - Venice

After a number of days on the road we took a slow start to the day, and didn’t make it to the breakfast room until a little after 10.00am. We left the hotel before 11.00am after booking tickets for a local show tonight and walked to Piazza San Marco. We retraced our steps from last night to find a couple of shops where we purchased a small range of souvenirs and gifts. It was cool, misty and slightly damp underfoot, but it was quite comfortable compared to the temperatures in Germany. We wandered happily and it was nearly 1.00pm before we...

Jan 8, 2011 - Salzburg - Venice

Our morning routine went as usual and we were ready to depart Salzburg a little before 10.00am. We had packed our shared clothes, etc for Venice in a single suitcase (for ease of travel) and left the remaining luggage (including a fair stack of laundry!) in the car boot. The weather was quite mild (about 4o) and overcast and the roads were free of snow so driving was quite comfortable. We stopped at a motorway Raststazion for a coffee and pastry about 11.00am and then again, just before the Slovenian border, to fill the fuel tank. The car...

Oct 29, 2010 - Wandering Venezia

Today we went to the morano glass factory and watched how they made glass, it was pretty cool. And I spent a little too much money :/ Then we had the rest of the day to explore the island. I justwandered around and found some cool alleyways and parks, bought a mask for myself! But I walked SO much that my legs ache! We had dinner tonight as a group again. It was fun becasue I sat nest to the 13 year old Ryan and he's a hoot. I found out that most of our group is not joining us to Milan! Ryan is one of them and im really sad because he's my...

Oct 28, 2010 - Group travels, Northern Italia

Update: The sensations concert was really fun. The music and dancing were AWESOME and we met a lot of interesting people that night. Poland is so cute and homey feeling. We didnt really see a lot but I still had a good time. I got home from Poland on monday night, late and then had to pack and get ready for my trip to northern Italy the next morning. I didnt know what to expect when I went on the trip. There were a bunch of different kinds of people on the trip and after the first day we all bonded. It was wonderful to have dinners together...

Aug 2, 2010 - Venice

Today is a very special day, as Alison and I have been together for 12 months today. What better place to spend this day, than in romantic Venice. Both of us have woken up a bit dehydrated, perhaps a bit because of all the Prosecco last night, and a bit because it's humid. We had a lovely breakfast which was provided free of charge by the hotel. Bacon, eggs, brie cheese and a bunch of other wonderful things, and some good coffee and juice. We headed out straight after, to finally organise some glassware and some venetian masks. We wandered...

Aug 1, 2010 - Rome - Venice

We woke up this morning and made our way to Rome Termini to catch the train to Venice. The station was only a few blocks walk away from our hotel. When we got to the station, we had a quick breakfast from the auto grill. Panini\foccacia and coffees all round. Not much change out of 20 euros, but what are you going to do. I had to keep checking the departures board, as they hadn't assigned a platform, and we were only 1hour away from leaving. Eventually they assigned a platform, and we ran like a bat out of hell to get there. When we got...