Venice

So September the 2nd saw us leaving our home for the past year and then some, in search of warmer climates. We arrived at Gatwick airport with 2 hours to spare for our flight, which was promptly delayed for an hour and a half. By the time we finally took off and made it to Italy, there was little time to spare to get the last bus to our accomodation. After a short detour through the aiport carpark, we managed to backtrack and find the bus stand. We waited for a short while, then the bus we wanted almost didn't stop, so we had to chase it down(little did we know it was pulling into another bus stop). After travelling through some countryside and a couple of small townships, Shaun approached the driver to ask when our stop would be. After some furious finger-shaking, we were informed we had headed the opposite way, and as that was the last bus, we hopped off to find ourselves stranded in the middle of nowhere. After walking up and down the road, and some failed attempts at getting Italians to call us a taxi, we had almost given up on everything. We decided to give it one last go, and asked a waitress at a pizza restaurant to call us a taxi. She turned out to be nicest Italian we have yet to meet, with near fluent English. After a twenty minute wait outside, she came out to inform us that the robot that answered the phone couldn't understand her directions, and she said she would keep trying. Finally, at 1am, a taxi appeared, and much to our relief and delight we made it to our accomodation.

The next day saw us sleeping in, and then off to Venice, which was amazing from the first glimpse, driving across the bridge that connects the island city to the shore. It was like stepping into a different world. The heat, the sun, the canals, the architecture, the boats, the gondolas, the hordes of tourists and crazy Italians...We started by catching a water taxi from one end of the grand canal to the other, with an incredible variety of buildings, water-crafts and colours along the way. We got off the taxi at the Piazza San Marco, Venice's most famous square. It is bordered by the Basilica di San Marco, the Palazzo Ducale and a huge bell tower, and filled with lots and lots of tourists and pigeons. We then headed in amongst the cobbled lanes, to what we thought was the shopping district, with shop after shop selling masquerade masks and glass from Murano Island. We wandered through lane after lane, past an endless number of shops and churches. We crossed the Ponte di Rialto, one of the main bridges across the canal. This bridge is large enough to host a shopping arcade through the middle.

The second day we decided to head to Murano Island, famous for it's glass-blowing factories. We took a water taxi out, passing the walled island of San Michelle. Once on the island,we first witnessed a very tourist-oriented glass-blowing display, after which we were herded into their shop. We managed to escape this and later on found some less commercial factories, and were fortunate enough to see a ball of molten glass be transformed into a beautiful swan. We then headed back to Venice, for one last wander through the lanes, and said goodbye to the magestic city of Venice.