So today we go to see what Venice is all about. Again, we drive to the ferry station and ferry it to the Venice islands. The place is really crowded today. Patricia issues instructions about where to meet after various excusions. The first one is a gondola ride which I had opted not to take - too expensive! And after seeing the bored faces of many passengers as we walked around, I was very glad I hadn't.
Alex and I took off again to explore. Margi had opted to stay at the hotel as she had been to Venice before. Venice is actually a number of islands linked by bridges. There are no cars and all goods are transported first to the boat stations by truck, then put onto boats to be delivered via the canals.
We first headed towards the Rialto, the famous covered bridge which was the first one built in Venice. This involves heading down a lot of often very narrow alleys. They were lined with shops, particularly around the Rialto area. Venice gets 60% of its income from tourism and it shows. Most of the shops were a variation on the same stuff - magnets, masks, knick knacks. Closer to the Rialto there are the more expensive shops, with designer goods. Down one of these alleys, we came across a shop with masks unlike all the others. I was intrigued enough to go inside and inspect them more closely. They turned out to have porcelain faces and leather ruffles which looked like a soft material. I bought a smaller one for 60Eu, down from the original 75eu. It has a certificate to say it is made in Italy etc. I just really liked it.
To sit down for a coffee in Venice will cost you about 16Eu! and that may not include a tip . We found a coffee bar where the locals were standing around and got coffee for 3Eu but it wasn't particularly nice. Public toilets also cost about 1.50EU
We were supposed to meet the group back at St Marks'Square at 11:30. Down the alleys we went, getting more and more lost, despite Someone maintaining their Northern Hemisphere magnet had kicked in - I make no such claims, I have no sense of direction. Patricia had said that there would be signs everywhere point to San Marco but not where we were! We did get to see the other side of .Venice - no shops, the garbage barges, the workmen who carried cement and tools on boats. Finally after going round and round, and backtracking and lefting and righting, we emerged at St Mark's Sq with 5 minutes to spare.
Then there was an included trip to the Murano Glass factory which is just behind the square. This involved walking up a lot of stairs in a spiral - quite dizzying. We watched a glass blowing demonstration and then a talk about why how the glass is coloured. Then it was off to look at their wares. The only stuff I liked had commas in the prices! Actually that is a thing about prices in Euros - they don't write $1.50 they have E1,50 - a comma instead of the full stop. But these commas were after a few other digits! I have no need for any more glasses that I don't use and I wasn't about to spend 1,000Eu on a pretty ornament. The best part of the tour was that they had free toilets - even if we did have to walk up yet more stairs to get there.
By this time, my legs were about walked out. I was tired and my heel, which has been good most of the tour, had starting hurting again. I decided to skip the trip around the lagoon and head back to the hotel with Alex, who hadn;t been going on the optional tour.
We had the adventure of catching local transport for this. First a water bus, 7Eu, which took us right up the Grand Canal, and this time, under the Rialto bridge. 15 stops to Plaza de Roma where the bus station is. Again, we saw the other side of Venice.
At the bus station, the number 80 blue bus we had been told to catch didnt seem to exist. We found blue buses and asked a driver who told us his bus would take us to the Poppi but we had to go back to the ticket office for the tickets. This cost 3Eu. Until we saw the fields of poppies, we weren't really sure we were on the right bus lol. Then we saw the big supermarket - outlet shopping that is next to the hotel. We stopped into the market and got premade salads for lunch and then walked back to the hotel. The food in the shops is really cheap that we have seen in nearly all cities we have visited.
Later we did another run to the outlets but couldn't find anything we wanted to buy. I had been hoping for some pants or jeans to replace those I had lost but there was nothing in my fatarse size.
Tonight we had dinner at the hotel - a buffet with plenty of good food. There are at least 4 Cosmos groups here now.
Tomorrow we have a long drive to Vienna. The weather is looking a bit cool and I am again cursing the lack of those other jeans. I will just wear the ponte pants I bought for 'good'clothes. I have just finished repacking my bag. I now have an extra bag full of the knickknacks I have bought. I also bought 6 bottles of water for 12 cents each at the supermarket - we all have our little stashes on the bus lol because the autogrills can be expensive. Autogrills are like the 24 hour service stations with food that we have in Australia except there is a bigger variety of food and you have to follow the protocol. In Italy, you can self serve - select what you want although they dish it our for your (like the old cafeterias) and then pay. Or say, for a coffee, go and pay and then collect your coffee.
All in all, I could say that Venice was another disappointment but I had heard many other people say that they didn't think much of it so I suppose that is what I was expecting. Another place, like Greece, that I wouldn't go back to.
Hotel: Poppi
Wakeup: 6:00; Breakfast: 7:00 ; Depart: 8:00
Alex and I took off again to explore. Margi had opted to stay at the hotel as she had been to Venice before. Venice is actually a number of islands linked by bridges. There are no cars and all goods are transported first to the boat stations by truck, then put onto boats to be delivered via the canals.
We first headed towards the Rialto, the famous covered bridge which was the first one built in Venice. This involves heading down a lot of often very narrow alleys. They were lined with shops, particularly around the Rialto area. Venice gets 60% of its income from tourism and it shows. Most of the shops were a variation on the same stuff - magnets, masks, knick knacks. Closer to the Rialto there are the more expensive shops, with designer goods. Down one of these alleys, we came across a shop with masks unlike all the others. I was intrigued enough to go inside and inspect them more closely. They turned out to have porcelain faces and leather ruffles which looked like a soft material. I bought a smaller one for 60Eu, down from the original 75eu. It has a certificate to say it is made in Italy etc. I just really liked it.
To sit down for a coffee in Venice will cost you about 16Eu! and that may not include a tip . We found a coffee bar where the locals were standing around and got coffee for 3Eu but it wasn't particularly nice. Public toilets also cost about 1.50EU
We were supposed to meet the group back at St Marks'Square at 11:30. Down the alleys we went, getting more and more lost, despite Someone maintaining their Northern Hemisphere magnet had kicked in - I make no such claims, I have no sense of direction. Patricia had said that there would be signs everywhere point to San Marco but not where we were! We did get to see the other side of .Venice - no shops, the garbage barges, the workmen who carried cement and tools on boats. Finally after going round and round, and backtracking and lefting and righting, we emerged at St Mark's Sq with 5 minutes to spare.
Then there was an included trip to the Murano Glass factory which is just behind the square. This involved walking up a lot of stairs in a spiral - quite dizzying. We watched a glass blowing demonstration and then a talk about why how the glass is coloured. Then it was off to look at their wares. The only stuff I liked had commas in the prices! Actually that is a thing about prices in Euros - they don't write $1.50 they have E1,50 - a comma instead of the full stop. But these commas were after a few other digits! I have no need for any more glasses that I don't use and I wasn't about to spend 1,000Eu on a pretty ornament. The best part of the tour was that they had free toilets - even if we did have to walk up yet more stairs to get there.
By this time, my legs were about walked out. I was tired and my heel, which has been good most of the tour, had starting hurting again. I decided to skip the trip around the lagoon and head back to the hotel with Alex, who hadn;t been going on the optional tour.
We had the adventure of catching local transport for this. First a water bus, 7Eu, which took us right up the Grand Canal, and this time, under the Rialto bridge. 15 stops to Plaza de Roma where the bus station is. Again, we saw the other side of Venice.
At the bus station, the number 80 blue bus we had been told to catch didnt seem to exist. We found blue buses and asked a driver who told us his bus would take us to the Poppi but we had to go back to the ticket office for the tickets. This cost 3Eu. Until we saw the fields of poppies, we weren't really sure we were on the right bus lol. Then we saw the big supermarket - outlet shopping that is next to the hotel. We stopped into the market and got premade salads for lunch and then walked back to the hotel. The food in the shops is really cheap that we have seen in nearly all cities we have visited.
Later we did another run to the outlets but couldn't find anything we wanted to buy. I had been hoping for some pants or jeans to replace those I had lost but there was nothing in my fatarse size.
Tonight we had dinner at the hotel - a buffet with plenty of good food. There are at least 4 Cosmos groups here now.
Tomorrow we have a long drive to Vienna. The weather is looking a bit cool and I am again cursing the lack of those other jeans. I will just wear the ponte pants I bought for 'good'clothes. I have just finished repacking my bag. I now have an extra bag full of the knickknacks I have bought. I also bought 6 bottles of water for 12 cents each at the supermarket - we all have our little stashes on the bus lol because the autogrills can be expensive. Autogrills are like the 24 hour service stations with food that we have in Australia except there is a bigger variety of food and you have to follow the protocol. In Italy, you can self serve - select what you want although they dish it our for your (like the old cafeterias) and then pay. Or say, for a coffee, go and pay and then collect your coffee.
All in all, I could say that Venice was another disappointment but I had heard many other people say that they didn't think much of it so I suppose that is what I was expecting. Another place, like Greece, that I wouldn't go back to.
Hotel: Poppi
Wakeup: 6:00; Breakfast: 7:00 ; Depart: 8:00
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