The Venice visitation

10 December 2003 ~ 21:07

We started out by staying the night at a hotel near the airport, as our morning flight at 8.10 a.m. necessitated a 6.30 a.m. check-in. So instead of being one hour by cab from Gatwick, we were only 10 minutes away.

We were impressed with the Arora Hotel�in fact it�s probably the plushest hotel I�ve yet stayed in, though it was relatively cheap. There was a huge gym and a Jacuzzi, which unfortunately we didn�t get to try because it closed at 9, though why I don�t know when the gym was open all night.

Anyway, we got to Venice fine, though both my mum and myself were suffering from very heavy colds and hacking coughs. We had to stand up on the waterbus from Marco Polo Airport to Venice itself, though maybe this was a good job as the windows were so high up that you couldn�t really see out of them while seated.

First stop was the hotel, which was four floors up�which our mothers were none too thrilled about as there was no lift�and it smelt funny, probably from all the flooding. It had actually cost quite a bit more than the airport hotel but you�d never think it. Then again, hotels in Italy do seem rather expensive.

So we dropped off our bags and spent the whole day walking around. We fed the pigeons in St Mark�s Square (which is what I�ve always wanted to do!), enjoyed a ride in a gondola, shopped for Venetian masks and other frippery, and saw the Rialto Bridge. We also went into St Mark�s Basilica�which really is a sight to behold.

Truth be told, I was not overly impressed with the shops in Venice. They all seem to sell the same things, and clothes-wise, I�d hate to live there as all they seemed to have in the windows were dowdy designer goods I wouldn�t buy even if they were cheap, and horrendous fur coats that look like they belonged a hundred years ago.

We rescued a little pigeon in the square that was resting right in the middle of all the goings-on. I don�t think she could fly, so we moved her behind a little fence where people would not tread on her. Hopefully she was fine after we removed her. There are stall-holders selling pigeon grain and all the birds must be well fed by the tourists. (How I wish they had never banned pigeon feeding in London�s Trafalgar Square!)

We had to leave early the next day as our flight was at 12.10 p.m., so we took the water bus back to the airport, where, as nightdragon reported, my poor mum passed out in the security queue. Back in England, I got into a fight with a nasty bitch of a girl on the train home. She almost pushed me over and when I called her on it, she told me to �Go and lose weight!� (I am not even that big). Then when I told her she was ugly in retaliation, she spat in my face! What a lovely young lady�not! She had to be taught a lesson, and even though it�s not something I�ve ever done before, I�m glad I did. Next time maybe she�ll think twice before she tries to push people around.

Anyway, aside from all the things that went wrong, the biggest thing that went right was seeing Venice. Enjoy the pic:

Stored nuts | Future acorns