Venice

One from Delia’s must-see list. Like Rome two years ago, I was amazed how much I enjoyed the visit. Venice is unique, the atmosphere so… atmospheric. No cars, bicycles, not even skateboards; only feet and boats – I can understand the person we saw on a recent documentary about Venice, who asked when Venice closed, as if it were a theme park.

The airport bus felt like a prison transport, the windows semi opaque due to the layer of plastic on the outside to advertise. Inside was dark and until we got off the bus we had seen nothing of Venice itself. My first surprise was the colour of the “canal” water – light green and not a shopping trolley or old tyre in sight – the Grand Canal was not like the Grand Junction Canal in North London.

Our walk to the apartment we had rented was short, Delia had planned well and guided us straight there. We spent the afternoon wandering before and after meeting with our friends Kate and Heather from Aberdeen for a delicious lunch. The lunchtime cafe was pricey, I had read that eating out in Venice was going to be expensive anyway. Everywhere else we found to eat, we found the costs similar to France, however the pizzas were more delicious.

Its impossible to detail the experience: the wading through the aqua alta (especially high (neap) tide), the Grand Canal by vaporetto (water bus), the churches, the food. For all the day trippers, who experience Venice by crowd shuffle only, you miss a truly immersive experience (perhaps rain and colder but worth the difference) – and Venice by night is truly not to be missed. Here are some of the multitude of photos.