And We Are Off

And We Are Off

Up in the middle of the night to go to the airport.

As usual I got stopped for a ?pat down? by security ???Just a random stop/check Sir?. (Well why do I get it every time? Am I on a list?)

Flight to Gatwick was good and despite there being 3 young kids we heard not a peep from them.

Kill 4 hours in the airport - no wonder people get drunk before getting on their plane.

The flight to Venice was very quiet so there was space to ?spread out? and there was even more leg room as it was a slightly older plane.

Weather on arrival was foggy and wet which was a shame as we couldn?t see very much on the bus from the airport. The bus of course is a boat and took longer than the flight from Edinburgh to London.
We arrived at St Marks Square and walked straight to the hotel without any help and without getting lost - a minor miracle considering what a maze of narrow alleys Venice is.
The hotel was built in the 1400s so has a bit of history to it. It is on the same canal as the Bridge of Sighs and is about a minute from the Square and the Doge?s Palace.
The staff had also been good enough to leave a very tasty pastry ?cake? in our room to help us celebrate SWMBOs birthday (tomorrow).

We went for a wander over to the Rialto Bridgewhere we ate in a ?tourist trap? overpriced place ?.. But what the hell? the setting was wonderful.
It was mild enough to eat outside (with the help of heaters) and thanks to the canopies we stayed dry.
The food and wine were really good so we have no regrets.
It was even good enough to stop raining for the walk back to the hotel.

On our way back we had to point a small group of Americans in the right direction towards St Marks Square. The big sign on the wall pointing the way obviously wasn?t good enough. They were looking for the Best Western St Marks and knew that the Best Western one 30 yards away wasn?t the right one ?.. but they hadn?t worked out that the desk staff would be able to tell them exactly where it was. We suggested it to them and they were delighted we had thought of that. The idiots still couldn?t work out that we were not Italians though. I imagine that they will be found as a group of skeletons down some small alley in a few years due to being lost and not thinking to ask anyone.