July 7 th

On the road to Venezia

Once again we packed our bags, loaded up the car and head off early for the long drive to Venice. Cassie and Alex have become quite good navigators, with only one missed turn off we were soon on the autostrada toll road. Not sure what the speed limit is but 110km/ hr seemed to be used when they wanted us to slow down.

By the time we reached Marco Polo Aeroport in Venice, we had travelled approximately 1400 ish Kms since leaving Roma. Lucky I had taken that extra insurance ( although I think it cost more than the car hire!) as there was no issue in returning the dusty beaten up Puegot. We caught the water bus into Venice, it was a noisy and choppy ride but within an hour we were there. Stan was through customers before his scheduled arrival time so he was not far behind us.

Of course we got lost, it is Venice after all, getting lost is past of the experience.Eeventually we found Hotel San Moise, with canal views from our window complete with the serenading gondoliers and piano accordion music. So authentic.

It was great to meet Stan at the water bus stop and then spend the rest of the afternoon exploring the small streets, shops and of course the famous Piazza San Marco. We had dinner a small place called Al Vaparetto, where we cught up on Stan's news. Our Bulgarian waiter, Luciano, who speaks 5 languages and was very funny. More strolling in the busy, shops filled streets and meeting friendly Australians, one woman who enjoyed Stan's singing. Yes, much to the girl's embarrassment, especially Cassie's, Stan kept spontaneously breaking into quasi Italian operetta.

Alex's impression of Italy - "It's just full of tourists who walk too slowly".