We arrived in Venice 6:50am Venice time, 40 minutes early, however, we weren't able to get any sleep on the flight, so we are now 29 hours with no sleep. Needless to say, we're a bit groggy and running out of steam.

Since we weren't able to get into our room until 11am we took advantage of the extra time and took the ALILAGUNA Shuttle from the airport to the hotel. The shuttle is slow and the Water Taxis zoomed by us creating a good wake. The ride was enjoyable and allowed us to get a good view of the architecture as we puttered along.

We got our room around 11am, had a quick shower and out the door. Scouted out the area around the hotel and found a nice little restaurant. Two orders of carbonara, bottle of rose and a cappuccino and we're refuelled and ready for a couple more hours.

Our room opens up on a small canal below and there has been a constant stream of singing gondoliers providing willing tourists a gentle ride through the canals. Even in the light rain some die hard tourists were still enjoying their ride.

A good nights sleep and tomorrow we're off to Murano to see the glass factory.