The big day - our 40th wedding anniversary, and we're spending it in Venice.

Mick here

How did we get here? We thought you'd never ask.

From door to door it was a long 30 hours. To the airport. Queued behind the North Sydney Boys'Concert Band to check in. They were well behaved, but a lot of well behaved young men is still a lot of checking in, particularly with all the instruments. We , on the other hand were as free as birds, carrying only the 7 kilo carry on allowance each. Time will tell how smart we were as we were flying into winter.

The flight was late leaving, and the queuing somewhat shambolic, but our 2145 flight eventually left about 2230. Once again, the myth of glamorous air travel took a severe hammering on our capacity airbus. We made up time and were in Dubai about 14 hours later. By this stage we had begun to fade, but the classy Emirates lounge helped revive our spirits, once we found a spot to rest.

The next flight was on a well worn 777. Neither of our entertainment systems worked without a bit of persuasion and, as some kind of warning perhaps, my life jacket was in the first stages of unpacking itself. We arrived in Venice to bright sunlight- probably the last we'll see for the week- and made our way to the Alilaguna ferry terminal to take the ferry to Giglio, where we had arranged to be met by our host, Martina. It was about a half hour wait for the ferry, which then took about an hour to get to our stop, but we got a cruise down the Grand Canal as our welcome to Venice as a bonus.

This is our third visit to Venice, and first by plane and vaporetto. Arrival always creates a powerful impression. Its unique combination of grandeur and decay, the tiny and the grand, land struggling against encroaching sea creates a sensory overload. With a bit longer here this time, we hope to get a better appreciation of this strange and wonderful place, which even with temperatures in the low single digits is pulling big crowds.

Martina was right there at the jetty when we arrived and provided a bilingual commentary as she walked us to Ca' del Giglio on Calle Rombiasio near the Campo di Santa Maria del Giglio. (How street numbers work here is an absolute mystery!)

The apartment was just right for us. It is right at the end of a small Calle and has several windows overlooking one of the canals that goes to the famous Opera House La Fenice- just around the corner from us. Clean and well equipped it will do us nicely for the next week. After a short time to settle in, we headed off into the winter darkness to find a Supermercato. Looked easy on the map....

Over to Anne
Undeterred Mick was able to find his way around last night and again this morning although I really don't know how. We realised this morning that the offline Google maps cannot yet give pedestrian directions - and we suspect that even if they could, Venice would be a challenge! This is the one place in the world that we may visit and there are no cars of course!

It was a little easier today but the tiny streets and the maze-like feel of the place forces one to really pay attention. I was thinking about Hansel and Gretel but as happened there, the birds would devour the crumbs prior to our return.
This morning we walked around the area and this includes the Teatro La Fenice- Venetian Opera House- and the Rialto. We are very close to the Opera House. Piazza San Marco is not far away. So we are in a brilliant location. We had a coffee and on the way back we eventually found the elusive supermarket and stocked up supplies. This we did all on foot, pretty much like home. We have enjoyed a delicious fresh bread roll with cheese and salad for our first lunch here and Mick cooked pasta last night for dinner with pasta in our kitchen.

Our place is right on the canal but so far very quiet. No doubt we will hear the song of the gondoliers at some point but it being winter who knows.

Mick here with Late breaking news: gondola and snow arrived at about the same time. Gondolier singing.... White Christmas