Today we travelled from Milan to Venice. An easy 2 hour train trip. For the first time all of the seats on the train were full. Once we left the Venice train station, the Grand Canal was right in front of us. We bought a 48 hour vaporetto ticket. Although it was expensive at 28 euro each, it made travel around Venice very easy and stress free. We walked most places, but often it was quicker to cross the Grand Canal by vaporetto rather than walk all of the way to the Riatlo or Academia Bridge.

Our hotel was 3 stops along the canal. It was situated on a small canal and had a door both via a bridge or directly from the canal by boat. It was a lovely small hotel called Al Ponte Mocenego. The manager of the hotel spoke very good English and helped us to find our way about. Well actually tried to help us find our way about. We decided the quintessential image of Venice is not the canals and gondolas, but tourists lost looking at maps. The place is such a maze. If shop owners give you a business card it always contains a map explaining how to get back to their shop.

We discovered they had a few masks for sale. We learnt the history of mask making, the different types of masks and the distain the locals had for the Chinese imported masks that flood the market.

We decided to try Venetian Tapas for dinner. It is called Chincetta and where you eat it is called baraco. Venitian food is mainly fish based. Stan had some some lovely looking black muck which he swears was squid cooked in their own ink. Lots of seafood and polenta (salty white mush that looks like porridge). Quite different to Spanish tapas!

Next was a trip to the Casino. Quite an experience. Passports inspected, scanned, photos taken, cash handed over. By the time this was done we needed a drink. The casino does not sell drinks. We had to go out to a bar outside. Luckily the size if the casino building was only that of a bowling club. Once we got our drinks and got back past security we found the slot machines ordinary and expensive. So we decided to play roulette. Six flights of stairs later we found a very serious male dominated domain. English was either not understood or distained in this area. The tables are bigger and managed by 4 staff. One is the supervisor and 3 armed with sticks to control the chips. The patrons gave the chips to the staff and they flipped the chips onto the number, using their sticks to correct misfires. There was a frenzy of 2 euro chips flying everywhere.

Not deterred I put my money on the table. Ignored for spin after spin! Happily waving my 50 Euro in the air, all to no a vale. Then we noticed a pushy French lady got some chips by putting her money right in front of one of the stick waving men and not leaving until she got some 2 euro chips. So this is what we did and it worked. Then we played, amongst all the chaos and pushing. No colours available on this Roulette wheel so we all had the same type of chips and sure enough a little bit later, a dispute erupted between the pushy French lady and another lady over who put that chip on the winning number. The four guys armed with sticks all converse for a while ... then out comes the red card! Literally! They called for a video replay. Great drama

The chief stick holder hits the winning chips, saying I imagine "who owns this" Finally we get a few wins. Stan bravely leaves it up to me to say “Si Si” I then get numerous 2 euro chips flicked at me.  

Great fun. Made it just in time for the last vaporetto home