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Another beautiful hot day in store today (Friday). I'm leaving Verona for the reasonably short drive east to Venezia (Venice). I wanted to leave reasonably early to maximise my time at Venice as I have planned only a fleeting single day soiree with my departure the following afternoon.
The drive was probably the easiest so far this trip, except for a clown I encountered on the motorway whilst in the fast lane. He was in a FIAT van that loomed up very close to the back of my car, lights flashing clearly wanting to pass. The fact that I was sitting on 160kph at the time astounded me. I move over and he continued on. I could hear his motor absolutely on the limit. I wonder how far he did get driving like that?
Given the circumstances of this trip I had decided to book a hotel in Marghera instead of in Venice city itself. That way I could retain the rental car for the drive to the airport tomorrow and venture into Venice by bus.
After unloading my luggage at the Mercure Venezia Marghera and buying a couple of bus tickets I was off to Venice.
The bus ride was about 20mins and drops you at the bus terminal just over the causeway. The rest of the journey around this archipeligo is by foot, or water taxi or.....gondola! I did lots of walking today (15k steps).
I had 4hrs to see as much of Venice as I could before my dinner booking at the Inacqua restaurant in the Westin Europa & Regina hotel.
The striking things about Venice :-
- the sheer number of narrow canals
- the very random nature of the narrow laneways that snake around like a maze.
- there is not a single straight navigable lane in the whole city
- plenty of small shops selling souvenirs and especially Murano glass, jewelery, glassware etc.
- volume of tourists is denser than Paris
- the swank hotels are on the Grand Canal and the only feasible way to them is by water taxi
I arrived at the Westin for a drink at the bar prior to dinner. Magnificent place this, right on the Grand Canal, with lashings of fine Italian marble everywhere - black, white and pink. As you might expect, a Mai Tai from this bar is more expensive...well, you've got the view, the experience plus a platter of olives, nuts and sweet potato chips that accompanies the drink. Almost a meal in itself.
Dinner was really enjoyable, the food was superb and sitting on the deck watching all the water traffic glide by was an experience. 5 courses all up - no red wine tonight either! Fish, chicken calls for a white Pinot Grigio and with desert (Tiramisu) I endulged in a glass of Soave Recioto.
Dinner finished, the long walk back through the maze of laneways and bridges to find the bus terminal was a challenge. Thanks so much for mobile telephony and Google Maps!
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