Mystical Venice

A landscape of black and white was our view from the train while traveling from Como to Venice – not snow, but fog and frost.  The sun was nowhere to be found during the 3.5hr trip – the stark trees, every plant and even blades of grass were covered in a thick frost.  It was a most eerie scene…

Once the train reached the final stage of the journey – the long bridge over the canal leading to Santa Lucia station (Venice) – it was incredibly exciting to see the remarkable and distinctive architecture of the city slowly becoming visible on the horizon.

Our little hotel was a gem – not only a great location this time, but stylish and very comfortable.  As we arrived at about 4pm, we quickly set off to explore all we could in the remaining light.  We weren’t far from the Rialto bridge and made use of the scene as the sun set.  San Marco was next on our photographers’ minds.  In retrospect, we were lucky we snapped some photos at this time as the next day (our one and only full day in the city) was a ‘white-out’.  I must admit, we have never been so cold!  Even Bruce wore his hoody!!

Personally, Venice was a place of great beauty as well as mystery to me.  Firstly, the city was shrouded in a heavy fog which lent itself to (my) fantastic imaginings of dark, dramatic characters from centuries past, hurrying through the narrow alleys on dangerous assignations.  We actually did see a character exactly like this hurrying past us… I narrated my imaginings to Bruce, who just gave me that look again!

Secondly, the city was equivalent to a giant stone maze in which we seemed to be going around in circles and were continually lost!!  The labrynth of winding narrow stone pathways with towering walls in all directions can be quite disorientating.

We felt for the poor gondoliers  who were doing it tough trying to get custom, as it was -4 degrees.  They would break out into song every now and then and this made us smile thinking of our friend Phil!  That’s Amore Phil!

For lovers of shoes and handbags…. Italy doesn’t disappoint.  It’s a paradise for the likes of Ana (I hear) and Maria D (I know!).  Patisseries are another highlight!

We happened to find George at last – speeding by on the Grande Canal as we strolled along San Marco!  With our camera always on hand, we were able to get this photo quickly!

I apologise to all as this is one of my silliest posts, but I put it down to homesickness as I was quite emotional yesterday thinking mainly of our wonderful kids at home.  Matty leaves for Denmark tomorrow for 7 months.  Bon voyage, arividerchi, good luck and be safe!  We miss you already.  Lisa is holidaying in Vietnam and Ben is being a terrific big brother and ensuring Matt leaves the country.  Thank you all for looking after our gorgeous Charlie too!