Venice

Last weekend was a bank holiday weekend, and we had planned to go to Cardiff until a pesky Rugby Final got in our way (and the fans booked all of the hotel rooms...). Instead, we were lucky enough to be able to use our (ok, Sarah's) frequent flyer points and hotel points to have a lovely romantic weekend in Venice.

We flew in first thing on Sunday and figured that the only way to enter a water city like that was by sea. Fortunately Venice is serviced by water buses from the airport, so we climbed aboard and began the long meandering trip to St Marks Square. The main part of Venice is in the middle of a lagoon, and we spent a good half hour stopping off at other nearby islands before the bus finally deposited us - not an option for those in a hurry (the sleek water taxis sped past), but definitely more interesting.

Arriving at the waterbus stop in St Marks Square, the first thing you notice is the beautiful old buildings, very quickly followed by the fact that this is a tourist mecca. Crowds and people selling Venetian masks abound, and when you get a bit closer to the Palace of the Doge (Duke) and St Mark's Church, you can really see why. They are a real testament to how wealthy and powerful Venice must once have been.

First view of Venice - note the Gondolas and the crowds

We soon tired of the crowds and headed off to explore the alleyways and by-ways, crossing some of the hundreds of little bridges (and occasionally the big ones). Unfortunately about mid-afternoon the rain rolled in, but we escaped it by heading into the Galleria dell'Accademia di Venezia, an art museum which had some fascinating works.

Sarah amongst the back streets

One of the many beautiful buildings we stumbled across

By this stage we had been on the go since 5am, so it was time to go back to the hotel to refresh. The Hilton was an old converted biscuit factory (the Stucky company) on the island of Giudecca, and from the 8th floor pool and bar there was a fantastic view back over Venice - a great panorama from the old buildings to the giant cruise ships.

The view from the Hotel roof

Some of the neighbouring islands looked like cities looming out of the ocean - no wasted land, just buildings

After freshening up we headed back in for dinner, but to work up an appetite we took a gondola ride around the city. Our gondolier didn't sing, but he did show us a whole new view of the city and piloted his way with a great deal of skill. It was incredible to see how close he came to crashing, but he was always in control - even when it seemed that the boat was too long for the gaps.

Gondoliering - the whole time in the city we were half expecting something to happen from out of a movie, like a high-speed boat chase - but it wasn't to be...

Monday we took in some of the more touristy sites - first the Doge's palace, which was imposing and fascinating, and featuring some truly massive halls, while almost all the walls were covered with paintings of religion and war. Other highlights were the map room (fascinating to see how they viewed the world) and the Bridge of Sighs, where prisoners would get their final glimpse of the outside world before being thrust into the jail on the neighbouring island.

The courtyard in the Doge's palace

Next up was the Cathedral in St Marks Square, which is covered in glittering gilt mosaics both inside and out. It is different again to any cathedral we've seen - it is fantastic the way that whenever you think you're cathedraled out, along comes another one that amazes you.

The Cathedral in St Marks Square

We whiled away the rest of the day in the back streets and glass shops, admiring the beautiful work but a bit taken aback at the prices. We got away from the tourists, too, which meant that the food was better, and at half the price - can't complain about that...

Squid-ink pasta...a yummy Venetian delicacy

One of the back 'streets'

Some beautiful glass

But all too soon we were back on the bus and back to London, where it had rained all weekend and was still raining...it felt like if it kept it up we'd soon have to learn a lesson from the Venetians, where all of the ambulances and delivery drivers drove boats, and the petrol stations were designed for boats not cars...