Venice

Oops you did it again...Trenitalia! Our train was close to 30 minutes late which meant we missed our connecting train to Venice. We were given a pass to board the next train to Venice but was given vague instructions to ask someone on the train for seats. The first conductor was not overfully helpful. He waved us to a carriage and told us to find a free seat which we did, only to be displaced by passengers at the next stop. After much stress, a very kind second conductor took us and our suitcases to a private compartment! To our delight apparently it included free drinks and snacks. Yes! The remaining 2 hours of our journey to Venice was rather pleasant.

We're on the way to Venice!

Our private compartment!

The rest of the "plebs" in business class

We chose a hotel close to the station as we were here only for a brief stop to watch the girls perform. As soon as we dropped off our bags, we set off to find lunch. Somehow we ended up at a place which served fancy food. Perhaps we should have clued on to it when the waiter was able to converse in excellent English. I'm not sure what I ordered but it was tasty enough.

I'm still not quite sure what I ate

Fish of the day

Our aim for our day before the concert at 7pm was to avoid the large crowds. I was certain a cruise ship (or two) were in town. Some areas were absolutely packed. We wandered around Cannareggio, took some obligatory photos at the Rialto bridge and continued on bypassing St Marks Square for the quieter Campo San Stefano. It was hot and we needed our relaxation fix at a Piazza. We parked ourselves at Gelateria Paolin and whiled away a couple of hours. Next up was exploring Dorsoduro before heading back to Campo San Moisè for the mass and the performance after the mass. Having eaten for most of the day and also a free mini bar back at the hotel, we bought ourselves a pizza slice for 2 euro for consumption back in our hotel room.

Thank you Venice for a short but sweet visit. Until next time!

Guess where we are!

We found a square with no one in it!

Checking out the Scala Contarini del Bovolo near Campo Manin

Campo Santo Stefano

Gelateria Paolin

One has to have caffe while in Italy...

Sweet sweet melon with delicious prosciutto

I'm sure there was an art show of sorts which would explain the giant golden phallus

As with all Italian cities, it was easy to chance upon beautiful churches

Including the one the girls performed at - San Moise

Performance after the mass