Merry Christmas to you all! I'm publishing this post out of order, ahead of the rest for once... because I want to wish a festive greeting to you all. That, and because I'm in no mood to edit the SLR pictures whilst I'm on the go like this, so you'll just have to wait a bit longer.
At this point, we've been through London, Barcelona (Spain) and Rome (Italy), with lovely things to admire about each place. For the moment, I have to say that Venice is my favourite, with London just an inch behind.
We have one more day in Venice tomorrow, flying out to Paris on the 27th. Can't wait for our Parisian adventure too!
Anyways, enjoy this posting (with mostly iPhone5 pixs). Stay safe, cheery and happy!
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O Christmas Day
What did you expect? I really can't come up with a better title, so be grateful =P
The 10 hour time difference between Italy and Sydney meant that I was able to chat and Skype away to my earlybird friends back home, who woke up before 10am on this festive day (why do you not sleep in?) to be badgered by a flurry of calls and texts from me as I lay in bed. 'Twas 1am before I was sleepy enough to put my phone down and knock myself out.
9.30am: seated in the breakfast room, munching away on an assortment of croissants, cereal, hardboiled eggs, pannetone (Christmas fruit cake), biscuits, jams and honey, washed down with milk, water or hot tea (each to their own preference).
10.30am: we three [royalty figures, not all male] were back in our room, with the [not male royalty] jumping straight back into bed.
(Comic voice): seriously guys, it's Christmas, it's holidays... and you want to sleep? Fair enough... each to their own, I guess.
Looking up the ACTV (Venice's public transport) website, I downloaded the amended Christmas timetables, and set off alone to explore Lido. This long island to the southeast of Venice isn't explored as much, but if you're thinking of getting a cheap place to stay that's a little bit quiet, a little bit private... then this is for you. A 20 minute boat from San Marco ( S. Zaccaria) port takes you to the Lido (Santa Maria Elisabetta) stop, and to the Venice beach area.
The travelling in Venice isn't too bad: for the prepared, go look up the ACTV website and download the route map for the vaporetto (the public waterbuses). For the unprepared, cough up €3 when you get to a ticket counter (I did at the 'Ferrovia'/Santa Lucia station stop) for an excellent map that shows you (in detail) the various alleyways and lanes of Venice and each of the surrounding islands, summary of the good museums, and most importantly the ferry map. The best €3 you will spend here - better than the food (can't eat if you can't find the place)!
The transport here is a unlimited bus-vaporetto combo pass that is time-based, and prices have gone up compared to the Rick Steve's guide I've been following: €7 for a 1-hour pass, €18 for 12-hours, €20 for 24-hours, €25 for 36-hours, etc. Knowing tomorrow we're going to have to catch a boat over to Murano/Burano, I forked out for a 36-hour pass - covers for my hop to Lido and back, and for the three legs for tomorrow - and I've already saved a bit for not having to pay for 5 individual legs :)
If you didn't plans things out in full, don't worry. Start with a 1-hour pass, then reload it when you become more certain of your travel needs. Remember that it's €7 a journey, so 3+ trips should already start saving you money. Just tap your iMob (their name for the Oyster/Octopus/myki) ticket and select the new ticket required, and cough up your dough. Oh, and don't forget to tap on everytime you board the pier to validate your journey!
So 20 minutes, and many nice pictures later, I was in Lido. Forgoing the full (and, as it turns out, the last morning service bus), I strolled down the main road and enjoying the lovely quaint buildings, the peace and serenity of a out-of-the-bustle location. 30 minutes later, I was a quarter of the way down the island and getting tired, so stopped at a bus shelter... only to have a local pop up a minute later and tell me there will be no more buses. Bugger.
*whips out iPhone to look at the amended Xmas timetables...*
Oops. Pity my poor Italian:
Lame! So I called it quits: there would be no buses running back up to the pier either, so I walked from Lido's west side to the beachy east side... only to discover... what beach?!
Either they're still recovering from the floods and the beaches were wrecked, or I didn't go to the place... but all I saw were beach cabins everywhere, and dredged up sand along the shoreline. Oh well... back to the pier now.
Tea time: coming up to 2pm, and I was getting hungry and tired from all the walking. Despite most places being closed on Christmas Day, this lovely pasticceria (pastry shop) is a MUST if you're out the Lido way. From the S.M.E. stop, walk along the Via S.M.E. for two minutes, with Al Canton del Gallo to be found on the right side of the road.
I spent 40 minutes in here: not just enjoying the lovely chocolate profiterole and this unknown creamy-jelly-filled cake of sugary goodness, but sipped away at a coffee whilst talking to the Muslim couple sitting next to me. I'll skip the details, but the couple (early 40's, I'll guess) were enjoying a few days off alone together in Venice. We talked about some Islamic views, and discussed travels of Continential Europe. After talking about travelling to Paris, he invited us to come over to Brussels (only a 1.5hr train ride away) and offered to show us around! Anyways, things finally wrapped up... and he paid for my meal whilst paying for his, and refusing to hear any more about repayment. I will keep this act of charity in mind for the future - and it is nice to see there are others in the world who have open hearts and open minds.
After tea, I chose to cut my explorations short and head home directly, rather than catching a boat to Venice north. Although there promises to be more hidden gems in and amongst the alleyways, I was getting a bit tired myself.
Heading home and touching base with the girls, I headed out again three bags full... of laundry! I'm such a domesticated male.
Actually, I walked passed the lavanderia as explored the alleyways near our hotel, and decided to get my laundry done whilst the girls were procrastinating the day away. Two hours and €13 (€2 for the detergent, €6 for the wash and €5 for 20minutes in the dryer) later, I emerged with three bags of still slightly damp laundry and made my way back home.
Well, that's been my Christmas! Tonight's dinner was a slight disappointment for me: our receptionist suggested the Rosso Pomodoro (the Red Tomato, literally) for its good pasta - unfortunately most of those dishes contain pork in one form or another. So I settled on this Chicken dish, which was quite tasty, but inconsistent: some pieces were dry, others succulent. For €13.50 (plus a €3 service charge), I wouldn't be recommending this place to others :(
Compliments were paid to my friend's dish: she quite enjoyed her proscuitto pasta!
And to celebrate, we popped the cork off a complimentary bottle of prosecco (white wine) and laid back, a small cup of wine and enjoying movies off my iPad!
Buon Natale everyone!
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