E15: Venice in a day! 30th April

We took the train from Treviso into Venice, amazing value at £4.75 return each.  Note if you travel on the train in Italy you MUST get your ticket ‘validated’ before boarding (small green machine on the platform for self validation) or you risk being fined…… we did not know this until the return journey but were OK!

 

Upon exiting the station this is the first view you will have….(it is a further kilometre to San Marco)

The Campanile Tower began life as a lighthouse in the 9th century, was extensively modified in the 16th century and in 1902 collapsed completely and was reconstructed by 1912 in it’s original form (remarkably only the caretakers cat was killed!)

Basillica di San Marco.  This building is quite stunning inside and out with exquisite mosaics covering almost every square inch!

Church of San Giorgio Maggiore across the water….

Gondola Gridlock (a regular occurrence for the passengers willing to hire a Gondola for €80 for 30 minutes!)

In-between all this architectural feast Grahame relaxed with a little bit of designer window shopping retail therapy……. “hmm? the yellow one or the blue one?"

Of course he would need matching gloves! but which pair??

There’s a lot of water in Venice….

and bridges to cross the canals….

and boats of all shapes and sizes everywhere….

How about this for a staircase…. The Scala Contarini del Bovolo

Once you leave the main centre of Venice the architecture is less ornate, but we found it very charming….

Note that almost EVERYTHING in Venice comes at a price….. do NOT go there with a weak or full bladder or it will COST you !!

Finally on our way back to the van from Treviso railway station we saw this little Beaver in the city moat…. 

So, there we are…… Venice in a day ( all for £11.66)…..whilst we took a picnic and Grahame gave in to the ice cream demon it would have been even cheaper if Kate could have kept nature’s call at bay! (for only 8 hours…LOL)

Next stop….Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomites, hopefully less foggy than the other day….

Ciao ciao….