Venice Day 1

Today we must have used every mode of transport available. We took a taxi to Brighton station for a train to Gatwick. The transfer between terminals was by mono-rail and obviously we flew to Marco Polo airport. The last leg was by motor boat which wiped out €90. Quite expensive compared to the public ferry at €12 but it was fast, comfortable and had a sliding roof so we could stand-up hen night style. It was a dull, overcast grey day which didn't put the floating city in a good light but it was the amount of crappy graffiti that tainted the view. However, the hotel didn't disappoint with our room overlooking a small square and a beautiful church opposite. I kind of expected some street scene ala Stella Artois advert. The shutters looked dark enough for our fussy pitch-black demanding eyes, the curtains were exactly the same pattern as the wallpaper and the hand towels were really posh dish towels – weird.

We got a little lost after exploring without a decent map but seeing the many, many wafer-thin streets, a web of canals and loads of bridges made up for it. Again, the place felt a bit tired, forgotten and run-down plus the sprayed on tagging got tedious after awhile. I just hope the rest of Italy is going to be more looked after. The Diesel clothes shops were rubbish as well with stuff straight out of a Kays catalogue. As the main designer label shops closed, the African dodgy dealers came out with their fake designer handbags.

St.Marks' Square was finally found and was swamped with tourists. I was hoping the time of the year would thin them though put it down to be a weekend as well. Spotted the emergency walkway tables in preparation for any flooding. Lots more walking discovers far too many mask and glassware shops for our liking and the famous Rialto Bridge was just a market stall with steps.

After what seemed hours walking around looking for a decent restaurant which wasn’t too touristy, too limited in choice, had too older clientele or just too bright removing the romance of it. We ended in a place close to the Rialto Bridge which was a mixture of all the above and was full of Brits. The food was quite good and the waiters cheeky and funny. Our view from the table was a hive of activity seeing ferries, gondolas and nearly all the emergency services in boat form. The British couple next to us were quite friendly and full of advice for tipping and haggling for gondolas bragging €20 for 30 minutes. It was their second time to the city (and restaurant) and had come back to get their prized glass ornament repaired they bought on their previous trip. The Bernard Matthews looka-like went on how extremely rare the blue glass and was so proud of it he showed us the printed photo he had in his pocket. We were expecting some kind of amazing, intricate piece of art but were presented with a blue anchor. Ahoy there matey!

We ended the evening with another long walk around the west side of the Grand Canal discovering the local university, a lot of interesting antique and art shops and a little less graffiti.