1982
Lido di Jesolo
My first visit to Venice, on an organised trip from Lido, and it poured!
First thing we did was buy plastic macs. Obviously this prejudiced my
feelings about the City but it was obviously beautiful but bloody wet!
(I know Venice is supposed to have a lot of water but not from above
when I'm there!)
2004 Saga Rose.
Did our 7 laps around the deck before docking (not until 11am). It was
misty but the approach was lovely past St. Mark's Square. Went in on
the free shuttle bus to the bus station and then had about an hour's
walk to St. Mark's Square. Mind you, it probably took that long because
a lot of the shops had Carnival Masks which Edna loves! As we were footsore
we decided to get the free Saga boat back but couldn't find any sign
of anything Saga so plodded back to the bus! Got back on board and
heard the dreadful news that Ken Bigley (a British business man who
had been held prisoner for 3 weeks) had been beheaded in Iraq.
Overnight in Venice and the entertainment was "The Singing Gondoliers".
Pretty good, Neapolitan songs etc. (of course).
Venice 2004
Day two and we had booked a trip to the lagoons.
It was very foggy and for the first 30 minutes we couldn't see much.
We had an hour on Burano (famous for it's lace) and we were a bit miffed
that we didn't go to Murano (glass) but Burano was charming. The houses
are painted with different bright colours, legend says that this is
to facilitate the finding of ones house when coming home drunk!
 
Back on the launch by 11.30 (not a long trip)
and back to the Rose for lunch. Caught the shuttle boat back into Venice
as Edna craved postcards or a calendar of Venetian Carnival masks etc.
St. Mark's Square, nothing. So, to Rialto Bridge where there are shops
and stalls galore.
 
Carnival masks shop windows
Bought a calendar and a couple of tea towels
(the calendar for Edna and the tea towels, probably, for me!). Had to
rush to get the boat back to the Rose, just made it.
2014 Saga Sapphire.
We didn't get up for the special champagne breakfast to signal our arrival
(06.45), we could see everything through our window and we don't do
06.45! One of the stitches on my forehead (see Ameria page) was sticking
out so went to the Medical Centre first (they were coming out tomorrow
anyway) to have them removed. Shuttle bus into Venice. Walked to St.
Mark's and then to the Rialto (looking in the shops of course). We had
both worn too many clothes and so got very hot and, being Easter Sunday,
the place was crowded and the queues for everything were LONG so we
made our way back to the shuttle boat.
2023 Spirit of Adventure
To be honest, as we can't now dock in Venice and
have to dock at Maghera (a bit of a journey), I stayed on board. I'd
seen the main places that I wanted to see before and, without Edna to
admire the masks, it seemed a bit flat.
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