sailing

Venice to Bari

We really hit the ground running when we arrived in Venice, which is easier to do when you’ve been able to catch some Z's on the plane, and we've covered a LOT of ground on foot over the last couple of days. Today there was just a little more shopping time before we bid farewell to the delights of Venice. Did I mention that we were in Venice for the Black Friday sales? We don't have this sale in Australia but apparently it's big in the States and is spreading around Europe too. It celebrates the first shopping day after Thanksgiving and marks the start of the Christmas shopping time. I am very happy about this sale to the tune of a gorgeous leather back pack, thank you America for this shopping trend!

Today we packed up our happy in our old kit bags and smiled our way to the Alilaguana, the boat that was to take us to the port and our home for the next seven days - the Costa Luminosa. 

It’s sad to leave and at the same time the idea of the next leg of our journey is very enticing, come along with us as we bid an evening arrivederci to Venice ...

I love cruising. I haven’t done a lot but what I have done has been enormously pleasurable. And we are not slumming it on this trip, not one bit. We have a suite right at the pointy end of the boat (ship, I am supposed to call it) with our own butler and all the trimmings. 

We also had priority boarding, it is really awesome being waved to the head of the queue – a very celebrity life style, about which I feel no guilt and from which I will squeeze every ounce of pleasure. 

No celeb treatment for the mandatory emergency procedure drill though. We arrived at our designated rally point, replete with life jacket fashion accessory, were lined up in orderly, extremely compact (no personal space required in evacuations) straight lines (which I'm sure is how it would go if this wasn't a drill) ... waited, waited, waited, drill, drill drill in Italian (then English). Officially educated in on-board safety we were dismissed to begin getting into holiday mode. MGM said we have access to a very swish restaurant, I thought how swish is swish?...

it's this swish

I won't post pics of all the meals (it would be too cruel to you dear reader) but I just have to share my first meal with you.

octopus and olives

grilled prawns

 Oreo creme

It was a long and happy day so then I kissed Michael and went to sleep ... for 12 hours!

... and then there was gelato

So this breakfast thing is kinda great, I made it to breakfast today (two days in a row is a PB for me) or maybe it's just breakfast in Italy where all food is amazing (it's the rule). 

Yesterday we saw Basilica San Marco which was the chapel for the Doge (chief politician) of Venice, we figured if that was his chapel his home must be worth seeing too. Plus I already had a ticket because I went to the museum with the library in it yesterday and the ticket got me into both places. So the Doge's palace was our first stop today, this is the entry way so we were expecting big things. 

yep pretty specky

we saw an exhibition called "treasures of the Mughals and Maharajas" which was mostly shiny sparkly things and very pleasurable to behold, the boys gave up on this pretty quick.

yesterday we saw this view of the Bridge of Sighs

today we were inside looking out.

The Bride of Sighs connects the interrogation rooms of the Doge's Palace to the New Prison (Prigioni Nuove). Criminals, or possibly just citizens would be tried and convicted by official in the Palace, sometimes pretty swiftly it seems, ans then be taken across this bridge to their incarceration/death. The stark contrast between the opulence of the palace and the austerity of the Bridge is like a smack in the face. My companions are looking out at the Grand Canal, as the condemned must have done, but you can't really see much.

The prison area is a maze and huge, lots of tiny cells but the cells and I imagine the conditions would have been unbearable. There is a gallery of prisoner graffiti which ranges from the pornographic to the poetic and the penmanship was so elegant, I wish I could have read what they were writing. Judging by the many portraits of women I'd guess they were writing farewells and dreaming of days spent with their loved ones, these crudely drawn portraits were so poignant to me. Whatever they'd done, if they were truly criminal of not these people were trying to hold on to their memories.

We headed to the Peggy Guggenheim Gallery, and changed our minds on the way there. We elected instead to meander. It seems like a very Venetian thing to wander all the little lanes, crossing quaint bridges and discovering what was around the next corner as you go - all part of the charm of Venice. 

 and then there was gelato 

for lunch

all.the.happiness

this is what the boys prefer to shopping, and Wendy & I are okay with that.

We'd walked about 8 kms by this time of the day, and so is was such a delight to sit in the gently rocking gondola as it glided quietly through the canals. It may be touristy (we do in fact fit that description) but it is also a lovely way to see the buildings you'd otherwise not get to see and the gondoliers are both knowledgeable and proud of their tradition. If you're visiting Venice and can afford it, don't be put off by the cliche - go for a ride in a gondola. I guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised.

and then there was a sucessful 5 o'clock staff meeting

15,000 steps in Venice

 The view from my window this morning

and here is the view from my breakfast table!

This is remarkable for two reasons, a) this is the only hotel that can boast such a view and 

b) I was at breakfast this morning. All who know me will be shocked by this event. Breakfast was delicious btw, I think  I might try to attend more of these events.

Walking was on our agenda today, my apple watch tells me my stats were 15,293 steps that's just over 10 km, colour me impressed. Sights seen: 

San Marco 

Bridge of Sighs

wonderful meandering canals and boat traffic

views from the Grand Canal upon which we journeyed via the Vaperetto

 more canals and pretty boats

 and Biblioteca Nazionale which, it turns out is not actually a library but an exhibit in the much larger Museo Correr which was interesting to see AND ticked the library box.

food consumed: apart from a full breakfast we had pizza (as you do when in Italy) which was massive and calzone, cannoli (again obligatory isn't it? we're only doing the needful), a delicious marshmallow with the rather alarming name of morbidoso (there's a hint in that name which i am choosing to ignore) 

and a sandwich (it was all we could manage at dinnertime). 

jet laggy post from Venice

the view from my window this morning

For Antipodeans it can be a 27 hour day to start a European holiday. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it, right? Don't worry Aussies, we've got you covered - we'll do the tough yards.

Well not really, here I am in my comfy business class cubicle - I feel really blessed to have the chance to travel this way. In front of me there is an enormous tv screen, to my left my own mini-bar and underneath there is an extremely comfy chair that lies flat. To this they even add a mattress when it's sleepy time, if you can believe that.

We started out in the Business class lounge at Kingsford Smith

and then travelled in three legs ...

Sydney to Bangkok, where we de-planed with the intent of visiting the Emirates Business lounge but it was a 2km round trip so we abandoned that idea and went for a shorter walk instead - it's very nice to move around a bit even if you are enjoying this luxurious flying style.

Bangkok to Dubai, where we de-planed to visit the Emirates lounge and were very glad we did, it is a sight to behold. 

Dubai to Venice where we were picked up and whisked away and deposited on the dock 

they don't look like they've been on the go for 27 hours do they?!

MGM booked a water taxi to take us to San Marco - excitement! I've never been on one.

We are staying in a hotel ideally situated right on San Marco aft piazza, and after all that travelling did we unpack our bags and lie down? no. no we did not! We went right out into the Venetian evening, to orient ourselves and search for food & wine ... which we found in abundance and the consuming of such led very quickly to food coma/jet lag crashing en masse. MGM and I could not even form coherent sentences. I knew in my head I was speaking gibberish but I could not correct myself - such a weird feeling. No, I know what you're thinking, but it is not at all like being drunk. When you're drunk you think being brilliantly insightful, I knew were talking nonsense but could not control it.

"yeah yeah" I hear you say "what's new about wendy talking nonsense" hehehe I assure you inside my own head I am always brilliantly charming.

three things

pre-trip, these things occurred to me ...

1. I will forget things, and I will not stress about it. I will buy what I forget and call them souvenirs

2. I pack for one week, not four.

3. my carry-on is my contingency, enough to get me through the first 24 hours if i get separated from my checked luggage

and these things only apply if the holiday is NOT to the wilderness.

packing the laptop

So I'm packing the laptop in a minute, I have time for one last post ... right?

Here's what we'll be doing in Iceland

Selfoss

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Reykjavik

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we'll be driving the Golden circle route

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Of course we'll be visiting the Blue Lagooon & I may even cast my swimsuit phobia aside and take the plunge, honestly how can I not? I am just wondering how I'm going to get all the other peeps to avert their eyes, not sure 'hey what's that over there?!' will work

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safe to say Iceland will be all about the outdoors.

and now my lovelies the laptop is going in the bag - see you soon.

Robert Burns knew a thing or two

Robert Burns knew what he was doing when he waxed lyrical about those best-laid schemes o' mice an' men going astray - although I prefer the original wording for going stray which is 'gang aft agley'. Isn't that just delightful? I invite you to join with me in reviving this back into common usage.

Gang aft agley have my plans for blogging gone ...

So as we leave tomorrow - in case you're wondering that noise you hear is my hastily packed luggage groaning at the seams - here in a nutshell is what we have planned after our lovely Italy/Greece/Croatia cruise. 

We head north to Madonna di Campiglio where we will hopefully be staying in snowy loveliness in this amazing looking hotel called Chalet del Sogno

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Our stay here will happily coincide with the opening week of their Christmas markets in Piazza Sissi - oh happy days. We will be enjoying this vista for four nights and then parting ways with our travel buddies, Wendy and Tony, and venturing off alone to the next stop in the iTour - Ireland.

I have had a love affair with castles since I was a dreamy adolescent reading Mary Stewart, Dorothy Dunnett and  Sharon Pennman so I am wildly overexcited by the prospect of our Ireland tour where we will see all the castles, AND get to sleep right in a castle (or two). We'll be doing a big loop from Dublin around the south of Ireland and then back to Dublin, stopping at 

Kiliney

Fitzpatrick Castle (we're staying in this one!)

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Waterford

Waterford Castle (and this one!) hope it is covered in snow

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Cork

Blackrock Castle

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Killarney 

this is a scenery break for MGM who will be castled out by day 4.

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Limmerick

then we're right back to castles, this is King John's Castle 

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Galway 

Ballynahinch Castle (we're staying here, just look at that view!)

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Dublin

Malahide castle

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We probably won't actually see all these castles, poor MGM does have an acknowledged (and tested) castle-viewing limit but aren't they all wonderfully majestic *sigh*