BACK TO 13/08/07 The Magic of Venice

On Monday the 13th of August we arrived in Venice after a long, hot journey on an unairconditioned train. But do not fear, Gelati is here to cool us down. And believe it or not there is a breeze off the canals. Our hotel was only around the corner from the train station so not too far to go with our packs! And we had a lovely little room with a balcony and free alarm clock every morning (the bells pealing from the church just across the canal around 7am).

On day 1 we caught a vaporetto down the Grand Canal (read boat/bus jam packed with hot sweaty tourists), sitting in the best spot out the back. We took lots and lots of photos and arrived at the Piazza San Marco with not a spare spot on the camera´s memory card.
Two disadvantages of travelling in August are that

A: the Italians all go on holidays too so many places are closed and

B: many buildings are covered with scaffolding and drapes whilst they undergo restorations

Hence the imperfections on the photo of The Basilica of Saint Mark. The queues were huge so we booked into a walking tour of Venice which included fast entry into this amazing church. Inside the walls and roof are covered with stunning mosiacs (lots of gold). Perhaps the most beautiful church Jane´s seen so far.

We resisted the temptation to do a Gondola ride due to the expense. Walking through the tiny alleys and catching numerous vaporetti was enough romance for us (plus we saved the money for future romantic adventures).

On Wednesday we visited the island of Murano where all the glass factory`s are. We watched a man blow a glass horse in about 2 mins! Ate lunch in a wonderful Trattoria whilst being serenaded. And Jane only bought 3 pairs of bead earrings! Good work Greg on restraining her. Its not only magpies that are attracted to colourful shining objects.

Overall we really enjoyed Venice and its unique canals however we were shocked at how expensive everything is. Our walking tour guide said the supermarkets add an extra 30 euro cents to all products in Venice. 300,000 Euros will buy you a tiny apartment which then ahve to renovate because its so old. And that`s a nightmare in itself because everything has to moved in by boat and there are no lifts.
12 million tourists visit Venice every year. There are 55,000 people who live here permanently and two thirds of those are over the age of 65. This tends to indicate Venice is a dying city. Its too expensive for young people to live here and with so many tourist around, its not somewhere to bring up a family.

We feel privileged to see this amazing and unique city whilst its still functioning and it will certainly be a tourist attraction for many generations to come.
We randomly found this chip (crisp if you`re English or Jane`s Mum) whilst sitting, drinking an aperitive in a piazza in the Jewish Ghetto of Venice.

BACK TO 9/08/07 A Wedding in Norway

On the 9th of August (yes, sorry it has been a while - we`ve been busy on holidays) we woke up at 4 am to take the plane to Oslo in Norway. One of Jane`s friends from college was to be married to a Norwegian girl. Despite the early start we enjoyed the hens and bucks parties that night. The boys went swimming in the local water supply, jumping off a 7m cliff into the water. Then they took the ferry to Sweden and came back after a 15 minute stop over (apparently what happens in Sweden stays in Sweden). The girls ate lots of prawns and played silly games long into the night.
The wedding ceremony was held at 1pm Saturday afternoon followed by drinks at the local soccer club, reception at a wonderful steak restaurant and finally, coffee, cake and dancing back at the soccer club. A great time was had by all.

Although we didn`t see a lot of Norway due to lack of transport we had a lovely catch up with a group of the Hildas people and met the newly wed`s beautiful baby girl, Isobelle.

Winding up our stay in Southampton

We apologise for the lack of Blog's this month. We've been spending all our time at the internet cafe booking hotels, flights and train tickets for our big 11 week holiday. We have only 2 more days of work at the Southampton General Hospital! On Thursday we leave England but you'll just have to wait to find out what happens next!!

The week after the Altmann boys came to visit we had another brother to show around Southampton (and that took 5 minutes ). We showed Jono Netley Abbey and he taught us plenty of new tricks on our camera. He's been pestering us about missing tacos at our house so we had to satisfy his craving (and he needs fattening up). Jane still remembers the days he ate 12 tacos all by himself. On Sunday we took Jono to the Purbeck Penisula. Despite the beauty of the area, now we know why Australia is known for its beaches and England is not. Sorry England.

Last weekend we decided to spend some time relaxing with the family. Charmian and Lovatt put us up at their gorgeous 600 year old cottage. We went to a neighbours art/photo exhibition held in their barn and ate a picnic in their field. On Sunday they took us to the best fish and chip shop in the UK. Situated right beside the nuclear power station. Don't worry, these fish didn't have 3 eyes.
Now its all go for packing up our little flat and squeezing into 2 hiking packs and a couple of boxes to leave in the car.