It was with some trepidation that I made my way through the airport. I was unsure of where I needed to go to catch the right vaporetto and was conscious of my tight deadline to arrive at my apartment within the check in deadline. Following google maps and leaving baggage reclaim I made my way to the jetty, unfortunately it seemed my app was not all knowing, as I had so far suspected, and had sent me in the wrong direction. A brief but stilted conversation with a local soon had me set on the right path and I managed to find my boat just before it was ready to leave. The journey took a little over an hour and lent an incredible view of the sun setting behind the Venetian skyline. Disembarking at Arsenale I followed the directions sent to me by the staff at my accommodation. Arriving at the meeting point and calling my host it appeared I was 15 minutes late and would incur the out of hours check in fee. This, plus the cleaning fee and the cost of the vaporetto meant I was down €90 after just 10 minutes of being in the city!
After a quick trip to the supermarket I arrived back at the apartment and started to make myself at home and trying figure out what and how I was going to cook for meals with the one and only pan supplied. I soon realised that this wasn't in fact the apartment that I had booked, the one major difference being that there was no garden terrace. I wrote an email to the office explaining my confusion and settled in for the evening with my 'one pot' pasta dish and my Venice travel guide.
The next morning I awoke to rain, lots and lots of rain! Trying to not let it dampen (haha) my spirits I got ready to go and explore some of the sights I had picked out the night before. Walking along parallel with the lagoon I made my way towards St Marks Square stopping to take photographs of The Bridge of Sighs and Doges Palace on the way. Once I was at the square I took some shelter under the canopy of the palace to plan my next stop. I chose to meander the narrow streets until I reached the Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge. After a few hours of mooching about and taking disappointing photographs due to the grey skies I had had enough of getting beaten by the wind and soaked by the torrential downpour so made my way back to the apartment to dry out and warm up. Crossing my fingers as I checked the weather forecast I was happy to find that the next day was supposed to be brighter and taking a gamble that the weathermen had got it right I booked a bot trip to the islands of Murano and Burano to watch the glass blowing and lace making.
Waking up to beautiful blue skies and sunshine the next day out a renewed spring in my step and I quickly made myself a breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon pieces. Without thinking I went to take my eggs off the heat as they were sticking to my only pan and stupidly put my arm across the steam billowing from the kettle. Rewarding myself with a rather large and angry looking burn in the inside of my wrist. Finally grateful for the ridiculous amount of pharmacies Europe has to offer I popped along to the one in my street for some cooking gel before making my way to the meeting point for my trip.
Arriving at Murano we were taken into a glass factory for a demonstration of how they make a vase and then a little cat figurine. We were then given time to wander around the island on our own and take in the pretty little village selling many glass wears from earrings to massive sculptures. Back on board the boat we headed for Burano where we learnt that there are only 7 women left who make Burano lace, each one specialising in a specific stitch. It can take up to 6 months to finish a piece as small as a side plate and therefore Burano lace is very expensive. However, there was more lace things you could buy at a cheaper rate. These being titled lace from Burano and they are made differently without the traditional methods. We were then given free time to walk around in the village and take in the houses in all their many colours. Painted this way from hundreds of years ago for the fisherman to be able to see their house on their return from sea. After a long day in the sun we were thankful to be back on the boat and heading back to Venice. Taking in a rather beautiful sunset over the lagoon and getting some amazing photographs.
As the sun was present again the following morning I decided to retrace some of my steps from my first day and possibly get some better pictures. Unfortunately the only problem with the sun being out is the flocks of tourists that arrive with it and block every decent photograph you must manage to get. I had read online that the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, a historical building located on the Grand Canal, had been recently renovated into a department store and offered free panoramas over the city from their viewing platform. On finding the building I was informed that the next viewing wasn't for another 45 minutes so I took my disc to allow me entry and went back out to wander around the shops until my viewing time. The platform offered some exceptional views over the Canal and the entire city and I was extremely thankful for the beautiful weather. That evening I decided to eat out as it was my last night, choosing a restaurant at the end of my street and settling down with my kindle and mushroom tagliatelle. Then it was back to the apartment to pack up and tidy before moving in the next day. Unluckily for me the next day was host to the annual Venice marathon and due to the runners coming across the bridge from the mainland the road had been shut and therefore my bus stop had been relocated to the mainland. Realising I was now going to need to walk for nearly an hour to the train station to get the train so I could catch my bus I cancelled my ticket and booked the train for the entire journey. The hour walk carrying my 11kg backpack was anything but fun and I arrived at the station in plenty of time for a sit down with a croissant and latte relieving myself of my heavy burden. Luckily for me the train journey to Verona was in 1st Class!!