Sunday 4 September 2016

What's with the ceilings?...

Hello my friends...I am catching you up today with the second part of my trip to Venice...

....it's all about the art with these Venetians....how do they keep these things looking good as new in all the heat and salt air...

...the art of the frozen espresso!...we don't know what this was called but it was delicious ....

ahem...well might you avert your eyes young man....

"Excuse me!...Have you dropped your ice cream?...."

....we visited a Japanese tea garden on the island....in the rain! ....

...and then a funny thing happened on the way to the forum....BOL...

.....there were lots of trips on the vaporetto...its really the only way to get around.....

...and plenty of stops for gelato...for medical reasons, obviously...it was HOT...

...we had an interesting visit to the Jewish ghetto.....

...and we finally found a good way to view the fancy ceilings in all of the churches....no looking at my butt please...mirror, mirror on the wall who has the fairest b...well enough of that

...have I mentioned the churches?...

...one day we decided to get out of Venice and visit the islands around the lagoon...

.....its quite a long journey so we had a few breaks when we changed ferries...catching up on local news here...

...another ferry...

...but there were a few compensations along the way...

...and plenty to see...

....furry colourful villages...

...churches.....of course...

....but every good holiday must come to an end and our week in Venice was over in a flash...we will miss our breakfasts by the lagoon....


...and our lovely hotel with its friendly staff.....

...*sigh*....farewell Venice...

Friday 2 September 2016

Walk like a Venetian...

Hello my very patient friends and readers....I am back after my summer blog-break and here with fresh stories of my travels...

...Miss Lola could sense something was afoot and tried to get herself into a strategic position to join our party.....

....thanks to all the points we have collected on our travels this year we were able to start our journey in the style to which I have become accustomed....can you guess where I am?...yes, its the Eurostar terminal.....

...before you know it you are in Paris....ahem...someone might have attended to my fur before we left...what will Europe think...and straight after Brexit too...BOL

....we had a bit of a wait in Paris for our next train...so we stopped for an ice cream and a cup of tea in the Gare du Lyon....

...before boarding our sleeper train to Venice!!....here is the bathroom in our cabin...ok for me...but I am not sure how the typist is going to fit in here....

....a furry comfortable experience...once we figured out where to put that ladder!.......

....and as the sun went down over France and the train picked up speed, we settled down for a most relaxing night's sleep....

...typist and I went for breakfast in the morning....meagre fare I must say....but we were only an hour or two from Venice by then so we did not mind really....

....this is Verona station....we are Two Gentlefurs of Verona...! BOL...sorry about the dirty window..it rained hard overnight we were told....

.....and there was much excitement as we approached Venice over the bridge from the mainland......

...and before we knew it we were off the train and into our water taxi on the Grand Canal...step on it James!

...now THAT'S more like it....

...our hotel was straight across the Canal from St Mark's so we washed ourselves down and headed straight out into town...we shall not mention a certain incident where a certain member of the party fell out of a bag onto a street and was almost lost on day 1...no no...we shall not mention that...

....we stopped for an obligatory shot of the gondolas on the canals...

...and we walked and walked and looked at all the beautiful buildings...Venice really is a marvel...this is the Theatre...for one night only!!...

...our hotel was most comfortable I must say...

...and everyone knows I like a big pool....jolly hot today...well in to the 90s....

...ad a magic TV which came up out of the bed!....
...and beautiful gardens...with our own little duckling called Cips who came to greet everyone (much to the consternation of his mum) and a rabbit who hopped around on the lawn...

...we enjoyed our early morning breakfasts the most...siting in the gentle sun by the canal....cappucino perfectly made...

...and a chance to catch up on events in the world...

....before hopping on to the Vaporetto (water bus to you and me) at our local stop...

....a great deal of walking...art galleries and churches and lots of views to take in.....

....and best of all the wonderful cafes for lunch...we ate with the barrow boys and gondolieri as they seemed to know where all the best fish was to be found....

...Churches...the one cool place in the whole city...phew!

...and in the afternoon back to the pool for some R&R...

...which plays havoc with the fur...how does a dog keep his frizz at bay in this heat?....

...that's better...

....I visited his palace...but the Doges was not at home....


....one paw in the wrong place and you could end up in the slammer...they did appear to have a penchant for locking people up and throwing away the key...typist beware!

.....bit gaudy if you ask me...


...but the views are amazing...

...a furry tiring first day in the Serenissima....what a CITY!...


...I shall pop back with more from Venice very soon my pals...but I think that's enough for now...you'll be as tired as we were...!