Thursday 15th November 2007

Venice was gorgeous. We caught the No. 16 (boat) and arrived in Venice in the way that you should – by sea. It was cold but bright, which allowed us to see the city at its best. Venice is busy at all times of the year and this was no exception. St. Mark's Square was heaving and the restoration work on the pillars in front of Ducal Palace rather spoiled the view. The Rialto bridge, although crowded, looked as graceful as ever from a distance and the boats and gondolas added to the picture. As soon as we got away from the main tourist trails, we were in amongst the locals and out of the crowds. Venice was as intriguing as ever with its mixture of run-down buildings, magnificent churches and beautiful palazzos and piazzas. It really is a city to wander around and we never tire of doing so – we had seen all of the major sites on our last visit, so we just enjoyed wandering.
We have been having many problems using the Barclays Travel Money card over the last few months and now our debit card was being rejected. Running low on cash, it was time to ring Barclays! The debit card was not a problem and was actually quite encouraging. They had spotted that we were using it abroad and not at home and wanted to check that it was us using it. We had also used it in Hungary and there has been incidents of fraud in that country. After Jane had convinced them that she was the genuine Jane, all was well. The Travel Money Card was much more frustrating with a very long phone call with lots of time on hold. Despite the fact that the card was being continually rejected even for small amounts, Barclays insisted that there wasn't a problem with it. Surprise, surprise, when we tried it later it worked, so they obviously did something to solve the problem even if they didn't tell us. This is not how we wanted to spend time in Venice, but it had to be done.
After fitting in a few minutes on the Internet, it was time to catch the last No. 16 back at the rather early time of 18:30. It was lovely to watch the lights of Venice fading as the boat sped across the water to Fusina. The crew were obviously keen to finish their day's work as the journey back only took 13 minutes compared to 20 minutes on the way out!
Photos: Fusina Campsite with the industrial area next door; Arriving in Venice by sea; Venetian ambulance speeding down a canal with blue lights flashing and sirens sounding; Rialto Bridge; Frustrating phone call to Barclays – the warning triangle sign on the door reads "It is prayed not to be based here" - we hope that we obeyed!; Venice looks completely different at night.