First Impressions of Venice

Today was predictably stressful. Lucy woke early (6.30am as I had guessed the night before) and we didn't eat breakfast until 8am. The hall was packed with all the Germans leaving, we had discovered there was a dental implants conference one - presumably starting at 9am.

Walking back towards the train station along the hottest road in Italy, we found a more straightforward route that avoided the bus terminal. The train was regional, so stopped less and had nicer seats. We even put our bags in the luggage rack by the door, although Dad made Lucy keep an eye on it because she was facing the right way. Dad had warned us that navigating Venice on foot was going to be a mission and he wasn't wrong.

The entrance seemed bleak - an industrial-looking bay. From the train station out (a Polish man lifted my bag for me) there were thousands of tourists and general hagglers. We started over the first bridge and soon found every bridge had steps. Yay for my backpack! Everyone else had to heave their suitcases. Walking in a straight line was impossible. Every narrow stone alley abruptly ended or twisted into small squares containing churches or statues. It seemed we turned left at every corner, so we should surely be going in circles, but we still approached a new square at every turn.

Eventually, we realised there were painted arrows leading to Rialto Bridge. Some arrows had been spray painted incorrectly but we eventually got there with aching legs. People once again swarmed around us. Dad's iPhone pointed us in a slightly incorrect direction, so we ended up lost in a square without a map.

Addresses are just numbers, so I ran around looking for 5762. That was a kitchen down a dark alley. A neighbouring hotel's receptionist pointed out I had the wrong suburb and that he had never heard of Hotel Bruno, our accommodation. Walking back, I made Mum buy a map from one of the many vendors. Trying a different direction we soon spied Bruno down a 'road'/alley. Sweet relief.

The door to our hotel

The receptionist called Igor was very calming and offered us orange juice. Our apartment was through a big green door, by shops, restaurants and a supermarket (in a weird old building). It is very homely with some attempts at luxury - there are Venetian glass mirrors and chandeliers. Mostly it feels like a bach.

Hotel Bruno

The wifi is good, I looked up a fresh pasta to-go place on TripAdvisor around the corner. We found it and the queue was right down the alley. One the corner was a dirty pub with E3 three course meals. The meal was okay, better than some, but they sprung all these extra charges on us so it didn't end up cheap. After some relaxing, we attempted San Marco square.

This was insane, 1000s of tourists getting in each other's photos, barely space 2 metres across in the whole massive place. We also walked to where our tour leaves tomorrow and saw the 'crying bridge' where medieval prisoners saw the last glimpse of the outside world before execution. The heat was thick and heavy, the tourists everywhere, we escaped home to our quiet, cool apartment. Dinner was a trip to the supermarket for prosciutto, olives, cheese, bread and two frozen pizzas which were amazingly fresh and delicious.

Venice is an insane place. I feel like I've seen it before on screen so it can't surprise me like Verona. It seems like equally a glimpse into the past and a rich culture, to a future with global warming, over-population and cheap commercialisation. The buildings crumble and men try to sell cheap plastic toys on every corner. More English is spoken than Italian.