SATURDAY 23-6-18

We didn't sleep too well last night as we were awoken by some youngsters talking loudly at 03:00. The Chef said she'd heard them pulling their suitcases along not long before that which suggests they had actually been allowed on to the site at that time of day. In the end I had to close the bedroom skylight and run the fan to eliminate the noise and keep us cool.

We were to have been up fairly early in order to get in to Venice for our final day, but when it came to it we couldn't be bothered.

It was probably about 09:30 when we arrived 'in town'. This morning's walk from the bus terminal to St Mark's Square took the longest yet. Every day we seem to go a different way, and each takes longer than the last. The bonus today was that we got to look around the market near the Rialto Bridge.

On our arrival at the Square it was very busy indeed, busier than I'd expected, but having four cruise ships in port today probably explains it. There were tour groups everywhere following flags on sticks and raised umbrellas. I had intended to get a ticket and go to the top of the Campanile (Bell Tower) where apparently you get amazing views not just of Venice but all the way to the Alps. The Chef isn't crazy about heights and had no intension of joining me. In the end I decided not to bother as there was already a long queue. I could have kicked myself for not having gone straight up a couple of days ago when we were here early. Never mind. Next we made our way along the 'Prom' towards the Arsenale. Having read about it in the tour guides I didn't expect to get inside because it has restricted public access as it is now jointly owned by the city and the military, but at least there was a Naval Museum there which we could have a look around.

The Arsenale was founded in the 12th century and enlarged in the 14th to 16th centuries to become the greatest naval shipyard in the world. The world "arsenale" derives from the Arabic darsina'a, house of industry - which indeed it was.

At its height in the 16th century, a workforce of 16,000, the arsenalotti, were employed to construct, equip and repair the great Venetian galleys. One of the first production lines in Europe, it was like a city within a city, with its own workshops, warehouses, factories, foundries and docks. Surrounded by crenellated walls, the site today is largely abandoned.

During the Arsenale's heyday, a Venetian galley could be constructed and fully equipped with remarkable speed and efficiency. From the early 16th century the hulls which were built in the New Arsenal were towed past a series of buildings in the Old Arsenal to be equipped in turn with rigging, ammunition and food supplies. By 1570 the Arsenale was so fast it was capable of turning out an entire galley in 24 hours.

As we approached the entrance to the Arsenale I took a few pictures and then we walked along part of the perimeter before making our way to the Naval Museum. It was whilst in there that I spotted stewards and barriers erected outside in the Arsenale complex. On further investigation I discovered that in fact for this weekend between 10:00 - 19:00 it was open to the public. That was it - we were though an open door and out in to the complex.

Just to be wandering around such an historical complex was very interesting indeed. This would be similar historically to our former Naval Dockyard at Chatham in Kent, which is very interesting indeed, especially their rope making shed. When we visited there about three years ago they were filming scenes for 'Call The Midwife' among the old buildings.

As we made our way further round the complex there was a corporate event for Ferreti Yachts who are celebrating fifty years of building yachts for members of the Mafia, International drug dealers and global tax dodgers. This perhaps explained why it was open to the public as well. There's no point in berthing yachts to be viewed and purchased if prospective buyers have nobody to look down on or impress, so we were there to play our part for free.

All that walking around had made us hungry and so we stopped off at a restaurant for a pizza and beer for lunch, which was most enjoyable and as we were still in the Arsenale area, we were away from the madding crowds around St Mark's Square.

Then it was off to the Vaporetto station where we would catch a water bus for a €6.50 ride all the way down the Grand Canal to the Railway Station which is close to the bus terminal. The ride lasted  well over an hour and was both good value for money and a fitting end to our visit to Venice.

I have to say Venice has grown on me, I like it, and I'm glad we spread our visit over four days, rather than do a crammer in the very hot sun.

Back at base I washed the plastic groundsheet which we peg down outside the habitation door as it got muddy in the rain a couple of nights ago, then it was more chores preparing the vehicle for hitting the road tomorrow heading for Vicenza about fifty miles down the road, just for one day.

FRIDAY 22-6-18

It was like trying to sleep in a tin shed as the rain pelted down, but I had a warm comforting glow about me knowing I wasn't enduring things half as badly as the poor youngsters in the tents. Then we had a second wave at about 07:30. This gave us an excellent excuse to have a mega lie-in since there was nothing we could do, other than go back in to Venice and get wet.

Eventually we surfaced and scrubbed up, before having lunch and preparing to go back in to 'town' this afternoon. I wanted to take a closer look at the Church of Santa Maria della Salute. Don't ask me why, but I've seen lots of pictures of it in the background of pictures of Venice and now was the chance to actually visit it, and also to escape the huge number of Yanks who come here. There are the quiet ones and the gobby ones, they're all here believe me. Maybe it's because they've never heard of an Italian Jihadist, so they feel safe, and they can be understood, and eat pizza out of a box compete with fries if that's what they want, in fact there's even a 'Burger King' outlet here.

We had to wait a while for a bus in to 'town' so I suppose we had just missed one. The bus shelter had been bagged by a vagrant who I assume spent last night in the shelter to keep dry, and good luck to him. Yesterday when we got off the bus on the other side of the road he was laid out on the bench at the bus stop there, so I suppose this is his patch and he's staking his claim. This meant that all of us bus passengers left him to it and stood outside of the shelter.

Eventually we were in Venice with me carrying the backpack. We had decided to bring along macs and thin fleeces as the weather could have gone either way. Well you know which way it went and the sun came out. I had to take off my thin fleece and stuff it in to the backpack along with every other thing. And then the sun got really hot and bright and then we realised that although we had bought along all of the 'just in case' clothing we had failed to pack sunglasses etc.

Using predominantly the wall direction signs supported by our map which I'd purchased on day one for €3.50, a great investment as it gave us far more detail than the freebie given to us by the campsite on our arrival.

To get to the church we would need to cross the Grand Canal at a different point, across the Academica Bridge, the only wooden bridge in Venice. Well you know the story of course - it was covered in plastic whilst undergoing restoration work - I hope it's not woodworm!

After more weaving through narrow alleyways we came across the  Church of Santa Maria della Salute. What a lovely sight, and so far away from most of the tourists (I think they all came out this afternoon because of this morning's weather). We had a look around inside and then The Chef told me that there was an organ recital at 16:00 and asked what time it was, and as neither of us had a functioning watch about us I had to guess. I said that we didn't get out until 14:00, so all things considered it should be about 16:00 now. And it was....... just as I said it the organ music started playing. I think I shall audition for the job of BT's Speaking Clock when it comes up again.

So there we sat, in front of the organ area, along with other foreigners, listening to somebody play the church organ. Frankly such music doesn't inspire me much, but The Chef was enjoying it and that's all that matters.

That done we had a walk around the Punta della Dogan area which offers a good view across the Grand Canal towards Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square).

With that done we decided to make our way back slowly to the bus station. We did stop off briefly at the Betty Guggenheim Museum, not our cup of tea and at €15 a hit to get in, rather a nice little earner for Guggenheim Jnr's. It's a modern art museum and for me that's just a p**s take. I remember many years ago the BBC setting up a 'hit' whereby they randomly stopped people in the street and invited them to come along and create some art. The BBC had hired  some facilities close by and invited the selected members of the public to indulge themselves painting pictures. At the same time the BBC promoted an art exhibition to show off the work of the 'Artists'. Needless to say come the night of the exhibition the luvvie critics of the art world gushed at the quality of the work exhibited, and were equally embarrassed when confronted with the truth. It's all complete bullshit for the luvvies....... Now where was I?

On our slow walk back I treated myself to a couple of slices of fresh coconut at fifty cents a throw and The Chef had a drink of fresh orange juice. I had just one moment of weakness and purchased a bottle of Bellini which was invented at Harry's Bar in town and is made of Prosecco and peach juice.

So back on the bus for the ten minute ride 'home' where we enjoyed a curry and rice for our evening meal.

Tomorrow the cunning plan is to have a ride on the riverboat all the way down the Grand Canal to the Arsenal, where I doubt we'll be able to have a look around, but either way it's worthy of a visit, then I want to take a ride to the top of the Campanile in St Mark' Square for a view of Venice from above.

Lots to do tomorrow as well as do a bit of hand washing and prepare the vehicle for leaving town on Sunday morning.