Day 19  Thursday 5th June 2008

Today we went and parked the car in Vicenza and took the train to Venice. It was a double-decker train. Once there, we walked across to the Arsenale to the Museo Storico Navale which is only open in the mornings. There we saw some stuff from the first and second world wars and some modern naval uniforms but the most amazing things were the boats. There were some full size small boats and some fantastic models of bigger ships. All in all it was well worth the 1.55€ entrance fee. 

After some lunch we went to the Doge’s palace. We had been before but these places are always worth a second look. The paintings that cover the walls are enormous and by Tintoretto and Veronese among others. They are oil on canvas not frescoes and, believe me, they would impress any visiting dignitary. We went across the Bridge of Sighs and this time went right to the bottom and across the exercise yard of the New Prison (new in the 1600 that is) before coming back across the bridge to the palace. After this we popped into St. Mark’ s but after Ravenna last year, it all seemed a bit dark and, although magnificent, lacking in the glory that is Ravenna. Venice was crowded but it is much easier to get into places after about 1 o’clock as the tours have gone. There seem to be more gondolas than before and more souvenir stalls in St. Mark’s Square. However there was no-one selling pigeon food and consequently the pigeon numbers have dropped but they have not completely disappeared.

We had a walk round including a visit to the Contarini staircase which is still beautiful and caused a series of ‘Wow’s from the group of Americans who arrived while we were there. We were also intrigued to see a delivery boat labelled DHL but, after all, they are supposed to deliver everywhere. We also seemed to see a lot of sailors particularly by Arsenale so something must have been going on there.

After finding some dinner we returned to Vicenza by train feeling hot and sticky and thence back to the Palazzo Rosso for a shower and bed.

Start Mileage  13366		Finish  13383			Miles Travelled = 17
								Total Miles = 1898

Day 20  Friday 6th June 2008

After the busy day yesterday we wanted a quieter one today. We stayed in this morning and attended to domestic matters and bringing up to date the website. This afternoon we drove up into the Berici hills which are just a few km away. They rise very steeply from the plain that we are on. It was quite interesting with some lovely views. The road up was quite good with lots of bends. Coming down at the far end was another matter. The road was badly in need on repair and the bends were real hairpin. We found our way to the Aliper supermarket (quite a large one) at Ponte de Barberano. We returned to Palazzo Rosso just after 4.00pm after which the rain came. It has rained very heavily for at least an hour. It has now eased off but not stopped.

Start Mileage  13383		Finish  13402			Miles travelled = 19
								Total miles = 1917