A house sit in Venice

Prior to our house sit in France, we decided to take advantage of being in Europe to visit Venice. I'd always wanted to go, and I was so delighted to be able to see this beautiful city.

Kevin has wanted to go on a cruise for a while, as many of our friends had been cruising and having a great time, and suggesting we try it. So he looked for a cruise line that we could board from Venice, and found a trip on Norweigan Cruise Lines.

The photos here are some that I took when our cruise liner returned to the port in Venice. It almost looks as though the photos were taken from a plane. It was certainly exciting to see Venice from that perspective.

We weren't too sure at first if we were going to enjoy cruising, just getting on board was stressful. Combine the heat of mid-summer, a couple of thousand people showing up to embark, the cruise line insisting that you leave behind your water bottles for security, and the pushing and shoving of people eager to board, wasn't a great start to the cruise.

Once the cruiser got underway, and people all went their own way, we started to relax and unwind. Sadly for Kevin, he wasn't able to enjoy all the things he'd intended to do once onboard, due to a scald he had received on the Lufthansa flight into Venice. No lying in the sun by the pool or swimming, or venturing out without being well and truly covered from the sun.

But we did get to see these amazing views from our cabin, and if you are thinking of cruising, make sure you have a balcony room. It's worth it and especially if you need to spend time a lot of time in your cabin relaxing, you will be glad you did.

The staff on Norweigan Jade when we travelled were wonderful. I can't say enough about how great they were, friendly and couldn't do enough for you. I especially liked the washy, washy, happy, happy chant the staff did, to encourage people to use the anti bacterial hand wipe to keep all the people on our boat germ free. It's embedded in my brain now I'm sure, as every time we use anti bacterial wipe we do the washy washy happy happy chant.

Most people will tell you when you visit Venice to stay in the center around St Marco's square, and we did that the first time. Never again though. When we returned to Venice we decided to stay on Lido, it's the furthest small island that the Vaporetto (ferry) will take you to. It has cars and buses and a beach at one end of the island.

As we were in Venice in mid-summer, with thousands of other tourists in the heart of Venice. A short ferry ride and you can experience a quieter side of Venice - Giardini (famous for the Biennales) or Lido.

If you would like us to house sit in Venice for you, please contact us.

In love with Venice

We decided to take the opportunity to visit Venice on our way to our house sit. It is one place I have wanted to visit for a long time, and and certainly didn't disappoint. Only trouble was, on the Lufthansa flight on our way into Venice, the flight attendant spilled boiling coffee onto Kevin and scalded him. The airline arranged for an ambulance to pick him up off the plane and we made a grand exit from the plane into emergency.

Feeling very frazzled as we make our way to our hotel... and it shows! Kevin was burned on his stomach, his leg and arm and was patched up with burn cream in emergency. I'd watched a lot of packing tips for travel prior to our journey, but nothing really prepares you for carrying not only your own bags but also those of your partner... and in the heat.

After leaving emergency there wasn't one person from the airline there to see if Kevin was OK. We were both really surprised with the lack of care for his welfare. While it was an accident, the lack of follow up after leaving the plane was appalling.

Even with the damage done, it was still so wonderful to take the water taxi into Venice. This city is truly amazing, the age, the buildings, so much to see. I thought the accident may have spoiled the visit we had so long waited for, but we were still excited and in awe of entering this beautiful town.

Passing by St Marco Square

Water taxi takes us as close as it can to our hotel

Some people warned us against going by water taxi, saying it is too expensive, and we nearly didn't take one. The cost for us to go from our hotel to the cruise line was 90 Euro. I thought it was well worth the little splurge... how many times do you visit Venice anyway?

I loved ducking under the bridges and driving along the canals, I could have stayed on this boat for hours.

It doesn't get much more Venetian than this photo

If you happen to be visiting Venice there is a dear little restaurant on the side of a canal not far from San Marco square. You can sit in the cool on cute tables while you watch gondoliers passing by serenading their passengers. It is called Ristorante Da Raffaele

Exhausted from the long flight but delighting in being in Venice.