Venezia Mestre – Venezia Santa Lucia – Venezia Mestre

I don’t usually create posts for non-travel days, though admittedly there was a 5-minute train ride at the start and end of this day, but this Venice. If ever there was a special case, this surely has to be it?

Michael and I had agreed to meet at the station once more, just before lunchtime. As we crossed the bridge outside the station I spotted the hotel I’d stayed in 23 years ago. It’s on the left of this picture, at the end of the first block of buildings. I’d booked to return there again on my planned return in November, but that stay never happened when I got ill on the day I was due to arrive, and I was very disappointed that they didn’t even reply to the email I sent explaining the circumstances, so didn’t even consider them as a place to stay on this trip.

Michael had suggested we get a takeaway lunch from a lovely little focacceria he knew. Rather like my experience in Bologna yesterday there was far more to eat here than I was ever going to manage – though it was equally delicious!

Michael wanted to show me a small jetty he’d found that was very close to Rialto but so well hidden that no-one else was there when we arrived. The views were simply wonderful in all directions.

We stayed a while, watching the traffic on the Grand Canal and just enjoying this lovely warm day.

From here we took the vaporetto one stop to cross the canal, then started making our way through the back streets of Cannaregio. The views were gorgeous and I stopped to take photos at almost every bridge and corner.

I particularly liked this group of buildings, even if they did look a bit run down. What an incredible city this must be to live in. We found a small square for a sit down, ice creams and a drink. It was warm enough to need to take everything at a steady pace, and I’ll always grab an opportunity for ice cream!

From the top of Cannaregio we took another short boat trip to Arsenale. This was the part of Venice I specifically wanted to visit as I’d not seen it on my previous trip. We walked first to the historic barracks which give the area its name. Michael pointed out a house which had its own bridge over the canal, lucky them! The nearby entrance to the Arsenale itself was very impressive.

Continuing through to the Grand Canal, we turned off almost immediately down the main pedestrian/tourist area of Arsenale. The majority of cruise ships have now been banned from Venice but a number of super-yachts were moored in this area.

After continuing past the many resturants and cafes, we reached a quiet area with small houses fronting onto the canal, as well as another boatyard.

We retraced our steps slightly from here then veered off through Giardini della Biennale to see the Serra dei Giardini – the Greenhouse – dating back to 1894, the year before the first festival. It now also houses a cafe, but it was full so we headed elsewhere for a drink and sit down.

We decided that it would be fun to head over to Lido, which is much quieter than central Venice. It’s a more conventional Italian coastal area, not least as it has roads rather than canals. Since I was last here the famous Campari sign has been taken down. On my previous visit to Venice one of the few things I knew about in advance was this sign as it had appeared on adverts for many years. Funny things that stick in your mind!

On the far side of the island we took a walk on the beach.

We decided to split up for a while as Michael needed to do some shopping and this gave me a chance to do some of the tourist bits in the centre of the city that I’m sure he had no desire to see! Happily in the late afternoon the area around San Marco was relatively quiet.

I jumped onto a Vaporetto down the Grand Canal and fortunately was able to get an outside space that allowed me to get a few photos. I got off near to Rialto.

I explored a little more of the area on foot, walking past the hotel I mentioned before. I was sad and quite surprised that it no longer has the waterfront breakfast terrace that had made it so special on my previous visit.

By now it was time to find Michael once more. We had agreed that we would meet near to the university, at Campo Santa Margherita, which I’d seen yesterday. I loved the arrangement of these two bridges on the way there.

We had a drink and some light snacks outside a bar on the square as neither of us felt up to a large meal. We walked back towards the station a different way, and said goodnight near Ponte della Costituzione, a modern bridge which looks somewhat incongruous in this historic setting. It’s also quite odd to walk over as the spacing of the steps is terrible.

It had been lovely to be back in this incredible city, even for a day and a half. Seeing Michael now quite fluent in Italian was rather lovely. He really looks at home here, lucky thing!