Following our trip to Europe in 2015, Ian and I decided to treat ourselves to a short trip this year to experience a European Christmas. We hope to enjoy a White Christmas and have some fun choosing Christmas gifts for the family at the famous Christmas markets of Germany and Austria.
Wednesday 14 to Thursday 15 December 2016
Melbourne to Venice
After a heart-stopping race to catch Skybus to the airport in 2015, this time we left home at 2pm for a 6.45pm flight. Of course we arrived at the airport three hours before our flight – but in a much more relaxed state of mind.
We flew to Venice via Singapore and Dubai. At both airports we were surprised by the Christmas decorations. We could have been in any western shopping mall when we were in the Duty Free area in Singapore and even in Dubai there was a small display of Christmas trees.
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| A mural at Singapore Airport |
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| Christmas display in Singapore |
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| At Dubai Airport |
We arrived in Venice at 1.20pm and, after taking a bus from the airport and then a vaporetto to the Rialto, we managed to negotiate our way through the calles and campos to our hotel, Hotel Scandinavia. We left our cases there and set out for a tour of the Fenice Theatre. The Fenice was originally built in the 1700s and has been destroyed by fire twice, most recently in 1996, and rebuilt both times. It is now once again a glorious rococo masterpiece and we spent some time there, following an audioguide through the theatre, into the royal box and the restored function rooms.
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| The Royal Box |
Venice has been beautifully decorated with hundreds of tiny lights for Christmas. We enjoyed walking around the city and Ian was especially pleased as he successfully navigated without using a map – amazing in a city which is a labyrinth of small alleys and islands joined by numerous bridges!
We had dinner at the famous and elegant Caffe Florian in St Mark’s Square – lasagne followed by an apple torte for Ian and potato and rosemary quiche and a very rich chocolate Sacher Florian for me – a lovely way to end our first day in Europe!
Your dinner looks wonderful! Enjoy yourselves, love Jen xx
ReplyDeleteIt was very exciting getting to work this morning and there was a blog entry waiting to be read :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenny. I'm glad you could access the blog thru the au address. We are thrilled to be back in Venice. Just having breakfast and watching the fruit stalls being set up in the campo outside our hotel and locals walking past.
ReplyDeleteMakes getting up and going to work so much easier knowing you guys are holidaying in such wonderful places!!
ReplyDeleteSophie: I want to go to the snow (a bit random!!)
ReplyDeleteElla: sounds like you are having a good time. I wish I was there!
Michelle: I think I am going to get very jealous over the next few weeks :-)
Thanks for your comments, Chris, Michelle, Sophie and Ella. It's fun sharing the trip with all,
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