Arrival to Venice

We are here at last. After a visit to Padua for lunch and a guided tour of the Padua University, or at least the building complex Palace Bo (or Bull) which still houses the faculties of Law and Medicine. See that post for some amazing images of the skulls of Professors of Anatomy - what dedication - and the endless plaques commemorating past students that gave their name, coat of arms and country of origin. I sought out the ones from Scotland, and would you believe, found one of Robert Kerr of Newbattle (in Midlothian). You may recall that Robert Buchan b1813 (my x3 great-grandfather) died in the parish of Newbattle in 1887. Back to Venice.

The Grand Canal showing the Rialto Bridge

Our hotel is in a private courtyard about a 5 minute walk from the Rialto Bridge and San Marco Square. It's 'local' staff all seem to be from Asia, however they are friendly. So far Venice feels a lot shabbier than 2012.

Some fun facts about my room:

  • marble bathroom fittings
  • the television is projected onto the mirror
  • the windows are all covered by wooden shutters - one tour member had a pidgeon fly into her room upon opening the windows. At least I have no pidgeon poop all over my window sill
  • the towel heater is not yet turned on for the hotel, as it was in Ravenna and Lauren is going to tell them that!
  • as you see my furniture is all gleaming old style woodwork, silk on the walls and not at all shabby
  • no tea of coffee, that is an extra 5 euros a day. However I have a kettle (on request), my travel cup, tea bags and the glass of milk I ordered last night.
Getting out of our water taxi, note shabby buildings

Hotel Al Codega from the courtyard

Furniture in my room, happy there is a desk

This TV looks a lot better with some lights off, and I watch  as I type

My girls have asked for my pictures of horses, and to make my blog 'more funny'. I will try, so expect to see random horse-like images from now on.

Shop display on the way to Night 1 dinner


The group dinners are starting to wear thin, we have some extroverts including tour leader Lauren. Wine, wine, wine - but thankfully no whine, whine, whine. I declined the 'cheeky' merlot; the waiter was aghast after I tasted it and said no thanks; cola for me. The food was not great and I only ate half the tiramsu which was also not great. All good for the diet.

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 3, 2026 at 12:03 AM

    The courtyard hotel looks lovely. KP

    ReplyDelete
  2. PamMay 6, 2026 at 6:14 PM

    Nan we like more horses please 😀

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Find stuff on this Blog

 Welcome to the place where you can follow my travels in real time, and relive them all over again. This research trip to several Scottish archives has taken some unexpected turns. I start in Istanbul and travel to Venice. On a Buchan Odyssey in Scotland I visit three ScotlandsPeople research centres, the City of Edinburgh Library, the Library of Scotland and the Midlothian Studies Centre. Some of these are new to me on this trip. I follow the homes of the Bains from Dingwall to Inverness. To read about any topic on the blog, click on the relevant Page across the top of the blog. These are 1) Istanbul to Venice 2) The World of Buchans and 3) Homes of the Bains  On each page, after a brief introduction, you'll find hyperlinks to all individual posts for that leg of the odyssey. Please leave me a comment. It helps to know you are following.
Read more

Blue Mosque - update 1

Image
Returning to street level, our day of touring concludes with a visit to the 17th-century Sultan Ahmed or Blue Mosque. Designed as an imperial show of strength to complement the majestic Hagia Sophia Mosque, which stands in view across Sultanahmet Square, the Blue Mosque is a masterpiece of architecture. In contrast to the Hagia Sophia, this mosque is supported by four substantial “elephant foot” pillars. Its central dome, soaring to 43m, is accompanied by four semi-domes that create an almost square appearance, and over 20,000 handmade Iznik tiles adorn its interior, all illuminated by 260 windows. Source: Academy Travel brochure The  Sultan Ahmed Mosque  ( Turkish :  Sultanahmet Camii ), popularly known as the  Blue Mosque , is an  Ottoman-era  historical  imperial mosque  located in  Istanbul ,  Turkey . It was constructed between 1609 and 1617 during the rule of  Ahmed I . It attracts a large number of tourists and is one of the ...
Read more

Gate 58

Image
I am just outside gate 58. You may not see it but next to my flight it says ‘relax’. I will. What an adventure was the journey. Awake at 4.30, 6.30 alarm really not needed - time enough to transfer money onto travel card and use the power saw to remove a shelf inside the ‘solar cupboard’. We thought it was all going to plan till I realised, on the bus, that I had left something important at home.  Not critical, but important. OK inserting images not working yet, might work that out later.  My favourite, take overseas black coat. Everywhere I am going is colder than Canberra. I had an idea. Could Murray’s deliver it on the 9am bus? Could Dan get home, find it and return in time? Yes, yes and yes. I was even checked in and boarding passes obtained to be back at the Murray’s drop off by 12. Very promptly the bus turned up and with a charming smile I was handed my coat in a very nice plastic bag, labelled with my ticket details! That’s why I like Murray’s and of course I like Dani...
Read more