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I woke up pretty excited, if not decidedly early. I was still feeling the effects of the jetlag. So as part of my normal routine I got cleaned up and dressed and made my way down to the streets of Venice. The evening before I had checked what time sunrise was and I decided I’d make my way down to the docks and watch it come up. It’s odd, because I didn’t consider myself the kind of person who would find sunrises “interesting”. Watching the sunrise over the Canal in Venice was amazing. For the first time in a while I didn’t have anything to worry about. To coin the popular phrase “not a care in the world”.
I’ll paint the picture. I’m sitting down on the marble bench overlooking the Canal, hearing the sounds of Venice waking up. That includes the distant sounds of boat horns, the swishing of brooms as the street cleaners tidy up the square. The air is not too cold, but cold enough to make you put your hands in the hoodie pockets for warmth. Shortly there after the first rays of sun just peak over the Venice, reflecting of the white walls of the Saint Marks Square, the Basilica and the water of the Canal.

After enjoying the sunrise, I decided is was time to get my stuff together and go off for breakfast. I collected my bags from the hotel room and wandered over to the Dining room, where I would have breakfast for the last time in Venice. Once my breakfast of ham, cheese, fruit and the best bread I’ve ever tasted was over, I checked out from the hotel. The conciege was very nice, polite and helpful and I really enjoyed staying at their hotel.

Once the check out was done, I made my way down to the docks to catch the water bus to the airport. The direct water bus to the airport didn’t run until much later so I took the normal bus that makes 5 stops. Fortunately I left for the Airport about 2 and half hours before I needed to check in. I got to the airport with about 5 mins to spare before the Easyjet flight check in opened. The water bus took a lot longed than anticipated, but no harm done.

The checkin queue was miles long and just got longer and longer. I was about the 30th person in the queue and it took me an hour and a bit to check in. But while checking in I learned about speedy boarding which you pay about 8 pounds for. Gives you an express check in counter, definately worth it.
Having never flown Easyjet before I learned you just get onto the plane and pick a seat, no pre-allocated seating. If you are a speedy boarding customer, you get taken to the plane before the other passengers, so you get the pick of the seats.

The flight was comfortable and the cabin crew were good. Was a little bit cramped on the leg room, but it was nowhere near as bad as some flights I have been on. I decided at that point, I would change my return flight so it had speedy boarding, mainly for bulkhead seats.

The flight only took an hour, basically by the time you have taken off and drinks have been served you are getting ready to land. The weather over Gatwick wasn’t bad and the flight had been pretty smooth.

On getting off the plane, I found the terminal layout a bit confusing. I thought Rome airport was bad, but Gatwick isn’t far off. Eventually I found Immigration which took all of 2 mins to get through. Waited about 5 mins at the conveyer for my bags. I’d been pretty lucky throughout all my travelling, my bag normally came out pretty near the front all the time.

I walked through into arrivals and found my family waiting for me. After lots of hugs and had shakes we rushed off to the car park, cause it costs about 10 pound and hour or something to park.
Feeling pretty tired but happy to be in with the family again, we made our way to my Great Aunt and Uncles house on Canvey. About a 50 minute drive from the airport.
On arriving at their house it was like a time warp. The house hadn’t changed all that much in the last 8 years, along with the rest of Canvey Island. There are subtle changes but the place was largely identical to the last time I was there.
About 30 mins after sitting down, my cousins all phoned up to see if I had arrived safely and when I was coming for a visit, or when can they come for a visit.

So my uncle organised a trip around their houses to see the family. It was great to see everyone again. They all welcomed me in with cups of tea or beer.

After visiting everyone and talking for numerous hours we made our way back home. As it was quite late we stopped for fish and chips on the way. That evening I had a great meal and went off to bed.

It really was great to see all the family again.

I woke up early and made my way down to the Canal to watch the sunrise. It became a ritual for me, it’s just such a beautiful place. It also allowed me to just sit down and relax. Watch the world go by so to speak.

At 7.30am I made my way back to the hotel for breakfast. Afterwards I decided I would like to goto the Museo Correr which is just off the square. Bought a Museum Pass, which gives you access to about 8 different Museums and attractions. In the long run it saved me about 30 Euro. The Museo Correr is full of amazing decor and artifacts dating backup up to 600 years. The history is just amazing. The museum contains about 48 rooms, each room is dedicated to a specific aspect of Venetian history. Things like coinage, naval history etc. In my opinion it is worth every penny, I would highly recommend a visit there.
After the trip around the museum I stopped at the coffee shop and had a nice coffee and a piece of cake. Needed a sit down after 2 hours of walking around!

Next I made my way to the Doges Palace. I made my way in past the mile long queue, as I already had a ticket to get in. Took me about 3 hours to walk around the whole of the Doge’s palace. It’s got to be the most amazing place I’ve every seen. The history, decoration, paintings etc are worth checking out.
I also visited the bridge of sighs and the Doge’s Prison underneath the palace.

After leaving the Doge’s palace, I thought I would give going to the UK another try.
I phoned up the Hotels I’d booked in Bologna and Rome and managed to convince them to waver the cancellation fees. This spurred me on to make the decision to goto the UK!

I found and internet cafe where I managed to book some flights from Venice to Gatwick and Gatwick to Rome. I also organised a booking at the Hilton Garden Inn at Rome airport so I could arrive the evening before my flight and get a good nights sleeps. I was so excited.

I then sent though and SMS to my family in the UK who were over the moon that I was coming.

That evening I slept like a baby. I couldn’t wait to get over to the UK!

Today was the last day before my family left to go their separate ways. My South African family were off on a cruise and my English family were off home.
We had breakfast together in the hotel, then made our way to the square to meet my nan. I left a bit earlier to bring a present I had stashed away in my bag for my 2nd cousin (Tyla). I had to help my nan get it into her bag, but we got it in okay.

We then made our way back to the Rialto bridge and had a good look at the market we had passed the previous day, where presents and italian ham were purchased to take home. My nan had to make her way to the docks at about 2pm to catch the water bus to the harbor where she would be catching her cruise ship.
We stopped at a cafe near her hotel where we sat down and had coffee. Shortly after that my great aunt / uncle and 2nd cousin left with a quick good bye so as to not upset my nan too much. I stayed with them and made sure they got onto the right boat, also helping them get to the dock.

Once I’d seen my grand parents off I met up with my remaining family and had some dinner. They had to catch the water bus at about 6pm to get back to the airport for their flight. It was quite sad seeing them off at the dock.

So here I am all alone in Venice….
I went back to my hotel after a long day of walking, ready to get a good nights sleep.
Wondering what tomorrow would bring.

Before saying goodbye to my english family, they had suggested that if I had the time and money, I should fly over to the UK and come and visit. I was very eager to do this, as spending the rest of my holiday alone, seemed very daunting. However I had hotels and tours booked. Before going to bed I had a look at canceling my tours and hotels, but it turned out the cancellation fees were quite expensive.
I sent and SMS to my english family telling them that I wouldn’t be able to make it.

I called my parents back in Australia and told them about how my holiday was going, chatting about all my experiences. I also told them about the offer to goto England. They said that it would be lovely to go, but I should make the decision based on the costs.

That evening I went to bed with dreams of how I was going to get to the UK.

Woke up pretty early this morning. Decided that rather than sit around the hotel, I’d go out and have a look around. Got dressed and wandered out to San Marco Piazza. I took my Camcorder with me and filmed the square. It was really quiet cause it was early so I got some good shots. Was really quiet and relaxing.
Spent about an hour just sitting by the Canal on the stone benches watching Venice wake up.

About 7:30am, I made my way back to the hotel to grab some breakfast, which consisted of different hams, cheeses, rolls, yogurt, fruit and some kick ass coffee. Once I was fed and watered, I went back to my hotel room for a bit.

Once the food had gone down I made my way back to the square, where I attempted to find my nan’s hotel, which is North East of the square. After getting a bit lost, I tried using a different route and eventually found the hotel. After that it was about time for my Nan and Great Aunt / Uncle to arrive in Venice. I waited outside the Basilica as we had agreed. But by lunchtime, I decided to check if they were at their hotel.
Once I got back to my nan’s hotel, I asked the reception if they had checked in and they just had!
So I made my way up to their room and was greeted by warm smiles and lots of hugs.

Shortly after that my Great Uncle phoned me, so I told them I was with my nan and we met in the square shortly afterwards. It was a lovely reunion after nearly 8 years!

Everyone at this point was quite hungry, so we made our way out of the square to find a pizzeria. Found a really nice place, where we just sat, chatted and had good food. We were there for about 4 hours

At that point my grand parents went back to their hotel, cause they needed a rest after the long trip.
I went out and found a pub with the rest of family, sat down and spoke about all sorts of things until quite late.

After that I was pretty happy to go back to the hotel, curl up and goto sleep.

It had indeed been a really good day.