The Reunion

On the bus a few minutes after our reunion. Awwww.

Some issues with Schengen visas meant I had to return to London for a few weeks in mid-May, leaving Bol to finish out our work in Italy. I wasn't too happy about leaving Bol and my new life as a gardener, but knew it was a small price to pay for our upcoming 7 months of travel. Luckily I managed to get some work at my old office in London, which helped the time pass while also giving the bank account a much needed boost. Come May 28th, I was out of there, and Bol and I reunited in Venice with its reputation as one of the most romantic cities in the world. This was the starting point for our seven months of travel through Europe and Asia. We couldn't be happier. To save money we decided to stay in a campsite, which in Italy means a place with a resort sized swimming pool, restaurant, pub and supermarket, with hundreds of tents and cabins dotted around. The campsite in Venice took us back, in many ways, to Australia, and even more so to that classic Aussie film The Castle. No ... we didn't have to dig any holes and strawberry and icecream didn't feature on the menu (sorry for those of you confused at this point who haven't seen the movie. I suggest you rent it though). What made our stay in Venice resemble The Castle was the fact the fenceline of our caravan park bordered with the airport runway. Nothing like the sound of aeroplanes taking off overhead to provide that relaxed, peaceful atmosphere Venice is famous for!

Apart from this minor detail, which caused more laughs than sleepless nights, Venice turned out to be the picture postcard city we had expected. For three days we meandered around the narrow corridors which line the canals, taking in the ambience of the city. It really feels like it has been built purely for tourists, simply because of the fact it is so hard to believe that people actually live on the water, drive to the supermarket in their boats, the firemen, police and ambos drive speed boats with flashing sirens, and kids go to school by boat. Quite amazing.

Each day in Venice we would buy our picnic lunch from the supermarket and sit right on the waters edge eating. Who needs fancy restaurants! And the Venetians use one of their old gondolas to make the 2 minute trip back and forth across the Grand Canal for just 50 cents, so even tourists like us can aford a gondola ride. Thanks guys. I'll let the pictures below speak for themselves.