Two Flew Over: Venice... And Into the Land of the Vikings

The early start to catch the ferry from Rovinj to Venice (5.30am) was rewarded with a calm crossing and a magical approach to the city and lagoon wreathed in swirling mist with the sun tingeing all it touched with a golden gleam. After our by now all too frequent difficulty finding Wifi we finally managed to contact Anna, our Venetian host, and meet up with her at the St Marco water bus stop. She escorted us through the narrow lane ways to our apartment in the Castello district. Located in an ancient building with a central courtyard it was to be our home for the next four days. A little away from the immediate bustle of the touristy areas but within a few minutes walk of St Marco and the Rialto. Anna was a lifelong resident of Venice and a fund of stories and information about it's history and the inhabitants. One of the main attractions for Nell do course was the Biennale but there was plenty of other art on display both old and new. And then there were the churches, canals, islands and museums too to check out. So it was a busy time and the photos are only a glimpse of what we saw and experienced. It is such a concentrated experience Venice...so much in such a small area. We earned our pizzas and gelatos here though we also visited the markets and cooked up most of our evening meals ourselves.

For strategic reasons we spent our last night in Italy near Treviso so as to be close to the airport for our early flight to Oslo. In hindsight it would have been good to have a bit more time here but the B and B was a villa in the Veneto countryside with a large swimming pool and tennis court so that was some compensation.

Our flight to Oslo went fine despite being a little edgy about flying Ryan Air. The day was clear and still so we had great views of the Dolomites, the Alps, Germany and Scandanavia en route. So here we are in downtown Oslo with more adventure in store.