Part Five
God I've got the hangover from hell. It's 5am, I've had no sleep and am in that bizarre hungover / still drunk state. Lisa's worse and practically comatose (never being the best morning person in the most ideal of circumstances).
Somehow we manage to make it in dead quiet through the streets to the bus station, thankful for the extremely short walk of about five minutes and that we had the sense to pack our bags the night before. No breakfast, no coffee, no nothing. But at least the bus is here and so we endure a painful journey feeling absolutely terrible with mouths as tasty as Ghandi's flip-flops. Worse, there's nowhere in the airport to get a decent breakfast - just a quick cappuccino and then we're on the flight. Lisa's suffers the ignominy of throwing up in the airport though at least manages to make it to the loo first.
Looking forward to breakfast on the plain, I'm disgusted to be given only a cold ham and cheese sandwich, which understandably remains uneaten. Feeling worse than ever we finally arrive at Gatwick at 8am GMT gratified that we only have hand luggage and don't have to suffer a interminable wait for our bags. Finally we manage to get breakfast at McDonalds, which seems like mana from heaven before heading for the drive home.
Forgetting the extremely despicable hangover, Venice provided a weekend that totally exceeded all expectations. I'm sure that we would have a different view had we have gone in the height of summer and jostled with the crowds for the views, but as it was Venice stands as possible the finest city I've visited for pure romanticism and lush uniqueness.
I certainly feel that it was in our favour to be staying where we were. I imagine most tourists that stay in the busier and more expensive southern regions rarely venture into the north region, and for me that was where the real flavour of Venice comes out.
Totally recommended without reservation.
- Richard Rowe 2000
We stayed at the Al Sole Hotel, Via Santa Croce, 136
Email : alsole@italyhotel.com Tel: 041-710844
Booked on-line at: www.italyhotel.com