Venice

After we left Switzerland (we drove a different way back to Milan and cut 3 hours off our return trip!!!) we returned the car to the car hire place to our great pleasure I might add and checked into our hotel in Milan which was just opposite the "Milano Centrale" which means the Milan Railway Station!! We spent the afternoon wandering around the Milan shops in the sun, it was a beautiful warm day, went out for dinner and had another wander around the streets. The next morning we left early for the two and a half hour train trip to Venice. We found our hotel, after taking a water bus, checked in and had lunch and then an hour or so later Jenny and Joll arrived from Florence. We spent the afternoon wandering around Venice, it was a Saturday, quite warm, around 24 degrees and not a cloud in the sky, so everyone had come out for the day, or maybe every Saturday they come out for the day as it was VERY busy. There are just so many shops selling souvenirs and of course Murano glass. We walked around for a few hours enjoying being in such a lovely place with its narrow little canals and the famous St Marks Square. We had a nice dinner sitting outside as it was still warm at an open air restaurant on the Grand Canal. The next day we wandered around the streets again and then caught a water taxi called "the Vanessa 2". The taxi driver whose name was Gionvanni told us that he and his water taxi were hired for eight weeks by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt whilst Angelina was filming "The Tourist" movie in Venice recently and apparently him and his water taxi are in the movie! That was about as close to a "celebrity moment" as we got!