The past few days have been very low key due to the weather: rain, 1-2 degrees. Hamish also has developed a nasty cough, so we were happy enough to have a couple of rest days. What do two teachers do when they have a child indoors for two days? Play schools of course. Rod and I planned ‘lessons’ to help us all get through the day and Hamish was very responsive, calling us Mr and Mrs Dunbar respectively. As is the case with team teaching, one person always gets the credit for the work of the team. In our case it was Rod who got the glory for my ideas. Halfway through my lesson, Hamish asked “When is my real teacher coming back?” This was not long after he said, “I hate art!”

Rod ventured out of the apartment a few times to get a feel for the neighbourhood and to pick up essentials, namely food, wine, gin and tonic. Just an interesting aside, a full sized bottle of Gordon’s Gin cost 10 Euro – this is about $15! It would have been rude not to buy at this price.

Like much of Italy, Mestre is old. It has a sort of run-down look (no offence intended), but when you get in and actually experience the surrounds, the looks are misleading. There are lots of interesting cafes, bars, streets, buildings and pasticcerias (pastry shops). Rod bought some afternoon tea from one of the aforementioned pasticcerias – a full sized jam tart (see picture). It is basically shortbread with jam. It’s delicious and cost more than the bottle of gin!

As we always keep a keen eye on the weather, Wednesday was our one shot of going to Venice. During his trips out of the apartment Rod had found the bus stop and the tobacco shop. In many parts of Europe, public transport tickets are purchased at these corner shops, so finding them is gold. This took the hassle out of getting to Venice. We purchased 24 hour, all transit tickets and took a bus through the city centre of Mestre then crossed the Ponte della Liberta, the bridge that links Venice to the mainland.

It was easy to find the Number 1 vaporetto (water bus) and we hopped on. We were even able to help other tourists with information about purchasing tickets and validating tickets! Venice is just amazing and we loved it. We hopped off at the wrong vaporetto stop, but it turns out we actually discovered more of the city this way. There are endless alley ways with shops and cafes, each turn is a new adventure. No traffic meant Hamish could walk on his own (no hand holding) and with the help of MapsMe (thanks again Ricky McCarthy), we found the Piazza San Marco. We both agreed the Basilica de San Marco is the most beautiful church we have ever seen. It is richly decorated and there is nothing else to do but stand there and say “Wow!”

Even though it was a very cold day, we didn’t leave without having a gelato – our first since Pompeii, back in October. On our way back to the vaporetto stop, we saw a couple having their wedding pictures taken. I mentioned to Rod, no matter how much I loved him, there was no way I was getting out in a strapless dress in 3 degrees. Initially Venice was not on our list of places to visit, but we are so glad we have been there. It only makes us want to come back again, perhaps when the weather is a bit kinder.

Failed to mention we leave for Australia in one week.