We booked for 2 couples with the Daily Mail newspaper for a trip to Rome/Venice. it would be a 6 night stay.
We flew out to Rome and stayed at the Hotel Executive. It was a very modern Hotel and a wonderful experience with a lovely room and a great restaurant.
We toured Rome for 2 days seeing the most popular sights, The Vatican where the pope was out speaking to the masses, we toured the Vatican and was amazed by everything there,
The Colosseum was amazing and the Pantheon was out of this world. We were a bit disappointed with the Spanish steps, they were not really much to look at but the Trevi Fountain was spectacular, we could hear the water before we got there, we turned the corner and there it was in all it’s splendour. It was well worth doing the hop on hop off bus tour as you see a lot of Rome, but will need to spend longer there as there was a lot more we wanted to see,
Next we took a train to Venice, the trip it’s self allowed us to see the beautiful county side.
We will never forget the sight that awaited us when we arrived in Venice, we exited the modern station and through the open doors it was like we had stepped back in time to the 14th Century, all we could do is stop and stare at the sight in front of us.
The grand Canal with the boats passing by and the old buildings and Churches in front of us.
We stayed on the lido which was an hour by boat, and stayed in a lovely quaint old hotel which the name escapes me.
We had 2 full days there and saw the usual sights like St Marks square and the quaint shops.
We wanted to see Murano and the glass blowing, that was great to see how they did it, and the island was quaint with lovely coloured buildings, then went on to Burano and saw the lace making. That island was even lovelier that Murano with all the canals and boats.
What amazed me was seeing the hospital and the boats taking people there, and the Burial ground in the middle of the water inside a big wall, there was a statue showing the way.
Our last night on the Lido and we had a lovely meal and a proper gelato.
We then took the launch to the airport and home, all in all an amazing experience and cannot wait to return for a longer stay.
