Hard to believe its almost a week since we left Cairo, flew overnight to Athens, passed out for a whole 5 hours sleep in the first available BnB, hopped on another plane to Venice and after messing up our bus connections finally flopped into a creaky, cramped and entirely welcome mobile home at Camping Jolly in Marghera. After the luxury of the Nile Fairmont this little patch of Italy that we called home for the last 5 nights may have wobbled every time our adjoining neighbours turned over in bed and been heaving with (mostly) Australian backpackers partying by the pool, but it gave us a much needed base to sleep and rest....plus a day out in nearby Venice too.
Slowly but surely our batteries have been recharging since we arrived. We have had some long nights sleep and tried our best to get our hands on the best food possible. Thankfully we found an organic supermarket in Mestre around an hours walk away from our camping that we have been walking to and from most days and we even managed to find several local bars offering fresh 'centrifuga', or juice as we would say. Esther even managed to convince them to include some chard and celery she had in her bag.
But the highlight of the time at Camping Jolly has to be the pool. I mentioned the crowds of backpackers above, but in truth they really didn't bother us and gave the place a lively and fun atmosphere. Esther particularly loves to swim and we both enjoyed some very mindful pool volleyball, perfect for relaxing the mind.
Our day out in Venice was a good learning experience for us on several levels. Partly it showed us just how unused to crowds we still are as the narrow, picturesque streets were crammed with jostling bodies eating and shopping merrily away, intensifying more and more the closer to the hotspots of St Marks and the Rialto bridge we got. It also underlined just how quiet Egypt had been. After spending time with just a hundred or so tourists visible by ancient wonders of the worlds, to see thousands and thousands thronging the streets of Venice it really hammered home how much the Egyptian revolution has impacted tourism there and how much they are struggling. We'd been told about it while we were there but to see such a contrast was a powerful influence.
Of course, Venice was also very pretty. We'd been here 14 years ago during our very first Interrail adventure in 2002 so it was nice to meander through the city once more and even discover an organic supermarket there too.
But after 5 nights in Marghera we woke up this morning and decided it was time to move on. We considered heading back to the mountains but didn't feel quite ready yet for more day long hikes and tent life, and fortunately instead found an inexpensive apartment 50m from the Adriatic Sea in the town in Caorle for 1 week which we booked into, just a 5 euro/2 hour bus ride away from Mestre (bargain!)
We also picked up a few things to enhance our rest and relaxation on the way which I'm sure I'll write about more later this week.
Here are some pictures of our time in Marghera and Venice.
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