We weren't leaving Venice until late afternoon so we decided to revisit a place we had been to before, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, often called Tintorettos' "Sistine Chapel". Tintoretto spent the last twenty years of his life working virtually free driven by the spirit of Christian charity the Scuola promoted. It really is an amazing experience. The paintings, some very large, adorn the walls and ceilings of the two floors of the building spread over three rooms. no photography was allowed and there are, in fact, no photographs from the day. Not quite sure how that happened.
We wandered back thought the maze of streets and canals. It is very easy to lose one's sense of direction in Venice as many tourists readily find out. However, we managed to trace our way back in the direction of the Rialto Bridge.
We had managed our money well and had enough cash on hand for the rest of the day because we knew we could use credit to buy tickets to the airport. One misjudgement then occurred. We had lunch and for the first time on the whole trip the restaurant didn't take credit and we didn't have enough loose cash to pay. We did have some UK pounds but changing it to Euros wasn't that easy. We found put that banks don't change money, you have to go the the money changers (crooks?). So it was a scramble to find one of these outlets where the remaining Sterling was just enough to pay the bill. It was a bit of a mad chase through the street maze to find the money and get back. Fortunately Robin remembered the name of the Campo where we had lunch and after a few slight missteps all was well. Exchange rates for the money changers being what they are it turned out to be a rather expensive and not too marvellous a lunch. We had now lost some time but we hurried back to collect our cases and got to the vaporetto stop in reasonable time.
They are special boats from various places on the island to the Marco Polo airport. Once clear of the land the boat becomes a bit of a speed boat, very exciting. There is then a short walk to the terminal. Check in was quick and efficient and we boarded Easy Jet to Gatwick. It was partially clear and we could see Switzerland quite nicely. We were in to time and the baggage collection was a little more speedy this time. We had booked into a pleasant B and B near the airport. We were collected and taken to the house. After a bit of essential shopping - Marmite - we had a pleasant dinner in a pub near by which was doing a roaring trade.
Up early next morning to check in with Thomas Cook and a direct flight to Vancouver. We had a short wait there before we caught the Comox plane, a long day with the eight hour time change.
The whole trip went very well. Walking in Cornwall was wonderful and Paris and Venice were equally wonderful.
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