When in Italia “eseguito a Venezia”
22nd June 2015
(0) Leave a commentI was fortunate enough to travel to Venice recently on business (honest). So I did what I always do – packed my trainers 🙂
There is no better way of getting a real feel for a place than exploring on foot. The sights, sounds and smells give you a sense of the atmosphere and help embed the destination in your memory.
By a quirk of fate, it was almost 25 years to the day that I’d last visited Venice during a truly amazing Interrail trip with 3 mates. You can still do this and I’d recommend to anyone! I’ve never forgotten the four of us ambling around, discovering such wonders as Piazza San Marco, Rialto Bridge, Ca D’Oro – the incredible gothic palace etc. Neither have I forgotten the incredibly moving sound of baroque musicians playing Mozart on the Rialto Bridge after 10pm: 4 Liverpool lads joining tourists and locals to listen.
I have to admit to taking my running trainers, shorts & top to other places and not always having the time or inclination to go for a blast. But like I had done in Finland, this was different.
I decided to rise about 90 mins before required and just enjoy a bright early morning jog. Venice is so small and a real maze of a place, so finding myself doubling back from dead-ends was part of the fun. So too was pausing to take some pics. I only saw one other person out running in the hour I was enjoying the freedom of the place – whereas in any other city or town in the world I’ve gone running, I’ll see many fellow runners. No doubt this is because of the layout and confined space.
A lovely morning temperature of about 15C plus a slight breeze off the Adriatic Sea made this a real pleasure. It was a flat as a pancake too.
I returned to a shower and a continental breakfast, fully energised for the working day ahead – and slightly smug that I’d been out for a run 🙂 Hopefully I won’t be leaving it another 25 years…
