We had a great 2nd day in Venice. We went in around 3pm to avoid the heat of the day- it was still extremely hot. We went with an Australian couple to Venice for the day so that we could share a gondola to bring the price down as it is 80 euro for 30 mins. We decided to walk in the opposite direction from the previous day which was a lot quieter than the main street. At times we were the only people down a street. Being away from the crowds was enjoyable and relaxing. We had no map so just followed our nose. It’s weird cos you will be walking along an empty lane and there will be a little shop which seemed as though it was in the middle of nowhere. But this was quite common. Eventually we stumbled upon a gelato shop. This time i got coffee and vanilla. So much better than the day before- who would have thought it was possible! We sat by one of the canals watching gondolas go past. We went for a gondola ride in the late afternoon as it was too hot to go earlier. The gondola went down small canals and then out onto the main canal which was very choppy. It was a nice thing to do but for the price i don't know if it was worth it- glad we split it 6 ways, but of course you have to do it. I think punting on the Avon at home is far nicer. After that we went to the supermarket to get things for our ferry ride. We got some salad for tea and ate it by the canal. We then got the bus home at 9.30 so we got to see Venice at night- very pretty. On the way home on the bus we could see massive lightening- way more intense than salzburg. As soon as we got to the camping ground it poured down and our tent was at the back. Steph convinced the maintenance man to give us a ride on his golf cart car- so funny i was falling off the seat made for two people- steph had to hold onto me around the corners. What was funny was that jess and katene ran for it and bet us. We had some drinks on jess and katene's tent with matt and karisha. Then when the rain stopped went to the camp bar for a dance. The next morning we left for Ancona at 8am. We got into ancona at 2.30 and went straight to the port to get our ferry tickets. We got on the ferry at 4pm and asked where we are meant to go. They said to the deck on level 11. We got up there and realized that we were meant to spend the entire 25hr journey sitting on the concrete deck literally with no shelter from the wind sun or rain. We were not happy people it was so windy. Others on the deck had airbeds. We thought this is ridiculous we will pay to upgrade. Katene went down to enquire while us girls sat dismayed. He came back and said we have to wait til the ferry leaves to see if there are seats available. Me and steph went for a look around and asked the desk again if we could upgrade. They said that our tickets allowed us to sit in the airseats lounge on the 7th floor. We ran up to tell the others and hurried down with our bags. We got two big seats each and there were shelves to put our bags. We were so happy but didn't want to get our hopes up until the ferry left and no one told us to leave. The ferry didn't leave until 6.30pm- we could finally relax our seats were safe. I had a shower then we went to the restaurant for a very average meal while our seats and table shook the whole time from the boat. We went up to the deck to find people sleeping out there-some even had tents-now there's a thinker. People were sleeping all over the place in the corridors, we so happy to have our seats. I used the sleeping bag for the first time- thanks katie. I had a surprisingly good sleep lying across two seats. It was jess bday the next day so we had a surprise party pirate themed with a cake, masks, singing candles, badge and banner. We got off the boat at 5pm a very long day-but went fast considering. Then we had to get a bus from patras to athens for three hours. Patras is a very dodgy place, very dirty and no one around-graffiti everywhere. The bus to Athens was interesting they drive worse than Bangkok. Not a pretty drive, very ugly even though it is along the coast. The hills looked like old forestry hills with clay end ugly trees dotted around- no grass and unfinished motorways everywhere. We got into athens at 10pm.
