Day 3 – Sunday 29 March
After a more leisurely start to the day, it’s back to the vaporetto for the group’s second visit to Venice. I take the group through the city, walking over lots of quaint little bridges, until we reach the Musical Instruments Museum. After a good look around, we cross the oh-so famous Grand Canal for our visit to the Gallerie dell’Accademia – a museum gallery filled with beautiful Venetian art. Everyone was rather taken by the paintings (and thankful for the humidifiers!).
Our journey continues to our next concert venue at the grand church, San Stae, stopping for a little souvenir shopping on the way. With lots of soloists singing today, the church’s fantastic acoustics really helped to project the group’s voices and, once again, the audience were very appreciative.
With the performance over we walk back along the winding alleys, stopping for some authentic Italian gelato (de-licious!) and an impromptu number for the café owners.
The perfect way to end the day.
Day 4 – Monday 30 March
Another lovely day! The Italian sun is shining and everyone is relaxing before the group’s third performance, this time at the Gabriele d’Annunzio school. What a reception – the group feel like celebrities as the curtains part! When the show finishes the Italians shower them with questions, giving the group a real boost.
After a quick change of clothes back at the hotel, it’s off to take our private (yes, private!) boat to the islands. We sail for Murano, also known as the Glass Island, where glass has been made for over 700 years. The group have a really interesting explanation of how the glass is blown with a demonstration by the glassblower who makes a plate and a horse. It’s certainly impressive work. We finish with a visit to the showroom to peruse the souvenirs, then make our way to the pretty little island of Burano and its colourful houses.
We walk down the main street and I take the group to another gelateria with lots of lovely flavours to choose from. You can’t go wrong with kids and ice cream (or adults for that matter)! We continue down the street and come across another souvenir stall where the group sweep the stall clean of all the teddy bears.
Feeling pleased with the day, we head back to the hotel. No doubt lots of children will be snuggling up to their teddy bears tonight.
Day 5 – Tuesday 31 March
It’s time to bid farewell to Venice. After everyone’s packed up their belongings (not forgetting our souvenirs), we walk down to the beach for a paddle in the sea and treat ourselves to, you guessed it, more gelato! How could we not on our last day?
We all say ciao to the Hotel Bepi as we head for the airport, and hello England as we land back in the UK. Bags collected, we board the coach for our journey home, with everyone full of tales to tell and photos to show.
Until next time Venice!