When I made my last post I'd completely forgotten to tell you about G & I's trip to Italy in September. How could I forget! This was my third visit to Italy this year (Milan, Venice & in the middle of no-where but vaguely near Perugia). We had an amazing time. We chilled out by the pool, we ate well, we slept well, we ......, well you get the picture! Apart from the mad drivers, and I'm discounting G at this point everything was good! Those Italian drivers, sheesh, they are loco! They just drive in the middle of the road & completely ignore the speed limits even though there appears to be speed cameras everywhere. Probably just for us Johnny Foreigners.
Anyway, we visited Siena, Lake Tresimeno & did a spot of wine tasting at Montepulciano. Mmmmmmmmmmm, except, we could see the grapes, we were almost within touching distance of them but the wine cellars were few and far between. The scenery was breathtaking and seeing as I bought a calendar, I can re-live it every day next year. Oh yes, the calendar purchase....when I had viewed nearly every calendar in Siena G lost the plot and said in a slightly loud voice, 'JUST GET ONE, THEY'RE ALL THE SAME!!' Ok ok, keep your wig on! 
Probably the only downside was that at the house, a Belgium family had the most adorable Old English Sheepdog puppies, yes, two bundles of fun. G has a phobia of dogs to the max, which I really feel for him about. Luckily after G explained to them the problem they ensured the dogs were always restrained. But I so desperately wanted to play with them! It was difficult but I knew I couldn't do it. 
Ah, but now my big news......drum roll please! G has finally asked me to live with him. I say finally because we've been talking around this subject for some months now. I knew he wanted to but G is ultra cautious and he wanted to be 100% certain, which is fair enough. He is going to buy a house for us & I will let mine. So we are going 'area shopping' at the weekend, and I'm very excited! I love moving house, I'm a freak, I know.
Poor Charlie who is already jealous of G will have his little nose put out of joint, but hey, he's a cat, he'll have to get over it. And yes, G has agreed to let me have a craft room, I know, MY OWN CRAFT ROOM!!!!!!!
So, early start for E & I on Saturday. The plane was on time and nothing unusual happened on the way...all well and good. Landed at Marco Polo airport and the heat hit us, 29 degrees and the humidity was up on the ceiling. We caught the bus into Venice and then managed to find the Vaperetto's (water bus) easily. Arriving at your hotel on a water bus is a new experience for me. We then lugged our cases over the Rialto Bridge and spent the next half an hour finding our hotel which was located down the narrowest of side streets.
After having a shower we hit the streets for a cold frosty one and then the rain started to fall, and fall, and fall! Thunder & lightening and those stone & marble steps became really slippy! Venice in the rain wasn't what I had planned for and it isn't a city that's really designed for that. All the beautiful canals and streets loose their sparkle and become grey and un-interesting. Even St Marks lost it's luster that even a coffee costing E8.50 wouldn't be able to re-capture.
The rain did stop and we headed back for dinner. We fell in our beds expecting to sleep the sleep of the dead but no, there was this huge lamp directly outside our window. We both tossed and turned. E put her head under the sheets and I had a flannel over my eyes to block the light out. The next morning after complaining the receptionist asked why we hadn't closed the shutters? Shutters?, what shutters???? D'oh!!
The next morning we caught several Vaperettos over to Murano. We looked around the glass museum and then went on the bead hunt. And to be truthful it was a bit disappointing. A couple of shops had some beads but on the whole it was other glass in various forms. We met some lovely people who were happy to chat and a few not so nice ones who tried to pressurise us into buying a very expensive polar bear sculptures and chandeliers (do I look like I have that sort of cash to spend?) E had incidents with young and old slimy men, one who suggested she could have something for free if SHE did something for free!!!! =:0( We then travelled onto Burano who's claim to fame is its brightly coloured houses. These were beautiful, so we sat back, had a drink and an ice cream to chill out....only for E to find a piece of glass in her ice cream. It just wasn't her day was it!
Finally, our last day was spent snapping St Marks in the sun and wandering around the back streets which were lovely and cool. Someone must have been smiling on us and we happened to find two shops selling beads and the people in there were lovely. After spending a fortune we had some lunch by a beautiful canal where 2 Gondoliers were plying their trade. Pity the older, greasy one had his flies open! Imagine being flashed on a gondola down a back canal!!!!! We navigated the tiny maze-like streets back to the Rialto Bridge to pick up our luggage and begin to say our goodbyes. 
Venice IS beautiful, but it is spoilt too. The Rialto Bridge has graffiti on it & everything is so expensive. We sat in a little cafe and had two cans of cold drink and it was E7.40. This is out of place even for central London. Also, there's no-where to sit and watch the world go by as there are no benches. So it's either keep walking or spend a kings ransom on drinks in a side cafe. I also think the WOW factor has been lost as it's such a popular photographic topic. If I hadn't seen the Basilica before I'm sure I would have gasped in delight.
When G & I were in Las Vegas we had a gondola ride at the Venetian Hotel. It was expensive and quite short but it was very romantic. The Gondolier explained a few things and sang to us. We kissed under the bridge and said loving things to each other. By comparison, the people in Gondolas in Venice looked a little non-plussed. Usually one party was taking video footage or photos, or the gondola was being sidled upto by 3 Vaperettos and on one occasion the Gondolier was on his mobile. I didn't hear one of them sing.....such a shame!
I enjoyed Venice, but I'm not sure whether I would go back again.
So I hope you've been checking out my jewellery on 
The weather all week had been very poor, as in pouring with rain! And I was concerned that it wasn't going to be a nice day out but the morning bought sunshine which lasted all day. 
Ladies day was the day before so I was really surprised to see so many ladies in vibrant hats, very, very high heels and beautiful dresses. Fortunately I had made some sort of effort and didn't feel completely out of place.
The first race we couldn't see because we decided to go to the top of the Grandstand but there were just too many people. We found a more suitable viewing spot for the rest of the day. G placed his bets with the bookies but I took the more restrained approach by betting on the tote. We both had 2 wins in the day, but his bet paid 4/1 where the mean tote only paid 2.5/1 :-(
The first rule of gambling is to never change your mind on who you're going to bet on. I broke this rule to my own cost and missed out on a 9/1 winner! Drat!
