From Venice

Buon giorno. I am in Venice! Its fascinating, exactly as I had imagined and intriguing in a lot of ways. Pigeons take off vertically from alleyways, just like helicopters. People are deeply, deeply tanned. Gondoliers really do wear boater hats, black trousers and blue and white stripy tshirts. It is just like all the postcards. And no, it doesnt smell particularly, nothing beyond the normal watery smell and the odd waft of sewerage that appears in every city Ive ever been in. I will write more when Im back in London... after Vienna, Prague and Berlin. Ciao!