Even although I had to wear the same clothes as I travelled in yesterday, I ventured out for a wander around Venice and I loved it. 

The narrow lanes, the old buildings, the architecture, the canals and the atmosphere and although I’ve been told that it’s smelly, I never noticed. But of course I had my own odour issues to contend with. 

Today was cold and after a few hours I had to return to the hotel to get my fleece jacket and gloves. I can’t believe it’s colder here than in Glasgow but at least it’s dry. 

I went into one of the churches today but I decided to spend the day wandering aimlessly around this amazing  city and tomorrow I will venture into a few more. 

And I do like their water taxis. 

What a pleasant surprise tonight when I was reunited with my long lost suitcase. I will be able to walk around Venice tomorrow without being so smelly. However I will still be complaining to BA because I can. 

What a bunch of fucking idiots. Even when you highlight the situation and they forget to put your bag on the plane. Fuckwits….now in going to be smelly in Venice. ……not happy Jan!!!!!!

And so it was still quite wild when we got to Gatwick but we landed thankfully.  We were told to speak to the customer service folk at the connections desk, but it was empty when we got to it as we entered the baggage reclaim area. 

What to do?  I don’t know if my bag will get dropped here or where it might go and there is no one to ask. I see a phone on the wall and chat to a voice that assures me that my bag will not appear here and to go on through. 

Once through I look for one of those friendly customer service people that you see when you watch the TV program,  but alas I never saw anyone. When I finally found BA and explained my problem to the young ladies,  they sent me to the long queue in the corner so that they could help. The next flight to Venice is less than an hour from now and I don’t know if I will get on it. I ask someone for help at the Special Assistance desk, but then demarcation kicks in and she can’t help. I finally get her to rise her fat arse off her chair and we go to the front of the queue and tell them that I need to be dealt with quickly or the next flight will leave. I was told to get in line and wait.

Then fat arse turns and said to me “Your backpack is quite large,  in fact too big to carry on” I just looked at her and turned away. I really do feel that some people are a bit racist down here and just don’t like us Scottish folk, or maybe a bit stupid.  If I had more time for some banter with her I would have had some fun but alas I had more important things to take care of. 

So now I’m on the plane for Venice and I could eat a scabby headed horse even although I managed to grab a quick sandwich before boarding the plane. So I’m hoping I can find some pizza and some wine when I arrive in Venice. 

I shall keep you posted. 

LANDED. ………..

My 9.30 flight left Glasgow on time despite the gale force winds that have been blowing for hours.  The worst of the weather has passed by the time we left and the flight was a little bumpy. As we approached Gatwick the winds picked up because the low pressure system was still causing problems in the south. We tried to land twice and got as low as 500 feet before the pilot sank the welly and climbed out of trouble. Apparently the plane had detected wind shear and so it was impossible to land. 
We are now on our way to Manchester and should arrive in about 20 mins and at this stage I’m not too sure what will happen in regards to my connecting flight to Venice which will have left London by the time we reach Manchester.
So at this stage I have no idea if I will arrive in Venice this evening but I hope the airline can sort something out and get me there tonight. 

How good is this,  I’ve only been home a couple of days and it’s snowing, what a difference a day makes. 

Went down to Largs yesterday and the sea was flat calm and with the snow on the hills it looked magic.

We went for a walk along the front and nearly went on our arse because of the black ice. The sun was shining and it was a great winter’s day. Largs was quiet which made it even more enjoyable.

We had coffee at Nardini’s, the very famous cafe ice cream parlour that’s been part of Largs for over 100 years.  We had coffee and scones and I’ve never eaten scones that were so heavy. 

After brunch we headed south and followed the coast south towards Troon.

The seagulls were happy when it turned out we couldn’t finish our fish n chips. 

We flew right down the Thames last night and London certainly put on a show.

You can see the Shard, The Eye, Tower Bridge and more. Not in this picture below but see if you can see it further down. 

It was a lovely clear night and you could see for miles. 

When we flew over Germany it was very different but I was wondering what the large square light sources were, if you have any ideas then let me know….

Last night I flew into Glasgow around 10 pm. I’d flown from Chiang Mai and I’d been on the go for nearly 24 hours and so by the time I landed here in Glasgow I was a little tired. Ken was picking me up at so I headed to the Holiday Inn Hotel to tap into the free WiFi so I could call him. We confirmed the pick up point and in my haste I did not pick up my lovely bottle of Jura single malt.

I did not realise this of course until we had returned home. When Ken returned from checking the car and said it wasn’t there I really thought he was taking the piss. When the penny finally dropped that I had lost it somewhere I felt very sad and very pissed off.

Today however I am in a happier mood because I returned to the scene of the crime and asked the lovely young lady at reception if a bottle of a very fine Single Malt had been handed in and she said “YES” 

Woo Hoo 

I’m going to buy a lottery ticket today too!!!!!

What more can you say about Black Pudding and chips especially when outside there is sleet. It’s been over 18 months since I have last had such a delicacy and it’s been worth the wait. 

And then for dessert I had ginger bread. What a day of calories I have had 😆