The time has come and I am finally in Venice. It feels somewhat surreal to be here after the last four months' preparations. In fact I don't know whether to feel excited or nervous! And I have had  a mixture of both emotions ever since I arrived bleary-eyed this morning on the overnight train from Geneva. Nevertheless it has all been very civilised so far, the train journey passed without me even noticing and before I knew it I was in Venice feeling refreshed and my trip could start properly.

Of course nothing could go too smoothly for too long! It was just my luck that that I arrived into what appeared to be the Venetian Rush hour with businessmen and students rushing to work and shouting like mad into mobile phones. Just as I had figured out the way to my hotel, a loevly pigeon decided to take a liberty and poo on my rucksack and splatter me! I always thought this was meant to be a sign of goodluck and by god I need all the luck in the work if I am to get to Beijing on time, but that really felt like bad luck. Now I know why they say it brings good luck since it somewhat alleviates the annoyance. One of my first jobs of this trip therefore was to remove it in the middle of the Venetian rush hour without looking too much of a prat.

I continued on lugging my overpacked rucksack through intricately conencted streets and alleys to the little hotel I had booked in Santa Croce. Fortunately this was extremely pleasant and had a shower so that I could clean myself up properly. Bird poo challenge 1 completed successfullly.

One of the things I enjoyed last time I was in Venice a few years ago was the fact that a map is completely useless around Venice and in fact only serves to get you more lost that you already are. So I have spent the rest of the morning walking through the delightful Venetian streets stopping for a coffee at anywhere that looks charming and without a gaggle of tourists or 15 year old Italian Art History students. It does help that I can communicate vaguely in Italian too. I have also quickly got to work photographing Venice at every opportunity but sadly the internet cafe owner wont let me upload any and my Italian isnt sufficiently good to argue with him. I do hope it will prove easier to do elsewhere!

Anyway thats my first excuse of a post and Im not even halfway through day 1, but more to follow (with photos hopefully!)

Thanks for all your messages of support and good luck too! Do get in contact, especially if you are travelling a similar route!!