Tue - 17/09/19 - plus some entries for missed days.

Saturday September 07

In the morning I took a stroll along the beach side walkway. I went south west-ish (?) for about 1400 metres. On the way back I saw Steven & Wendy Doxey beside the pool of their hotel. It looks like Steven has superglued his tooth back in. I stopped at a beachside café and ordered a Caffe Correcto, oops! I meant Caffe Cortado, I discovered that Caffe Correcto comes with a shot of Grappa within!

I asked at hotel reception about taxis from Eraclea. The guy reckoned it might cost about €30 so that’s a bit prohibitive. I noted that there are umbrellas in the hotel doorway. That might be useful for tomorrow. I strolled up to the bus station and found out that I could buy a €3.50 return ticket to Eraclea Stadium and use it on the EMACS buses. I’ve had sleepless nights fretting about the buses. I didn’t want to pay €24 for a weekly bus pass. The event organisers kept it quiet that you could use the buses and just buy a single or return ticket. So, I got the bus (they leave on the hour) and, on the bus, I saw Pat Gallagher, Iris Holder and Dorothy Fraser on their way to Caorle. At Eraclea I checked the location of the call room. That was all I really needed to do. I did have time to see John Watts, one of our 80-year-old throwers, collect a silver medal. Since I now know that I can use the EMACS buses at a daily rate that was the end of my reconnaissance mission. I jumped on a return bus to Lido di Jesolo to watch the men’s 1500 metres finals. I met up with Katie & Barry and Sue and Alan plus one or two other chums., including scatter-brained Elio Lepore, Mel James and Pete Mountain. I left the stadium after seeing my age group run and headed for the Royal Oak. I had had my breakfast quite late this morning – at about 09:30. Even so, having fasted for nearly 12 hours I wasn’t particularly hungry. Nevertheless, I had my usual steak, fries and a mixed salad with a couple of Peroni and a glass of red wine… oh, and some strawberry cake. I was back in my room soon after 8pm for a long night’s snooze.

The pesky TV came on at midnight. While flicking through the TV channels I must have pressed a wake up/alarm button somehow. I hope I can figure this one out before the end of next week.

Tuesday September 10

Today was the Venice trip day. I aimed to get the 09:45 bus from Piazza Trieste which is the closest bus stop to my hotel. I was using the smartphone app to buy tickets and once again it was a little bit dodgy because I had a couple of fails. However, it all worked out OK in the long run. I met Andrew and Ros on the bus which was extremely crowded. I learned how to use the bar code scanner to open the barriers at the water bus stops. The touristy areas were immensely crowded. I escaped from the throngs at the Rialto Bridge by water bus. I did a loop around Venice from Piazzale Roma on the number two vaporetto and disembarked at Zattere. Coincidentally Zoe had been there too. I met Wendy & Steven Doxey at Chiesa di San Barnaba and shortly after that had some tapas at a fairly grotty café (but at least they had a loo). It was next door to Trattoria Al Canton Ca' Foscari but didn’t deserve a mention anywhere. I headed back towards Piazzale Roma and stumbled upon a great find. The Bacareto da lele which did a pork roll and a red wine for €1.70. I tried to get on the 15:35 bus from Piazzale Roma to Lido but the grumpy bus driver said “this bus is closed”. So I went back to Bacareto da lele and had another roll and glass of red. I got the 16:05 bus which got me back to Lido Di Jesolo at 17:30. I had an ice cream at Gelateria Colombina, a Gelateria near to the Royal Oak. I then went down to the beach and had a couple of beers and a plate of fries. I also met Steve and Chris Smith (again).
Thursday September 12

I had breakfast al fresco on the balcony, so did some wasps and mosquitoes. I went to the pool area quite late. 11:45 maybe. I spent three hours there. Lunch was a café macchiato and a Bacardi and coke zero at the beach chiosco. Later in the afternoon I walked up to the stadium and watched the men’s 200 metres finals. I had a meal in the Royal Oak with Barrie and Katie. All sorts of other people turned up too, including Ann Wheeler and Fiona Jane Bishop and Andrew Garner (Leicester City supporter).