Cruise news: Make use of these amazing Mediterranean cruise deals with MSC, Costa and Royal Caribbean cruise lines. For more information and bookings please email us at cruises@southafrica.to

Email us a write-up of your trip & we'll give you a travel voucher (write more & share pictures for bigger vouchers):
Because, of the previous late night, most of us could only get out of bed around 8 am. And so we rolled out of bed, washed up, had something to eat, posed for a few photographs, and soon we were on our way to Venezia. In Venice, we drove straight to the main entrance port and parked our car in a private parking garage. Since none of the others had been to Venice before, I was the unofficial tour guide, and I led them to St Marks square. We walked through the cobblestone streets of Venice, passing many shops that I had seen before. I remember passing that street near a small square with Lukasz and the girls, whilst looking for masks, and this time, I decided to buy a Venice t-shirt. Here, we also decided to stop and have a bite – and what I liked about this group is that they did not resort to buying food, but rather carried sandwiches, cheese and fruit, - in other words, typical students. So we stopped at this mini square with lots of shops to have lunch, just in front of a choir, which, we waited patiently for. Finally, I became impatient, and said out loud to the others, but not to the choir with a characteristic hand gesture – "And now entertainment" and to my surprise, they started singing. Yes, we thoroughly enjoyed their singing, as we heartily ate our food, and soon they moved on to a new spot. The weather in Venice was funny that day, as it was cloudy and cool, with strong chances of rain when we arrived, so we all had our jackets and warm clothes, and thereafter the sun came out, and it turned into a beautiful day with blue skies and sunshine, and as we decided to leave around 5 or 6 pm, once again the clouds appeared and it started to drizzle. Then we made our way to the Rialto bridge, where to my surprise, I think that this event takes place on a Sunday morning, but many Venetians had taken to the water, and were having a gondola race. Yes, this was quite entertaining to watch, as different gondolas passed us, each with their different uniforms, some representing different countries. After the Rialto bridge, we chose a nice little spot near the water, where we all decided to lie down and rest. Whilst they lay down to rest, I had already created a name for myself to go hunting for magnets and souvenirs. This time, mum had asked for some drawings and paintings, and knowing that the artists positioned themselves close to St Marks square, I quickly snuck away to find some. I found some lovely pictures for her. We then moved to St Mark's square, where I spoke to them about the building, etc, etc and we posed for some crazy photographs. Yes, I love my crazy photographs, as they really do capture the moment. Soon we all tired, and decided to leave, but, Isabel first needed to find Mcdonalds, as we needed their wifi to find accommodation for that evening. I was quite impressed, as I am a traveller, who only moves according to definite bookings and plans. We then stumbled on a cafe, who allowed us to use their wifi, and so we all sat on the pavements outside this cafe – this actually was quite a sight – seeing people sitting on the side walk and all linked onto their phones. Finally, she found a cheap camping place –Camping Jolly, and I mentioned that during my internet searches, that was indeed the cheapest accommodation in Venice, but I had never been there. So Camping Jolly, it was, and we soon were back in the car, on the way to Camping Jolly. We reached Camping Jolly, checked in, and being hungry little Lions, we soon were feasting and having fun. Here I used Mum's technique of going to the restaurant and asking for boiling water – in which I threw a teabag and voila – I had rooibos tea. It was a really lovely and jovial atmosphere, as we all sat, ate and socialised and soon it was time to go to bed. Yes, little did I expect the cold night which awaited me. As I wore my pjs, I quickly booked the extra blanket, as my sixth sense told me that it was going to be cold – then I also decided to wear my jacket inner. And even though I slept in a crouching position – I froze. I could not believe my feet were soooo cold, and in the morning, I quickly rushed to take a shower to unfreeze them. Yes, maybe it was a little too early in the spring for a stay at Camping Jolly. Soon we had breakfast – I think that I had carried maas like yoghurt for my cereal, as I had learnt that that does not go bad as quickly as milk does.

Rizwana

Views expressed here aren't necessarily those of SouthAfrica.TO's.

Air Seychelles increased profit by 139% in its second quarter compared to the second quarter of 2012, and attributes it to the expansion of international flights & revenue from its codeshare and equity partner, Etihad. This bodes well for SAA's strategy, which has been to accumulate a number of codeshare partners.