The Adventures of Vince the Cat - Vince Goes Motor Racing in Italy

Vince had just woken up after an amazing dream, he’d been dreaming a lot recently of faraway travels.

Heidi whispered to him, “morning sleepy head, we’re off to Italy today!”

Sure enough a few hours later after they’d landed at the airport they were in a water-taxi speeding along the canals to get to their next destination. They were in Venice! Vince of Venice!

Vince liked the sound of that. He watched as the ancient buildings went by and the water-taxi stopped at one jetty after another, letting people off and picking up new passengers, many of them carrying their cameras.

Heidi started practising her Italian accent by reading aloud some of the information from the brochure the hotel had sent them.

“Palazzo Gritti, affacciato sul Canal Grande nel cuore di Venezia, vanta una delle vedute più interessanti sulla città della Laguna.”

“Vince, from our room we should be able to see the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, Punta della Dogana and Santa Maria della Salute Basilica as well as the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.”

Vince was only half listening to the details; he was listening to the musical lilt of Heidi’s voice as she pronounced the Italian words that made it sound like the most exciting country on earth.

He was looking forward to his stay in Venice and he was really looking forward to visiting the home of motor racing in Italy; ‘Il Autodromo Nazionale di Monzo.’

Vince loved motor racing, he often sat on Heidi’s lap when she watched the races on the television.

The sound that the cars made racing round the track, the speed that they went and even the occasional bumps in which luckily nobody ever seemed to be badly hurt. Vince knew that motor racing had been made so much safer nowadays compared to several years ago. As he looked at the amazing ancient buildings that lined their route, he felt his tummy flutter with excitement.

Before he knew it, they had arrived at the private pier for their hotel and he was scampering up the stairs into the reception area where the concierge greeted the pair.

“Benvenuti! Benvenuti a Gritti Palace Hotel. Vi siamo grati per aver scelto questo hotel per il vostro soggiorno a Venezia.” Said the concierge.

“Grazie mille. Non vediamo l’ora di passare qui i prossimi giorni.” Heidi replied.

Vince was baffled as he couldn't understand anything Heidi was saying. The concierge checked them in and then showed them to their room.

Dating from 1475, this noble palace and luxury hotel is a place with wonderful art and elegance that still feels like a private home. A historical treasure where heritage and culture blend with renewed Venetian style.

“Qui al Gritti Palace potrete godere del nostro accogliente e cortese servizio, così come della nostra deliziosa cucina”. He said.

They were both super excited and couldn’t wait to start their new adventure in this beautiful city. Their room was lovely with shutters that opened out to give them a view onto the canal.

there was a large selection of meat and cheeses, fruit and lovely fresh bread that smelled delicious. Vince had his own food but Heidi did give him a little bit of some of the tasty meat that was nicely laid out on a platter.

“Allora Vince, oggi facciamo un giro in gondola.”

Heidi laughed as Vince put his head on one side, the way he always did when he didn’t quite understand.

As they were eating their breakfast, Heidi pointed down to where a long thin boat that was going along the canal in front of them. A man in very smart looking clothing with a very long pole was expertly moving his gondola forward, heading for the jetty where he would be ready for a day of taking people up-and-down the canals of Venice.

“Questa è una gondola, Vince.” Heidi said. “They are really a very exciting part of the scene here in Venice and we’re going to go on one!”

Vince who had been having a nice drink of milk looked up at Heidi who laughed at his little milk moustache and the drops of milk that clung to his whiskers.

Vince peered over the terrace and caught a glimpse of his reflection in the water below, he immediately set about cleaning his whiskers and licking away his milk moustache.

Out of the hotel Vince followed Heidi along pavements that were already getting quite busy with tourists who were pouring out of the hotels in the city. Around every corner they found something new to look at, and Vince just kept staring down at the foundations of the buildings. He thought it was incredible that, after all these years, they were still standing. As they reached a jetty a little way from their hotel, Vince recognised the gondola they had seen earlier. He ran over to it, and Heidi knew what he was up to.

She laughed.

“Okay Vince we’ll go on this one.”

“Mi scusi, quanto costerebbe un giro di un’ora in gondola?” She said.

“100 euro.” The gondolier said and Heidi got some money out of her purse.

As the gondolier offered his hand to Heidi to help her into the little boat, Vince jumped nimbly from the jetty onto the seat that was covered in bright coloured material. As he’d been on a boat before, he wasn’t scared at all.

Soon they were off! The gondolier stood up at the back of his gondola and pushed his long punting pole into the water where it hit the bottom and he was able to push the gondola through the water.

Vince loved it. He ran to the front of the gondola and stood looking out ahead of them. The sun was up now and more people were around. The canal seemed almost as busy as a normal road back home! Heidi had asked the gondolier to take them to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum first and they arrived there quite soon. As they paid for the ticket Heidi said.

“Ha una guida, per favore?”

“Come no!” The woman replied.

“La ringrazio!” Heidi said, taking the book.

As Vince looked around at the paintings that were all around them, Heidi read to him from the brochure.

“The collection in this museum is based principally on the personal art collection of a lady called Peggy Guggenheim who was married to an artist called Max Ernst and who’s uncle was the mining magnate, Solomon R. Guggenheim.

Peggy Guggenheim bought a lot of artwork in Europe just at the beginning of World War II after that she brought paintings in America and was credited with discovering American artist Jackson Pollock.”

As they wandered around the museum, Vince understood what Peggy Guggenheim saw in the paintings she collected. They were absolutely beautiful and you could see that Heidi was really enjoying their visit. When they emerged into the sunlight again their gondolier was waiting for them, and as they set off towards the Basilica he started to sing.

Ma n’atu sole cchiù bello, oi ne’,

’O sole mio sta nfronte a te!

’O sole, ’o sole mio

Sta nfronte a te, sta nfronte a te!