Bridge One Hundred - Ponte de Gheto Novo - We've made it!

We rounded a corner leading out of the square and there it was - bridge number one hundred, the Ponte de Gheto Novo! For a moment we stood still at the foot of its wide cast iron arch, and as if on cue a bunch of boisterous teenagers came rushing across the bridge looking like they were sent to welcome us home, their footsteps clattering loudly on the metal steps. We started slowly up the steps, savouring the moment and pausing at the bridge's crest to look out over the canal where the lights illuminating the Fondamenta dei Ormesini alongside it shimmered in the water.

It was a fine moment. Footsore, suffering from mild sunburn and hungry we felt slightly lost, the way a long-distance athlete feels after completing a marathon. And a marathon it was - we'd climbed more than two thousand steps to get to this point. Yet the satisfaction gained from completing the day successfully made it all worthwhile.

We'd done something no one has previously done consciously - walked across and photographed one hundred bridges in Venice in a day. It was a personal challenge for me, to accomplish something a bit extraordinary like this. It wasn't a race and I won't get into the Guinness Book of Records, but I still felt proud, both of myself and Adeline. As a couple we'd made history for ourselves as well.

From the last bridge we crossed, it was a slow walk along the canal and through a neighbourhood fast asleep to the deserted S. Alvise vaporetto stop. Along the way, we shared the last few drops in Adeline's water bottle and found half a chocolate bar in her backpack to help give us a final burst of energy to get home. At the vaporetto station, waiting for the boat to arrive we could see the faint lights of Murano in the distance across the water winking at us, calling us to bed. We'd reached our goal, the job was done. We'd conquered one hundred bridges in Venice.

If you'd like to read the full story of the Challenge, you can find the e-book with details of all one hundred bridges on Amazon Kindle Store.