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Published: September 5th 2007
Us in Venice
The view from San Marco Piazza...We have spent a week travelling around Italy. We had another day in Florence before heading down to Roma where we had 3 nights. We then turned around and made our way to Venice for 2 more days.
Our second day in Florence had another long queue in store for us. The line for Galleria Uffizi (contains many famous Italian art) had people running for the line at only 8 in the morning. It took about 2 hours to get to the front but it was worth it for the amazing artwork inside, even though neither of us are really into art that much, we did manage to recognise a few (not by name or artist but "oh, I've seen that before"). The only problem was that it was another gallery where you could not use cameras at all. Other places we have been have said no flash but to say no photos at all appears more like a commercial decision, not one to protect the works. Some of the most amazing work was on the ceilings which made it a bit dangerous to walk around.
For lunch we had hoped to go back to a place listed in
The Colosseum
No gladiators unfortunately but still impressive... the Lonely Planet that we found the day before but only after it had closed (lunch only). It was still closed and looked like it was 'closed' permanently. So we went back to the same place we had had dinner the night before and had another pizza and tasty pasta before heading back to the van and heading south for Rome.
We over estimated how long it would take us to get to Rome so spent another night in the van on the coast just outside of Roma. It was in a nice little suburb with lots of dog walkers and even a lady walking her horse! Next day we arrived at the camp ground and checked into our little bungalow with ensuite and had our much needed showers before heading into town. We only had the half day so we headed for the Colosseum and the Forum. The Colosseum was pretty amazing but the Forum was just more Roman ruins (been there done that in Ephesus, Turkey) but I suppose it was worth seeing them actually in Rome. We headed back to the camp ground for dinner and waited ages in the restaurant for service before giving up
Impressive Halls, Vatican City
Again the roof seems to take the take the limelight... and getting takeaway pizzas. We were a bit annoyed as the website and brochures indicated there was a BBQ area where we could cook our own food but it was a BBQ you could buy food from, not cook your own.
Second day in Rome was a huge self guided walking tour in incredible heat. We packed cheese tomato and cucumber sandwiches to save costs and headed out. We first saw Piazza Spagna, where all the pretty people used to hang out hoping to be chosen to be models for artists. There were heaps of people hanging out on the stairs but perhaps only because of the shade. We then saw the Trevi Fountain which was amazing. We tossed our coins in over our shoulders - one for our return to Rome and the next for a wish. It´s the biggest fountain with statues and everything, lovely to just sit and watch for a while.
Next stop was the Pantheon which was incredible! And FREE! Amazing to walk through a place that is so old and so well preserved (on the inside anyway). The centre of the dome roof is open and when it rains, water drains away
Late night dancing in Venice
Spontaneous ballroom dancing in a pretty piazza in Venice... pretty awesome... through 22 holes in the floor. Apparently restoration work has been going on since about the 1920s without the use of any scaffolding - they use very skilled rock climbers. Just amazing as everywhere we´ve been there has been scaffolding covering at least one thing we wanted to see. The thing is, here, the scaffolding on some buildings is covered with draping printed with a full scale photo of what is underneath the scaffolding. Pretty clever.
We then wandered around another part of town with some interesting buildings including one with the eternal flame for the unknown soldier. It then started to get too hot so we tried to find an internet cafe. No luck but we did find a church with heaps of goths dressed up and hanging around. We sat and people watched for a while then stuck our head inside the church and saw a wedding going on. Too packed to fit in so we headed off. Caught a bus (air conditioned) towards the university hoping there we would find internet. We jumped off quickly when we saw a park with a pond with people hanging their feet in. It was a concrete lined pond with
The Roman Forum
Ruins, Ruins and more Ruins... You could tell this place would have been the happening place 2000 or so years ago... a fountain in the middle and the water was freezing! So refreshing. A dog came along and thought it was refreshing too so got in for a walk around. So funny to see his owner helpless at the side calling him.
There were no internet cafes near the university (might have been if it was a week day) so we went back to where we had seen a place for dinner. THERE we found an internet cafe and spent some time working up an appetite in air conditioned comfort. Dinner was tasty spaghetti with seafood and more lasagna. What a day! Headed home to bed but it took a while as the buses don´t come that often later at night.
Third Day in Rome was the last Sunday of the month so the thing to do is to line up to get into the Vatican Museums free (usually 13 Euro each). We lined up for about an hour and a half (easy!) before making it through the front gates. FINALLY we were in a museum that lets you take photos (just no flash). There were amazing tapestries about 4m by 5m a few hundred years old in near
Trevi Fountain
Now that's a fountain... perfect condition! Amazing ceilings again and we were headed to the Sistine Chapel. There were rooms painted with scenes on every surface and there were rooms all black with small paintings on only some walls and there was even an Egyptian exhibit with a 3000 year old mummy. The Sistine Chapel was amazing. No photos though but heaps of people were sneaking some off so we were sneaky too (no flash of course). You couldn´t not really.
Afterwards we headed to Saint Peter´s Basilica and Cathedral. The open space itself in front of the cathedral is huge. We got in through the metal detectors and followed the signs to the copula (the dome). There was a line so we thought we were in the right place. We ended up seeing a sign that said it cost 5 Euro to climb the stairs or 7 Euro for the lift - but after the lift you have to climb a further 320 steps. Lew was the valiant hero and climbed the steps while I waited on a bench in the shade. An hour later Lew came back and said it was NOT worth going up. We could have just gone into
Altar of the Fatherland
Had the Eternal Flame of the Unknown Soldier, a monument to the deaths of Italians in WWI... the cathedral and seen the copula from the bottom instead of the top. He did get some great photos of the square and the town though. Inside the cathedral was beautiful. Again, art on every wall, beautiful ceilings, old statues... starting to feel a bit "been there, done that" with the cathedrals and art but it´s still impressive.
The next day we headed off for Venice. As Venice itself is car free we decided to park the van for free in Venice Mercer which is a quick train ride away. It was a bit of a challenge to find somewhere to park but we eventually found somewhere after weaving through the streets for a bit.
We arrived in Venice in the afternoon of our first day there. We didn't really have a plan so we just got a ferry to San Marco Piazza (which is supposedly the touristy thing to do). The Piazza itself wasn't anything to get excited about, in fact the ferry ride there was more exciting as we got a first hand taste of Venice City. After a bit of window shopping around the expensive shops lining the Piazza we decided to head into the
The Vatican Muesum Line
Ok new trip record... this is the longest line we've seen. We took a video walking the length of it and it went for 5mins... maze of lanes and canals that is Venice. It wasn't long before we realised that Venice is one big shopping paradise with so many shops and cafes / restaurants squeezed into every available bit of land. As we mazed through the shops we figured out where we were going to have dinner (potentially our last night in Italy) and managed to find gelati as well 😊 We eventually made it back to the main train station for a breather before we headed back in for dinner. Pizza and bruschetta was the choice and it was good. After dinner we thought we would stroll around. We managed to get lost but eventually found our way (after a few lanes ending up a canals). Somehow we stumbled into a bar that had a courtyard out the back, where believe it or not, a drag queen singing (lip syncing) / dancing competition was on. We hung around for a while and saw some weird costumes and acts with some pretty ordinary lip syncing going on, but it was quite entertaining. Anyway it was getting late so we headed back to get a train back home. We stumbled into a pretty little piazza where
Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo wasn't just a party dude... there were a bunch of Venetians doing some beautiful ballroom dancing, just on the cobblestones, to recorded classical music. It was quite intriguing watching them all dance around with some very good dancers amongst them. We eventually made it to the train station and to the Van to sleep.
The second day we had decided we wanted to head to the Venice Lido. It's the beach along a thin stretch of land on an island off Venice. As it turned out the weather was too cold and cloudy so we decided on more wandering town but this time more off the beaten track. We walked past an Island Cemetery and many other pretty piazza's and building before getting lunch. We found a little takeaway pizza place were we got a large pizza and shared it sitting on the edge of a canal in a small little piazza. After that we said farewell to Venice and Italy and headed off for the Austrian Border.
Cheers,
Lew and Holly
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