Venice and Verona

---

Blog3: Venice

It would be worth remarking at this stage about our photographer who hangs out of ferry
windows, steps to the edge of mossy embankments and orders all humans out of the way. L
likes to have no people, just the building in the shot which is a little difficult in
Venice with 1000s of people everywhere, she waits for the moment or gives them the Julie
Bishop stare, meanwhile the bag carrier is waiting patiently on his designated spot,
knowing he may be rewarded with an ice cream.
Weather is great, low to mid 20s, blue skies and all of our accommodation so far has been
very good. In Venice we are in a side street 2 mins walk from vaporetto (ferry) stop and 3
mins from the main railway station.Our hotel room is spacious spotless and quiet,opening to
a leafy inner garden Not bad for crowded Venice!
It is interesting that we entered Norway and Italy without any visits to immigration or
passport checks, just walked out the front door after we picked up our luggage. imagine
that in Australia. In my next book I'm going to write about life in the baggage claim area,
where people madly finger their rosary beads while praying that their bag will apppear.

Giorno 1:
After checking in we got the hang of the vaporetto system and were quickly off along the
Grand Canal, revisited San Marks Square and walked along the quayside to the Arsenale (Old
arsenal) and had dinner in a ristorante (we can afford them here) had some red vino and a
grande birra,marinara spaghetti and veal,chicken & grilled vegs.We love Venice!

Giorno 2:
Rose for nice hotel brekkie and headed off to the Rialto bridge to stand in the steps of
Galileo et al. We walked and ferried to Scuola Grande di San Rocca which has huge
Tintoretto paintings all over, included one the size of Wimbleton Centre Court on the
ceiling. Back to arsenale to view the excellent Naval museum with the last Doges golden
gondola and finally a visit to Murano, home of the glass making (got a couple of minor
trinkets here). We wrapped up day 2 with a night at the opera at the Scuola Grande di
Teodoro and an excellent meal of more spaghetti marinara and the best ever pizza "con
quattro formaggi-" 4 cheeses.

Giorno 3
Today we leapt up early and headed for the island of Torcello the first area of Venetian
settlement There is a grand church there with amazing mosaic pictures (Dan saved his 5Euros
and had yet another icecream) We then went to Burano,with colourful buildings hugging tiny
canals and lace making.

How to take photos in a museum where photography is banned
In days of old signs said "No Flash", now they say "No Photography" which sends L into
apoplexy.
Some of these tips come from our son Nick.
First you need an accomplice to report the location of museum guards.
The accomplice can distract the guard by witty conservation or feigning illness or dropping
large objects on the floor (use your imagination!)
Don't use a flash.
A second shirt is recommended. When the guard radios ahead to her colleague saying 'watch
out for the serial offender wearing the blue shirt", Lorraine quickly slips into a red
shirt.
If you are caught you should confess your deepest regret to the guard and promise it will
never happen again, then snap away when the guard heads of for a snooze in his chair.
Beware of guards who follow you around (esp in Poland and Czec Repub) these zealots are
hard to distract and your accomplice may have to fall over very hard to cause a distraction
(lessons from circus acrobats could help).

Editorial

Isn't amazing when you enter Australia how you are greeted by humourless sniffer dogs,
immigration, quarantine, customs and multiple scanners. In Europe you just walk straight
out after you pick up your luggage.
In Australia food is held with tongs or rubber gloves (who knows where they have been -
they protect the user not the usee). In Europe shock- horror they hold your ice cream cone
with their bare hands, ice cream eaters are keeling over in the streets.
When you fall over on an uneven/ non existent footpath guess who you can sue-No one. I'm
afraid I prefer Europe's attitude.

Giorno 4: Verona
We caught the early morning Milano express to Verona (70 mins), train travel here is
prompt, reliable and far more comfortable than the Woy Woy to Central After thinking a
little (ie half way through the day we bought a Verona card which gave us entry into all
attractions and free bus (which needed at the the end of day). The local Colosseum isn't
anywhere as good as the one in Rome and is now used as a modern theatre. The best feature
of Verona is the river and the castle. We went to the top of a tower for amazing views of
Verona and later saw another Roman amphitheatre being set up for Shakespeare's Romeo and
Juliet tonight The archaeological museum above had panoramic views over the river and all
sights.L's blisters are so ballooningly bad we ordered Italian takeaway in tonight and we
have had time to finish this Venice Verona Blog

---

Comments

[Nick]

Funny
We found this entry very funny, excellent work. I hope you can find time to go back and caption your photos, it may honestly be quicker to delete them all then upload the lot again in one batch with comments, or you can edit them one by one... good luck Alicia admires Dan's pursuit of ice cream cheerio

[Des & Maureen]

WOT?
Found the deliberate mistake. Dan with no ice cream in shot #DSCN2719! Then again, he doubled up in #DSCN2477. Mama Mia!

[Anne and Phill]

I can't believe it
I just can't believe it that Lorraine you like your photos without people in them. Phillip is constantly saying to me "We can't stand here all day waiting for randoms to move so they are not in your photo" and I say "Yes we can I hate people I don't know or love in my photos"!!!! Loved the blog and I knew Alicia would love the icecream part she shares that passion with you Dan!!!!! I now know where Nick gets his great writing skills from. Keep up the good work we are really enjoying the blogs. Think of us plebs back here in Australia at WORK!!!!! Love to you both.xxxx

[Grant Henry]

Italy
Good to see that the Ice Cream prices are falling - should save you a fortune. We just left Lyon - Capital of Roman France(Gaul). Very old and good but very busy. Heading south to Provence. Grant abd Jo

[Puk]

Venice
It is a lovely city. In the 1960s I ate an icecream in St Marks square which cost me 10 shillings. At the time that was exorbitant beyond belief. I wonder at the price now. Would 5 euros = 10 shillings or have things got cheaper? I agree entirely with your editorial.