Blogs from Venice, Veneto, Italy, Europe
May 18th 2012
The Rialto fish market this morning was amazing. I have never seen such an incredible selection of sea creatures in such quantities. Some of the creatures were so fresh they were still twitching, which was a little disturbing in some cases like lobster or mermaid. To get to the market from our side of the canal there is a little 50 cent gondola, which is quite fun. You stand the whole way and try not to gyrate against anyone too vigorously with the rocking of the gondola. We bought a fish to have this evening, and got some vegetables at the produce market, which was also very impressive. In these markets you have to push to the front and order in very authoritative Italian or you don't get service. We did not get service. Italians are ... read more
May 17th 2012
It has been pointed out to me by an astute reader that almost all of my posts involve a lot of tiramisu, and that is obviously because it is delicious. It is probably also because eating lots of sweets is a good way to feel better about having to leave Braedon behind to struggle away working in the ICU. There was no tiramisu today, but never fear, I had plenty of treats. Up early, the plan being to catch the vaporetti and take it through the grand canal to St. Mark's square. There are many routes going every which way, and with our 60 minute passes in hand we got on a vaporetti that did in fact go to St. Mark's square but not via the grand canal, but instead via the industrial district. This was ... read more
May 16th 2012
Correction: Yesterday I failed to mention in addition to spending ONE week here for a course, my mother spent an additional THREE weeks living here last year (one of three previous trips to Venice before this one), which begins to explain the astonishing knowledge of Venice and its art. And churches. Big storm last night. Apparently, in Italy, the day you arrive somewhere the weather is great, then your first night there's a thunderstorm and the second day is cold and cloudy and you have to go to a bunch of churches and museums. I think my mother has a deal with Zeus. Our bedrooms have skylights and it was very pleasant to lay in bed this morning and listen to the howling wind and pit pat of rain on my skylight. This resulted in a ... read more
May 15th 2012
Goodbye Verona. My parents had purchased a package of several train passes for all of us, and there was some stress to make sure they were activated correctly, and so we hustled and bustled to get to the station in time for the complications and rudeness one associates with public service employees. After a hitch or two we were actually able to catch an earlier train. Our first class ticket included a weensie little espresso and a bag of cookies. I love train travel. Much more humane than planes. No one in a cheap polyester suit ever paws my abdomen to see if I'm wearing a seatbelt while I'm sleeping on a train. After an hour we arrived in Venice and it was hard to see the city with the rolling waves of obese Americans spilling ... read more
May 15th 2012
We survived the night, and now we are on course for Venice. Thank goodness the blue sky is back and the sun is shining. Everyone was fighting for a good spot as we made the approach, but I pushed them all out of the way and took about 500 photos (I'll show them all off when I get back), and then we set off to see the sights. We began with Bellinis at Harrys Bar (at last I can say I have lived!) and finished with vino at Cafe Florian (my favourite place in the world). Perfect day! Dinner at Muranos with lobster flambed at the table - it's a hard life! No show tonight just the Russian personality who's had a personality bypass. In answer to Sally, Lorraine sang all female black vocalist songs not ... read more
May 12th 2012
Day 1 - To Venice Another traveling day and another early start! A few train changes later and we arrived in Venice!! We checked in to our hotel which was one that Chris had stayed at previously. He had mentioned that when we booked and it looked like it payed off as we got quite a nice room, which looked straight out onto a canal! Having seen a few of the other rooms, we got a pretty big room too! So... We dropped off our stuff and went walking. We hit St Marks square and once again I was impressed at the enormous, exquisite cathedral! Very fancy! I was quite overwhelmed by the incredible lay out of Venice. It is something completely different to what I had expected. I loved the old buildings, the little canals ... read more
May 11th 2012
Venice... "The adults' Disneyland!" Jess had said soon after our arrival and it truly lived up to this title. Around every corner we turned there was something wonderful going on and we couldn't help but be filled with excitement. Canals, Piazzas, gondolas and palaces was definitely the way to finish our six weeks in Italy.We arrived by train from Sirmione (the lakes), on a sensational, sunny Saturday 21st. The train ride was like most others, hot and smelly, but the dog that rode the train with a couple behind us didn't seem to mind. This was quickly forgotten though as we walked out into the sunshine and the Grand Canal was what we were presented with. With all our bags around us, it was lucky we ... read more
