F is for Food I have been putting off writing this for a long time because trying to organise this in my head, let alone write it up normally feels like an impossible task. There is so much food here of which I have eaten vast quantities that I’m not sure I’m up to doing it justice with my words. There is also a chance that some of this will repeat on various food substances described in the pre-A to Z era of blogging, all those years ago. For this I apologise, but tough, you’re just going to have to read [View Full Entry]

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Those were Kev's remarks as we walked across St Marks Square, Venice towards the Bridge of Sighs!! Tourists, tourists everywhere - not only Japanese! From the steady streams of what seemed to be school groups there must also have been many empty classrooms all over Europe too! Later when we booked for a Vivaldi concert at Campo San Salvador which is close to the Rialto Bridge and a couple of minutes walk away from our hotel, the man who sold us the tickets told us that Venice is nowhere near as busy as it does get. Kev found that hard to [View Full Entry]

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So I've had a super busy past 4 or 5 days but I have been having a blast! This past Thursday, we went as a group to visit Pisa. I didn't really know what to expect except to see the Leaning Tower. And we definitely saw it. We got a chance to climb all the way up as well, which was really cool once we were up top, but not so much fun on the way. I got pretty nautious on the way up because the tower really does lean... but once we made it up to the top, it was [View Full Entry]

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Test [View Full Entry]

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July 9 Travel day! We are going from Luzern, Switzerland to Venezia, Italy. Venice in English. Tonight is our first night staying in a hostel and not a couch surfer’s place. Exciting and scary. It turns out that the 2 bed private room we booked is actually a tent. I should have guessed; the name of the place, Camping Jolly, should have been a dead giveaway. But I guess I was hopeful. To its credit, the place really isn’t that bad. The tent has a little sliding door with a lock, so we’re able to leave all our stuff here during [View Full Entry]

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This morning we were on the main Island by 8:30. It was great getting there so early because it was still quiet an hour or so later it was overflowing with people. We walked from were the taxi dropped us off to the Doge Palace passing the Bridge of Sighs on the way and taking a few photos too. We went into the Doge Palace as part of the optional tour. We had a local guide, Daniella, and she was nice and funny. We were the first group in again so it was deserted. As we entered we were in the [View Full Entry]

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Today was mainly a travel day. It took us 8 hours to get from Rome to Venice, it's about a 650km trip. We got there at around 3 in the afternoon (we started out early) and unfortunately it was rainy. We were supposed to have our gondola rides but the weather wasn't exactly perfect for it. We got to the place where we were supposed to get the gondolas and waited around looking at the stalls until the rain stopped. It took a while and our gondola rides were shortened because of the rain. We eventually got in though. Maria & [View Full Entry]

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Venetian glass has been made in Murano Island for ages. We took the vaporetto from Piazza San Marco and cruised over to Murano; the ride took 30 minutes. We had the choice of getting down at Navagero, Museo, Colonna or Faro. Since everyone in the boat got down at Navagero, we followed them. A man standing at the pier invited us to go inside a building to watch glass blowing in the workshop. It was a typical Quebec City experience for me all over again. What I loved the most were the glassware shops that sold colorful Murano glass - vases, [View Full Entry]

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A day in Venice is plenty. We had planned to steer clear of the museums and churches and instead spend the day browsing through cultural Venice and its neighboring islands. The vaporetto stopped at the Rialto Bridge and we got out. The beautiful bridge was built in stone on a single arch during the 15th century. The bridge has three walkways: two along the outer balustrades, and a wider central walkway leading between two rows of small shops that sell jewelry, linens, Murano glass, and other items for the tourist trade. We walked along the shops as I gazed at the [View Full Entry]

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First Day and Night in Venice. Up at 5:00 a.m. on the train, awaiting our 8:30 a.m. arrival in Venice. A stunning view from the train. Caught a water taxi to the hotel. Of course, our room was not yet ready so we stored out bags and went for a small breakfast and then walked around. The number of tourists here is staggering and of course, it looks like more because the walkways are small. Found a great shop when a man handmakes his masks and they are quite unusual. Robert bought one. Went back to the hotel, showered and on [View Full Entry]

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