Blogs from Venice, Veneto, Italy, Europe - page 17

Unfortunately it was still wet this morning, but seemed to be showing some sign of easing? After breakfast we settled our account with Donatello and headed off to the Galleria dell'Academia with our pre-purchased tickets for 9.00am entry. Although Donatello is expecting new guests today he doesn't have anyone allocated to our room so we are able to store our bags in the room until we leave early this afternoon. With the rain falling there were colourful umbrellas everywhere so we tried to capture some interesting rainy day shots with umbrellas the stand out feature. When we reached the Galleria dell'Academia there were queues everywhere. They didn't seem to be as well organised as the Uffizi Gallery, with people generally confused about which queue they should be in. Even with our pre-purchased ticket for 9.00am it ... read more

One of the obvious difficulties of living and traveling in other countries is the language barrier. Even after studying Italian and mastering the (very) basics, there is lots of trial and error and confusion. Leaving Italy and traveling to countries with languages even more unfamiliar, such as German or Turkish, has been REALLY confusing. Contrary to popular misconception, English is NOT spoken everywhere. This is fine with me. I welcome the ridiculous bumbling and unfamiliarity that comes with travel. It is cleansing, bracing, challenging. It is also exhausting. Take, for instance, the lotion debacles. From the moment we landed in Europe, Dean and I have been searching for a decent body lotion. Purchasing lotion ought to be a straightforward transaction, unless you have no idea what those bottle labels are saying. "Doccia latte," for instance, translates ... read more

John woke early again and took a walk past the old Arsenale (naval fortress) which is still in use by today’s Italian navy. In the days when Venice ruled the seas this little corner of the city produced one war ship a day using a technique of building in sections (sounds familiar alla Kaiser and Ford, who Americans think invented the production line. Out in front of the entrance to the Arsenale are some of the statuary captured in engagements with enemies back in the hayday of Venice. After breakfast we took the vaporetto to San Toma and the Franciscan church and guild hall. The church is filled with monuments to famous artists (Canova and Teziano) and religious art that is over the top (Bellini’s Madonna and Teziano’s Madonna Ascending). The guild hall had some incredible ... read more

One of the fun things about having a friend visit while we are abroad is playing the tourist. While living in Venice, it is easy to ignore the big sights and forget that we are inhabiting a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Okay, not really. Yet there are days that schoolwork, grocery shopping, laundry and other chores take precedence and the other parts of living in Venice become second nature. Even the really, really fabulous parts, like getting coffee and gelato out every day and doing all our errands on foot or by boat. Visits from three friends--all separately--gave us the opportunity to look around once again and realize how very lucky we were to be in magical, wonderful Venice. We started by explaining how we get places: when it is more efficacious to walk, and when ... read more

I'll confess that when Christopher posted on yesterday's blog post that he was "jealous" about me going to Venice, my first thought was, "but it's just Venice." True, I'd never been there, and I know that lots of people go there, and there are claims about its beauty, yada, yada, yada. But I can honestly say that nothing prepared me for my experience as I exited the train station and got my first look at the city of canals. I'll also confess to being a pretty cynical person when it comes to most of the overblown exhortations when people gush over places they've visited, like they're boasting about their own travels more than the places themselves. So when I say that Venice went above and beyond my expectations, take that for what it's worth. It takes ... read more