Blogs from Veneto, Italy, Europe - page 4

We had a full day of staying in Verona because we had the opera in the evening. The opera, Aida, was playing at the Verona Arena. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verona_Arena I don’t remember how I heard about the opera festival in Verona but I did read about it several years ago. We wanted to go 2 years ago but I don’t remember what happened, then last year it was canceled. As soon as tickets were available for this year, I bought them. And so it was that we went to the Verona Arena to hear Aida! We found the arena turned into a setting for an opera. The opera started at 9 pm just before sunset and would run until close to midnight. Our seats were in the center, front row on the 3rd level and had a clear ... read more

http:// www.heygo.com 16th March Cannaregio Starting from the mysterious church of illuminati we will move further north and discover the house of Tintoretto, learn the legend of the four moors and that of the statue of Mary of the Orchard and cross a bridge that's unique in a town that has almost four hundred bridges. The Cannaregio canal is one of the most important waterways in Venice. It connects the Grand Canal with the north-western area of the Cannaregio district, between the foundations of San Giobbe and the foundations of Sacca San Girolamo. We started our tour outside a church with a strange history. Venice, an ever magic and mysterious city, was already in the 18th century the centre of an influential Freemasonry fraternity, whose members also included the famous adventurer Giacomo Casanova. Here, the Freemasonry ... read more

http://www.heygo.com 26th February - Gondola Ride Along The Grand Canal with Igor Well this was going to be fun a virtual trip on a gondola along the Grand Canal in Venice. A few years back we took a gondola ride with some friends and that was a fantastic experience but today with the canal so quiet it felt like there was just the guide, the gondolier and me in the gondola. Gondolas are far from a recent invention. Custom-made for the shallow waters of the Venetian lagoon, they were in use as far back as the 11th century – possibly further back than that, but the first documented evidence of them comes from 1094 – and for centuries they were the main way to get around. Gondolas reached peak popularity in the 17th and 18th centuries, ... read more

http://www.heygo.com 29th January Venice We started our virtual tour today with Andrea in the Accademia area in the San Marco district of Venice. The Accademia Gallery located at the the foot of the Academy Bridge. In the early 18th century, while Venice was a thriving community of artists, painters were members of an artisan union and unlike other large cities there was no art academy. Its foundation was realized in December of 1766 when the Senate ordered the construction of an Academy of sculpture, painting and civil architecture, similar to those of the main cities of Italy and Europe. The history of grand Venetian art is on display at the Accademia, sadly closed at the moment due to Covid restrictions. We crossed over the Accademia Bridge but not before pausing to take in two of the ... read more

Have you ever considered giving a surprise holiday as a present? It’s a great idea for a gift, it could be the perfect stocking filler for a Christmas morn. For me, and I think most people, the thought of heading off into the unknown is exciting. This blog tells you what it’s like to be on the receiving end and maybe you’ll plan a surprise holiday of your own. Actually, this is my second time on a Magical Mystery Tour as my wife, Anne, took me to Malaga for a present a couple of years ago. She’s a keeper! The week before my birthday in July she sent me a little video clip on Facebook. It was a message announcing that I was off on a trip for four nights. The only clues I had were ... read more