La Dolce Vita

Ringing Crystals

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We saw these guys while we were wandering the alleys of Venice. The guy in front is playing crystal goblets, while the guy in back is playing on vases. They were playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons when we walked up. There was quite a crowd checking this out. Gretchen is off to the right checking out their CD.

A Facade

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I really don't remember where this was in Venice, but we thought it was a really pretty facade. It was probably on a church, but so many of the buildings are incredibly ornate...

Colorful City

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This is a pretty typical alley in Venice. Behind us are the various red and pink and yellow and orange homes and businesses.

Another Rhino

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Sorry, dad, I couldn't fit in the suitcase. It's hard to tell from the photo, but this rhino statue was huge.

Crossing on a Bridge

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Gretchen and I are crossing a canal on a bridge in Venice. You can see in the picture that there aren't any other bridges in sight. The traghettos don't cross in the evening, so you have to find a bridge somewhere, which often involves walking quite a distance. I'm thinking that this is Ponte l'Accademia, and that Santa Maria della Salute is in the background.

Similar View

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I think I took this picture from the same perspective as the last one, just without the two of us in it. I just checked my computer, and I have 15 GB (I'm using the 8.1 MP setting) worth of pictures from this trip alone. You're only getting a small fraction of them on this blog!

Roses

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Gretchen protested that I was putting this picture on the blog--in fact, she protests in general that I put too many pictures of her on the blog. But I figure y'all would rather see her than me. At any rate, there is a story with these roses. We were walking back from dinner that evening, and a guy selling roses approached us, and I turned him away. I immediately felt bad, thinking that I should have gotten Gretchen a rose--even if they were overpriced. So then another guy walked by, and I said okay. I thought I was buying *A* rose for Gretchen, but while I was looking through my wallet, he kept putting more and more roses in Gretchen's hand and increasing the price I owed him. We finally settled on 3, but he would have gladly sold me about 4 dozen...

Venice at Night

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The city lights up pretty nice at nighttime.

Paolo

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This is Paolo, who was our gondolier. He was a hard bargainer on price, but he turned out to be a really nice guy. We asked him what his favorite restaurant was in Venice, and he sent us to a little place called Trattoria della Madonna. It was a nice little place that tourists probably seldom go to, but it was really good and authentic. I had gnocci, and Gretchen had lasagna or something.

Gondola Ride

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Gretchen and I are riding in the gondola down a smaller canal in Venice.

Marco Polo

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This is Marco Polo's old house in Venice. Paolo, our gondolier, pointed it out to us while we were riding with him, but I didn't really believe him at first--I figured that he was just pointing to a random house and thinking we were just dumb tourists (which I suppose we are). But, I looked at the placque on the wall, and sure enough, Marco Polo lived there.

An Island

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This is an island that we passed on our way to Murano, where they make the glass. I'm not sure what it is.

Andre 2000?

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I guess Italians have there own version of OutKast...

Murano

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Gretchen and I are standing on a bridge in Murano, Italy--home of the famous Murano glass. As you can see from Gretchen's right hand, she found her share of pretty glass things to bring home.

Pizzeria Crazy

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Gretchen and I had our last Venetian meal at Pizzeria Crazy, which was just a short walk from the Venice Marriott. We sat out and ate it at a small plaza next door to avoid eating at the restaurant. Most of the restaurants in Italy charge a 2-5 Euro per person "seating charge" for eating at the restaurant. This is in addition to the 12-15% service charge and the additional gratuity that you are supposed to leave. Because I am a penny pincher, we decided to take the pizza to go and eat it on a park bench. It still tasted just as good. (We just didn't have napkins.)

The Pizza

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That pizza was so good that it deserves a close-up. The pizza in Italy generally has a really thin crust, very little sauce, and not too much mozarella. Not at all like Papa Johns. This one had fresh tomatoes and artichokes--oh my gosh it was good! (And mom, yes, I do eat artichokes now...)

Duomo in Florence, Italy

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This is the big cathedral in Florence, Santa Maria del Fiore. Florence is home to the Italian Renaissance. The building was pink, green, and white--made of marble. It was really pretty.

Santa Maria del Fiore

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Gretchen and I are standing in front of the duomo in Florence.

The Dome

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Santa Maria del Fiore's dome is 42 meters and was built in the 15th century, if I'm not mistaken. The part at the top (middle), looks like recedes from the rest of the dome, but it is just painted to look that way. Pretty impressive.

Santa Maria del Fiore Dome

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This is the famous dome of the duomo. It is basically the icon of Florence--that and Michelangelo's David.

Lost in Translation

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There are lots of santerias all over Italy, generally near the cathedrals. This particular santeria (a little store that sells religious items--at least that's what we called them in Argentina) was selling these little name plaques with angels. As you can see from the sign, they do custom names. This shouldn't be hard, because the names aren't engraved--they are just written on with a Sharpie. That was kind of funny. Hence: "If there's not your name, why don't you ask it?"