Venice

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I am in Love with Venice! Didn’t really see much of Venice when I was there for work, so it was a must on my places to go! Got in late in the day after an all dayer on the train to get there from Paris, had to change trains in Milan and as the first one was a bit late I had to do a mad dash to change trains, must have been quite funny for those watching, but it was not quite so fun for my back, I made it though (with 2 mins to spare).

Went over to Murano, the island that is famous for the Venetian glass, I could have brought just about everything, there are some truly remarkable pieces of work they have done! Stood for a while and watched some guys doing the glass blowing, it was fascinating, I suggest if anyone ever goes there, buy the glass from the places where it’s made, it tends to be a bit cheaper. Also went to the fishing island of Burano, famous for its handmade lace and colourful houses. Saw some little old ladies sitting doing there lace work, there aren’t that many people left who still do it, so the real stuff is very expensive, apparently most of the stuff they sell (at very inflated prices) in the shops there is all made in Asia now!!! The coloured houses are gorgeous to walk around and look at too. They are all different colours so the fisherman, returning in the dark and fog could tell their house apart from everyone elses. Torcello was the last island I visited, it’s actually the sight of one of the first ever settlements in the Venice area, but has been abandoned for quite a long time due to a massive malaria outbreak that forced everyone away. Today there are heaps of tourists that go over for a few hours to check out the ruins, including a lovely Byzantine cathedral.

Most of my time in Venice was spent just strolling around, pausing on all the little bridges that cross the canals checking out all the piazza’s and churches while scoffing down some yummy gelato. Hung out by myself most of the time here because all my room mates where non-english speaking. There was one guy from Argentina I could kinda communicate with. Though his English was quite a bit better then my Spanish, considering all I know is hello, goodbye, tomorrow, thankyou, how to count to 10 and how to ask for some water (with gas and without!). On my last night he showed me this little bar that is pretty much a hole in the wall, where you can grab your drinks and then go sit by the grand canal and look at all the buildings! And that is when I fell in love with Venice. Because I had been on my own I didn’t go out at night by myself so I hadn’t seen how different it is from during the day. During the day you are constantly dodging all the groups of tourists and all the people trying to sell you stuff, but late at night by the canal you get the occasional boat or vaporetto go past, and there are a few people around at the restaurants still but it is soooooo much more quiet, you can sit there with your glass of vino, relax and really enjoy how unique Venice really is.

And no I didn’t get into St Marks Bascilica, or the Doge’s Palace for that matter, by the time I got there it was really hot, and the line was amazingly long, and the pigeons were everywhere because stupid people were feeding the rotten things, I really couldn’t be stuffed, and I didn’t want to be shat on like some other people I saw (quite funny really, the looks on their faces, you can just imagine!) So I took some photos outside and kept on walking!

Next Stop Napoli

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Photos

Colourful Houses
The fishing village of Burano (also famous for it's lace).

Glass Blower
On Murano

Byzantine Cathedral
On Torcello

St Marks Square
Older couple strolling by the Doge's Palace

Gondola's
Traffic jam - Venetian style!