Advertisement
Bolzano
Tom just after exiting the garage in town. We picked the perfect spot just by chance.Saturday, May 24th
We are now in Venice, Italy. Saturday was another travel day as we woke up in Innsbruck, Austria and traveled through the Alps into Italy. The scenery was breathtaking all the way. Pictures cannot capture the beauty. So, we tried video. It really does better so we will share some of these as we go.
I have tried to write something every day for the blog as one would with a diary or journal. But with travel and site seeing it is not easy to find the time. Or to stay awake long enough to write much. It is now 7:15am, Sunday morning; Jackie is still asleep and I’m at the keyboard.
On the roads yesterday, we got another try at high speeds in my new motorcar. At one point I had the cruise control set at 100 mph! I kept it there for 20-30 minutes. And even then I only dropped to 85-90. The car is wonderful. It drives like a dream and is big enough for us to be very comfortable. It seems to be getting about 25 mpg which is important these days. I have filled the tank twice, once just after leaving the BMW
Jackie
She loved the flowers on display Welt and then again on the way to Venice. Both times it costs me more than $100! Between the gasoline and tolls, I’ll have to find work soon when I return.
We really got a good night’s sleep in Innsbruck so we got a late start out of town. The weather was clear and warm. I was surprised. I was able to wear my shorts for the first time. We had another great breakfast and took off.
The hotel parking lot was interesting. It was located about 200 yards around the corner and up a very narrow one way street. I left Jackie with our luggage and I went for the car. The garage was designed for tiny cars. I had to take many attempts to turn the car into a spot earlier and now I had to get out. Only, Jackie was with me then. So, I had to ease out by myself, inch by inch from a little space without scratching my new car. But I did and we were off.
On the way we had to decide several things. First, should we take the bypass mountain road? It adds from 2 to 3 hours to the trip.
Tom
I found the nuts and other goodies. I bought plenty for the trip to Venice. We decided since we started late that we’d skip the mountain road and go down through Bolzano, Verona, and Padua to Venice.
This worked well as I had planned to stop in Bolzano to visit the museum of Otzi, the Iceman. I once saw a special on National Geographic about the discovery of a corpse in the Alps of a man that died 5,300 years ago. Actually, he was killed. His body was frozen in place for all those years. The museum was cool. Not only did we see Otzi but a full description of the history of the area, how they found and recovered him, and a re-creation of what he looked like. I wanted to take some pictures but they told me that I had to leave my camera in a locker. Well, that’s what we did. Then once inside I saw several people with CAMERAS!! Was I upset or what. So, I busted them by ratting on them on the way out.
It was in Bolzano that we were going to ride a lift to a mountain top and take a ridge walk. We gave this up too as the museum and lunch took too long. We
We're on the canal at last
One of many great sites along the Grand Canal in Venice. wanted to get to Venice. We made good time and arrived at Mestre about 6:00pm. Mestre is on the mainland just across from Venice. The parking lots are half price from over the causeway. We parked the car in a hotel parking lot near the Mestre train station. We grabbed our luggage (pack light, people) and headed for the train. We paid only two euros for the 15 minute train ride over.
Once in Venice, we took the Vaporetto #51, a motor-boat, to the closest dock to our hotel. It was at San Zaccaria. This is also very close to the Piazza San Marco. We then walked about 150 yards up narrow streets to find our hotel. It is very nice. We found it in the Rick Steve’s guide book. It is on a canal and the rooms are cozy. There is a balcony right outside our door where breakfast is served.
After settling in, we walked over to the Piazza for dinner. We had a great dinner and then watched the “battling bands.” It was just too cool to describe. Inside this large plaza there are three or four string bands (piano, bass, violin, clarinet and accordion) playing classical
Jackie
We've found our hotel. It is fine. We have room on a canal just off the St. Mark's Square and popular music. We chose the “Caffe Florian” to listen to. You can stand and listen for free but to sit costs about 5 euros each plus drinks. Drinks were not cheap but the event was well worth it.
That’s it for Saturday. We are now about to start Sunday. I’ve got to take a shower now that Jackie is out. Bye for now.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.067s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 7; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0449s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
dianne
non-member comment
I can tell that you are having a blast! Love reading about your adventures! Hope you ride on the canel at dusk and take a bottle of wine with you! luv, dianne