Blogs from Venice, Veneto, Italy, Europe - page 146

We came back early from Lake Como to be in Venice for Redentore... which is quite possibly THE most amazing party ever. Here's the story: back in the 16th century when the plague ended, Venice erected a church dedicated to Christ of the Redeemer to give thanks for the disappearance for the disease. The church is on Gedeccia (I still can't spell) which is not on the actual Venice island so they built a bridge from Venice leading up to the steps of the church so people could get there. To this day, the pontoon bridge is still built just for that night across the canal. The night the church was completed, they had a huge party to celebrate and it was sort of like a mardis gras idea of a night of sinful celebration. The ... read more

NOTE: This was meant to be sent last Friday. Just wanted to send a quick update on my week before I head out to France this weekend. On Tuesday one of my professors took my class to the small town of Passagno. This town houses Il Tempio and is the hometown of a famous sculptor. Il Tempio is a round temple that is actually a church. It was built in the 1800s (relatively new by Italian standards) and is modeled after the Pantheon (the oldest building in the world, in Rome). The inside was absolutely beautiful and had elegant sculptures and detailed frescoes. For a euro 30 (about $1.56, I think) you could climb the stairs that spiral the building and walk to the top of the dome. After my experience in Vatican City I decided ... read more

Sorry about the email everyone....Were in Venice. Jen got bit in the eye by a mosquito. She looked like Will Smith in that Date Doctor movie, but shes ok....heres some pics...... read more

We arrived in Venice at 9.30pm and got lost with our suitcases before eventually finding the hotel. Wednesday we went wandering the streets. We went for a walk to Piazetta San Marco and saw the Basilica di San Marco (and then on Thursday we went back to go up the campanile Bell Tower for an aerial view of Venice). It is quite neat walking along the streets - there are no cars, just these crazy little streets with high buildings on either side and lots of little shops. The map didn’t make much sense and we got lost every single day we were here. At night when we went for dinner just off the Grand Canal these pushy Italian people at restaurants keep pushing themselves upon us. We were bullied into sitting down at one place, ... read more

These got resorted into alphabetical order, but you get a flavour of where we've been so far. Many thanks to Spiff for bringing these back to Blighty on his iPod and uploading them for me (ain't technology wonderful? 'Setting off' is, er, just as we left. 'Assiette de fruits de mer' and 'first beach' are on the Ile de Re, near La Rochelle. The Gorge du Kakouette is in the Pyrenees. Camping Castellane is in the Verdon, Alpes-Maritime, France. Artouste lake is 2000m up a mountain at the end of a little railway. 'Suncream explosion' is what happens when you take a sealed tube 2000 metres up a mountain and open it pointing at your face. 'Not Lac du Tech' and 'Eolo Tempo Kite Festival' are in the Pyrenees, as are 'Camping Pyrenees Natura' (our best ... read more