Blogs from Venice, Veneto, Italy, Europe - page 148

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Europe » Italy » Veneto » Venice June 16th 2005

I have just spent three beautiful days in Venice, or Venezia. If you ask to catch a train to Venice, the ticket person will just look at you strangly, then ask if you mean Venezia. When I was catching the train from Bologna Venezia sounded close so I jumped on the train. Since the train was departing in approximately 1 minute and I had to get from the window to the platform I thought "If this isn't Venice I am going to, I'm sure it will be nice anyway". I arrived and checked into the hostel and started exploring the city. The vaporettos, or water taxis were neat and the city was very beautiful, especially the Piazzetta San Marco but I didn't really start to enjoy the city untill I started to just wander. All the ... read more

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Venice June 15th 2005

Ciao! Have I mentioned that I cannot wait to be finished with classes? Unfortunately, one of my exams got pushed back to Friday and it looks like the other one will be moved to Friday too. Grrrrr. No real reason for these developments -- all I can say is that "bureaucracy" is apparently universal. Enough about that. They managed to stuff us again last night! We had a huge dinner at the agriturisomo (from the first week). Of course, this restaurant is located way at the bottom of Asolo. In other words, the night consisted of another walk up the giant hill with our bellies full. Oh, and it was raining again. :) As I've have told some of you, I am looking forward to walking the level ground of the Midwest again. I feel like ... read more

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Venice June 13th 2005

Mestre is a place of contrast. Two old men in quilted blue jackets pedal slowly through the afternoon heat, just fast enough to create a breeze but slow enough to talk about politics and the direction of the country. One young mom with a curly blond headed little girl scolds her to hold still and not to touch the brand new audi that sits beside her bike. The bike has a large basket on the front filled with fruit, as it was market day in Marghera today. She lifts her little girl into the childs upright bike seat and straps her in. A business woman decked out in a cloe suit complete with 2 and a half inch heels and mirror style Jennifer Lopes shades pedals along and checks her messages on her cell phone. She ... read more

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Venice June 13th 2005

Ciao! I survived another Italian adventure! This weekend was the most challenging so far. I definitely encountered the language barrier more since I was visiting smaller towns. All in all, I had a good time and I am ready to tackle finals this week. I left for Verona on Friday afternoon and spent all of Saturday there. As with most towns in Italy, Verona is home to many, many beautiful churches. It's amazing how a town of that size can have SO many Catholic churches -- and they are all magnificent compared to anything in the States. I went to mass at St. Anastasia and a woman sang an opera-like solo during Communion. It was gorgeous. She sang without a mic and her voice just carried through the Church like an angel's. I have a feeling ... read more
Romeo's view
Piazza Bra, Verona

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Venice June 11th 2005

Not a lot to do in Venice, but I had a good enough time just walking about...and getting lost every five minutes. When on the island, there are no cars or anything, everyone is stuck on foot. And since this is the case, there are no roads, only small and claustrophobic alleyways. Alleyways they often lead to dead ends, or in circles, but this is fun in it's own way. For accomodation, I was staying at a huge campsite complex about a 15 minute bus ride out of town. Not a bad place, and the price was very good, 12€ a night. They supply all you need too, so for your money you get a pre-pitched tent with 2 beds inside, sheets, and not much else, the bare necessities. Comfortable enough though. The place had a ... read more
Gondola's!
Venice Canals
Piazza San Marco

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Venice June 10th 2005

Buongiorno! TGIF! :) Last night we had our "gourmet dinner" and I am still recovering (in a good way!). They bussed us to a restaurant in a castle (yes, in a castle) about eight miles outside of Bassano. It was about a half hour away so we did not get back to Asolo until midnight. The walk up the gigantic hill was lots of fun due to our sleepiness and stuffedness (how's that for a word?)! The meal was an amazing five courses. Don't worry, Bekah, I took some pictures of the food for you! And I received some verbal abuse on your behalf because of it. But I'm strong. Anyway, the wine was flowing and we had fingers foods (antipasto), risotto with zucchini, macoroni with chicken, beef with rosemary and potatoes and grilled vegetables, and ... read more

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Venice June 9th 2005

... because it is frigid here right now!! Ok, not frigid. But it's pretty darn cool for June. The situation is compounded by the fact that we all have limited wardrobes! Such is life living out of a backpack, I guess. :) Anyway, we all got dressed up to go to Asolo's "disco" last night only to learn that they weren't opening it because of the cold. We still hung out at Epoca (the local bar) until the wee hours of the morning though. Tonight we have our "gourmet dinner". But first, we have a pretty extensive European etiquette class. Should be interesting and fun! I am ready for the weekend (I think). Since classes are so crazy during the week, I just figure out my plans on the train ride there! I am going to ... read more

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Venice June 7th 2005

Yes, that's right, the world's biggest bug spent the night in my room. Eeeewww! I have named it the "monster Italian wasp". May it rest in peace. I don't actually know that it was a wasp, but it was gianormous and made buzzing sounds like a bee/wasp. When I saw it last night, I ran out to the common room to get help. But it disappeared and I fear everyone thought I was hallucinating. Then . . . this morning . . . Stephanie (my roommate) spotted the bugger on our window. THEN my roommates believed me and said they would never doubt me again! Julie (my other roommate and new hero) managed to get him with her shoe. I have awarded her the Gold Star of the month. Ah, Italy. Why are there no screens ... read more

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Venice June 6th 2005

. . . No, it's Venice. Ok, so you know that the true answer to that question is "Iowa". The fact that I modified the answer goes to show how much I loved Venezia (aka: Venice). The city is truly magical. I say this without having ridden a gondola. The price was just a little too steep. I will save that for my honeymoon. Yes, that's right, I've decided that Venice will be my honeymoon destination. Mark my words. Now I just need to find the guy and I'm set. :) I did take a river boat ride along the Grand Canal and used the "water buses" (vaparetto) a little. I saw St. Mark's Basillica (went to mass there), the Doge's Palace, and countless other beautiful churches. My favorite part was just wandering the city ... read more
View from my room
St. Mark's Basillica
Cafe Florian

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Venice June 3rd 2005

Today is a travel day and not much else. We slept in and grabbed some breakfast at a nice outdoor cafe just a few steps away from our hotel. You'll see from the pictures we got one more ride out the James Bond door into our awaiting water taxi. Our train ride from Venice to Rome was delightful as the scenery was great and we met a nice young couple from Nashville who had planned their own trip to Italy and had been to Bellagio (on lake Coumo) then on to Venice and they were travelling on the train with us, but getting of in Florence. We gave them a great deal of advice from our previous trips and we shared stories about Venice. They told us about the great tours and we told them about ... read more
My Lovely Wife in the Back of Our Water Taxi
A Colorful Building in the Grande Canal
Our Water Taxi Pulling Away




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