Blogs from Venice, Veneto, Italy, Europe - page 8

We commenced our day by taking a walking tour of Venice. Our trusty guide was a young Venetian named Giacomo, who was studying Post Grad in Architecture at the University in Venice. He was very knowledgeable about the city, and cracked many jokes during our tour, making it an informative yet interesting morning. Giacomo wound us through narrow alleys and across bridges and squares that we would never have encountered, taking us into churches where master artists had painted significant yet little known works. He also gave us the inside tips on where to eat like a local, and how to navigate the six districts of Venice. Venice is a very different city. You hear a siren and you look around for the Police Car, Ambulance or Fire Engine, and next minute a vessel with lights ... read more

Ravenna: The Beauty of Mosaics Ravenna is town in Italy that doesn’t get much notice when you toss it in with the better-known city destinations like Venice, Florence or Rome. It is a small town nestled down the coast from Venice that is best known for its majestic mosaics in the churches and mausoleums. These absolutely lovely mosaics are UNESCO World Heritage sites and this town contains eight of them. We find that unbelievable… 8 in one town. You’ve got to add this town to your travel list. Here’s a quick list of the sites so you can do your own search. The Basilica of San Vitale, the Mausoleum of Galla Placida,the Arian Baptistery and the Baptisteryof Neon, the Basilicaof Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe, the Oratory of Sant’ Andrea or Archiepiscopal Chapel ... read more

After farewells over breakfast yesterday we caught the Vaporetto from the terminal just next to the boat over to the terminal near our hotel, what a great and easy way to travel. As you can tell by now I caught up on the blogs (apologies again to those who didn't just hit delete) then we went exploring and were brave enough to take some of the laneways and not stick to the main streets. Thought of the day - Don't say “I can't see why everyone says it is easy to get lost in Venice” because, while you may not get lost, you may take four times as long to get somewhere and pass the same landmarks more than once. It was great to be able to wander at dinner time and we found a great ... read more

Baby birds!!! By now you are full-grown adults but I still feel the need to feed you every now and then. I hope you don't mind, nay, rather enjoy this little feeding. The wife, Lauren Fisser, fka Lauren Shoemake aka Shoe, agreed to travel with me for 16 days across Italy. The trip started normally with us racing each other to see who could finish two beers the fastest at the airport. Of course, I won but Lauren was glowing and in high spirits. I hate to have a flashback already but I need to for what I perceive as a great story. As Lauren and I were waiting in line to print our boarding pass for our connecting London to Rome flight, past security mind you, at a majestic place called "American Airlines Customer Service ... read more

So, technological foibles have struck again. After finishing over half of my Venice entry which normally saves to drafts, somehow I have deleted it. Since I am typing this painstakingly on my cellphone, this has sent me into despair. Alas, I shall try and recreate the former glory of ten minutes ago. So back to Venice. Venice was a both beautiful and baffling place. Navigating it, is like trying to send a drunken mouse through a maze. But more on that later. The first hurdle was dealing with our less then ideal accommodation, at a camping ground. It all started with the tent. The surface area of the tent ensured that the maximum amount of comfort would equate to zero. The two slat camping beds took up the vast majority of the minimal space. Poor Bex ... read more