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Venice, Italy
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This place was Amazing
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Wednesday - Well, I made it to Italy. The flight out of Vienna was delayed about an hour because of weather and the previous plane arriving late, but all in all it was fine flight. I flew into Treviso, the airport that was about an hour outside the city, and took the bus into the Palazzo Roma (the main bus station on the 'island' itself). The hostel that Im staying at was just a 5 minute walk from there, which was nice. Its also right by the train station, which will be convenient for when I head out to Florence. I checked into the hostel, and got a map from the woman at the desk. She gave me a few destination idea, and I just started walking. For those of you who havent been to Venice, its really a unique city (certainly like no other ive been to at least). Theres not really any point in trying to read the maps, other than trying to gague your location. You just pick a destination (like the Palazzo San Marco...the big one with the church) and just follow the signs through the city pointing you toward you want to go. Even the locals do this, not just the tourists. Its kind of cool though, wandering around the city and just seeing it. Its also relatively small, so betweent today and tomorrow I ought to be able to see pretty much everything (well, everything major at least). So I started off toward the Ponte Rialto (the famous bridge...there are only three that cross the Grand Canal) and then onto San Marco. The church was realy amazing. Not so much for intricate stonework or carvings, but for the incredibly detailed mosaics that cover EVERYTHING. Like most of the places around here they dont like you taking pictures, but I might try and sneak one if I go by there again tomorrow. After that, I got some gelato (its italy, right?) and headed back toward the hostel. I grabbed some dinner (and yes it was pasta) and just kind of relaxed for a little bit. I checked up on my email, looked to finalize the plans for the rest of my trip, and tried to figure out what time the train for Florence was leaving. I went out again later at night, just to wander a bit more, and see what I could find. I think tomorrow Im going to a few museaums, and then maybe taking the water taxi to a few of the islands north of the city.
Thursday - So today, I woke up and headed toward the Accademia gallery, which was filled with Venetian art. It was kinda cool. Im trying to pace myself in terms of number of museums visited, since I know there will be a large number of them over the next week. After the Accademia I walked back over to San Marcos squrare, but instead of going to the Doges gallery I opted to buy a 24 hour water taxi pass and take a ride up the grand canal. I was cool to see all of the buildings from the water, and quite relaxing (despite having to nudge through people as I was walking back and forth from one side of the taxi to another so I could get my pictures). I got some pizza at a resteraunt near my hostel...and it was SO good. It was somethign Im going to definitely try making at home too. I got the pizza basilica (which was just a pizza with sauce, cheese and pesto), so simple, yet just crazy good. After lunch I took the taxi to the island of Murano, north of Venice in the lagoon. The island is famous for it being home to these world class glass blowers...they have a bunch of their furnaces open, so you can just walk along the street and watch them make the products, which was pretty sweet (trust me, it was more intersting than it sounds). I watched one guy make this bird like paperweight thing (terrilbe description, I know) and another make this cool looking vase. Afterwards I took the taxi to Burano, another small island and a fishing village north of Murano, which was apparently known for making lace things. Unfortunately, I got there at about 5pm, and thats when everything on the island seems to shut down. So I walked around for a bit, took a few photos, and waited for the boat to make my way back to Venice. I got some dinner, and that nigh took the ride back down the Grand Canal too see the buildings lit up at night. The reflections some of them created in the water were phenominal. Tomorrow, its off to Florence!! As an aside, Im going to have to go to Firenzes resteraunt when I get home, since thats the name of the city in Florence in Italian ;)
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Gondala
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Dodges Place (The old mayors office...now a museum)
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A glass blower on Murano
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Ponte Rialto
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San Marco at night
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Random bullding on the Grand Canal at night
Posted
Oct 24, 2007
by umichkman
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