Saturday, September 4, 2010

Venturing around Venice

Monday, August 23rd

Mary, Sue, Kathleen and I hopped on the train to Venice. Sue and I were the “Venice Virgins” and were both impressed when we first exited the station. It is pretty cool that cars have been replaced by boats and that the majority of people just get around by foot. For some reason I had never clued in that Venice is essentially an island (although I knew it was by the ocean) connected by a thin strip of land that allow trains, cars and bikes to get over to it.

Sue and I riding the train:

Arriving in Venice:

The Grand Canal:

A typical canal:

Kathleen and me at the Grand Canal:

We walked around for a bit along mostly small alleyways, heading towards the main markets and also Piazza San Marco where there’s an ornately decorated church and palace as well as the tall tower of St. Mark’s Campanile. Sue and I snapped pics as we went but once we hit the market area, the shopper came out in her and it was obvious that she was in her element. We checked out a restaurant by one of the canals for lunch but opted for grabbing a slice of pizza (in the name of cost and time). After that we split ways with Mary and Sue heading more into the throes of the markets while Kathleen and I cruised towards San Marcos. Twenty minutes later though we encountered each other, as we all partook in the most expensive pee we’d had...1.50 Euros each!

Your stereotypical gondolier:

Super Shopper Sue:

Spooky gondolier dolls:

An interesting bear statue made of spark plugs:

Reaching the San Marcos square, it was obvious why this is one of the highlights of a trip to Venice. The buildings were spectacular. Just like Trafalgar Square in London, the pigeons were part of the tourist attraction as you could buy some food for them and have them land on your arms and head, commonly done in a Jesus Christ pose...no thanks, I don’t have enough changes of clothes to risk a pigeon crapping on them! There was a long line for the church entrance, and I’m not that big on churches to begin with so we decided to try and go up the tower. It was a surprisingly short queue and the views from the top were spectacular. We hit one or two more churches after that, one of which had been converted to an homage to local musician boy Antonio Vivaldi (I do like Vivaldi). Displayed were some violins from the 17th and 18th centuries along with various other instruments from days gone past.

The Basilica of San Marco:

The Campanile:

A panorama of Venice...gorgeous:

We grabbed a water taxi back to the train station (which was 6.50 Euros each, which was surprisingly twice as much as our 45 minute train ride back to Padova!). It was a double decker train which I’ve never been on before so of course we had to go upstairs but damn it was hot. A screen, listing items such as the next station, is the toilet occupied and our speed, showed that the outside temperature was 29 degrees and inside the train was 31!

Back in Padova we dined out with Sue, Mary and Domenico with some good food and laughs. As we walked home from the restaurant, somehow Domenico and I received some new superhero names. He likes to carry a satchel with his money, credit cards etc. (yes, some call it a “man purse”) and I was known for documenting (in length) my travels...so we were: “Satchel Man and Blog Boy”! I’m not sure who our arch-enemy was but they better be afraid...very afraid!

Our lovely dinner out:

Satchel Man & Blog Boy!

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