Albatros Hotel Venice

I'm just packing everything up for my cruise. Eeeee! I am so excited. And I've actually planned ahead and have four nights post-cruise booked. Look at me being on top of stuff. However, it's another budget airline situation to get me to Sicily, but at least this time I am prepared. Which I think is half the battle? At least I thought that's what GI Joe always said.

It is FREEZING in Venice. Granted, I probably don't have the right attire, but still it is cold, cold, cold ...

... frocked up it was a great night that went into the early hours of the next day.

We sailed through the night and after the cocktail party we headed for the nightly show it has been great with a full show on every night ranging from dancing , singing , magic , jugglers , strong men and even the odd trapeze artist .

We arrived early the next day in Istanbul and got ready for another nice day exploring another famous city it started with a bus tour ...

... perk!) we headed out for the day. Our plan was to make our way over to a house owned by Wake Forest where 16 Wake Forest students are studying for the semester, including one of my good friends Satie and two of my sorority sisters. The house ended up being on the complete opposite side of Venice and because the streets are so confusing and hard to follow, it took us over two hours to make it to the house, but eventually we found it. The Wake Forest house is the old U.S. Embassy ...

Venice
Raining and pouring for the morning in Venice..but we braved the elements and the buses and the Italians and other tourists to head from the motel (on the mainland) into the city of Venice. We were soaked by the time we got off the bus but the “Australian Drowned Rats” (ADRs) carried on.. We somehow bought tickets for a boat trip.. And then took the wrong boat but ended up on a great trip down the Grand Canal…even in the ...

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... The San Marcos Basilica, additionally, displayed amazingly precise craftsmanship and design. Last on the tour, the Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs) was the bridge crossed by death row prisoners on the way to their execution. From the windows, the prisoners could look out onto the Grand Canal. A last glimpse of beauty before death, in a way. I will not even get into the crazy and cruel torture instruments exhibited in the Palace.

Besides that, we ...

After the wedding we spent a few days in Venice before flying home. This is one of the cities I wish I could walk around without anyone else there. I am sure it is much more beautiful without the hundreds of people on every little bridge. It was a lot of fun wandering around, getting lost and then finding a place to enjoy a glass of wine.

cheers

... wandering around, getting lost and finding places I was with my parents, found the spot where we had a great dinner last time with homemade pasta in a little garden but it is gone! bummer... we had homemade pasta in Rome and there is no comparison.... Glad to hear the History class is going well, thanks Joseph for writing! note to my class, look up info on the Doges of Venice and the Battle of Lepanto (spelling?) also ...

... Cecilia, and a letter opener for myself. Get some fresh berries from a nearby market. Take the vaporetto the rest of the way back to San Marco. Decide to blow the expense and have coffee at one of the café's lining the piazza. $16 for a cappuccino plus $10 orchestra charge. Seems like 400 year old café's can get away with charging whatever they like! Take a vaporetto to the small cathedral island (Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore) near Isola Giudecca ...

... so we really can't hold it against Venice since it's not the city's fault we went in July! But boy was it hot. I mean really hot. And it was so crowded!!! I think we could've tolerated the heat if it wasn't so crowded. It was hard to walk throughout St. Mark's Square because we kept bumping into people! With all that said, I do realize that I am incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit Venice twice in my lifetime. Again, it truly is a one-of-a-kind destination.