Plaza Hotel Venice

... Stairs lid to the second floor. This is called a "Golden Staircase" as they told us. It is gold-filled and really gorgeous. I've taken some photos with my iPhone, but yet the pictures can't show the full reality)))<br>So the inside of this palace was filled with wonderful paintings, old-fashioned rooms, reception rooms and there was even a room with maps of different centuries and eras.<br>After walking through the floors we went ...

We are traveling today to Siena and won't be able to communicate for awhile so wanted to give a big shout out to our friend John Ruppe. Have a good one bro, we love you!! We also wanted to tell the Heavens above to give Mick's Grandpa Ted a kiss and hug and ask to ...

... bigoli (fat spagh) with<br>scallops and mushrooms, bacala alla vicentina (baked creamed cod). Arrivederci<br>S&amp;G!!!!!!!!!<br>This has been an incredible trip <br>. We can,t wait to come back. We leave here tommorrow at 6AM for the airport.<br>I have taken over 200 pictures si I will upload them when we get home. Nothing here<br><br> really works with my camera or my cellphone. <br>

... and ankles messed up. We then got on the Vaparretti to go back to Lido and our driver was we guess a new guy, because he missed every stop and had to back up. The gate guy was yelling at him and he was only doing like 1 mile an hour, then I thought well we will probably drown or something and then was crying again wanting to come home. I know it sounds like I am a cry baby, but I am and feel so far from home. Will ...

... orchestras, the dominatingly beautiful Basilica, the huge open space populated with impromptu dancers enclosed by (except for Napoleon&#8217;s handiwork) 12th century buildings. We needed to find a restroom, so we chose a random alley and followed it looking for a bar. After a couple of twists and turns and small canal crossings we found a small pub. We ended up staying for a bit, drinking beer, watching football highlights and making plans for ...

... district. Our hosts lived in the same building and were very kind, offering touring info and use of their internet whenever we needed. Luckily they both spoke French as our Italian isn&#8217;t too hot. Venice is pricey, and in the time we went, packed to the rim in tourists. Renting an apartment off the main route is really a great way to go to save some money, and to get some down time from the crowds. <br><br>Venice is small enough ...

We made our first trip to Venice today after a failed attempt of getting on the wrong train and going all the way to Slovenia! We were happy that we got it right this time! And since it is January, it was a bit on the cold side. But we had fun exploring and getting lost. I had no idea Venice was so big. We must have ...

... of pigeons. We got some cool photos of us with pigeons eating out of our hands. We then went for a walk to get lost in the streets of Venice, ate some gelato, went to a place that had good pizza for lunch, cruised along the shopping streets, went tourist shopping in the markets on Rialto Bridge, and said goodbye to Ben, Dave, Mike &amp; Jamison who were heading to the town Jamison was studying in. Later, just as the sun was setting, we went ...

... interesting little towns. Our first stop in Italy was Verona. We arrived early in the evening, followed Rick Steves self-guided tour, and wandered the old town until we ran out of light and energy. We hopped back in the car and drove to our hotel in Padua. In the morning, we caught the train for Venice. What a zoo. Combine massive hoardes of people with 35 degree heat and skin-drenching ...