Villa Edera Hotel Malcesine

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 ...

... and we got even more upset and said to Tilly ( I F*#k your face you F*#k ) I was ready to kill him but thinking I would end up in side street with all his mates we walked away and headed back to the pick up point for the bus well it was sort of a run to the bus. After we got back I said to Tilly you have done it again to me and what makes it worse we did not buy anything at all. We then went back to the ship and I was so glad to be back on board safe and even ...

... 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 ...

... out of place but enjoyed the experience….another boat ride back up the Canal.. Not sure if we had a ticket… and then a different boat.. Again not sure about ticket to Murano Island where they make the Venetian glass…saw a demonstration on making glass figurines etc and of course visited the shop.. At this time the sun came out and it was time for the GONDOLA… another great experience with carlos the (never shut up - even ...

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

... surrounded by hundreds of people, many of which were in mask. Woops! It was impossible to find my lost friend. Giorgio and I decided to carry on with our excursion through Carnival. The masks and wardrobes were amazing and extravagant, but what was the best site was not the Carnival but the city in itself. Venice is extremely charming and very surreal, I felt I ferried straight into a fairy tale. The water is green, people are being transported by the gondola's running ...

... same glossy pamphlets will fail to tell you that it's busy, expensive and it has a neglected look that is hard to look beyond. The city could be something of an independent state or republic (something it was for centuries before finally joining the then 5-year old Kingdom of Italy in 1866); economically and socially ossified, it's losing people by the year and playing virtually no part in the life of modern Italy. While in its heyday (12th to 16th ...

... whose body is in here, somewhere. I then waited in a short queue to get the lift up the bell tower. From up here there was a great view of the city. It was built in the 16th century and re-built in 1902 when it collapsed. I then continued walking around the city and slowly made my way to the train station. Today was a great day, not many tourists around and a beautiful blue sky. The weather in Italy so far has been much warmer than London was when I left.

... rough water. I never knew the Mediterranean could be so choppy. Around 10am, the captain of the ship came on the loudspeaker and announced that the winds were really strong and we might have to be delayed coming into Venice since it was too dangerous to navigate the boat through the small water ways with this kind of wind and rain. So Alana and I were happy enough to crawl back into bed and relax until we made it to ...

... Photo 7 is of John the Baptist (I think), and in Photos 8-10, we sort of went crazy taking photos of this rose left on the ground inside a chapel which was sealed off to the public. As you can see, it makes for excellent photography :) There were a few things of interest here. "The Assumption" by Titian shows Mary ascending to heaven with the 12 apostles below staring in awe. The Triptych (by Bellini) is also cool. If you look at the painting, it's placed on an altar, but the painting is ...