Village Resort Altanea - Residence Alle Farnie/La Quercia Caorle

... steps to the top) and the Piazza del Signoria, a great, bustling pedestrians-only town square. We grabbed a gelato and took a short people-watching break before continuing on to Ponte Vecchio and finally, the day’s climax- the Uffizi Gallery.

The Uffizi has been described as the greatest collection of Italian paintings anywhere! But it is so much more. It is laid out in a way that walks you through the transition of style, content and technique from the ...

... She wonders where the money went.
OK: now we are driving in Italian traffic. These people drive as if they have nothing to live for. And, yet, we have not seen a single accident. Regardless, driving is nerve-wracking. But we made it safely to Padua, where we visited the Scrovengi Chapel, painted in frescos by Giotto in the early 14th century. It was commissioned by a man whose father was a very bad ...

Blog Day 5 (Venice 2), Wednesday, December 9
We rose well-rested and after enjoying the hotel’s breakfast buffet, set off for St. Mark’s Square, where we spent most of our day. With the national holiday crowds dispersed, it finally paid off to be here in the off season! There were no lines for the Basillica or any of the “extra” (“for a small fee”) attractions on the square. It is no longer allowed to feed the pigeons, with the positive result ...

... gave up on the sun ever coming up around seven and took off. The days here are extremely short: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. tops.
Our hotel here is amazing: they were happy to check us in at 7:30 a.m. and could not have been more accommodating. We slept a couple of hours and hit the streets - no, canals - around eleven. Our hotel recommended a restaurant where we had by far the best meal we have had in Italy before starting our sightseeing day’ ...

... pillows and as many makeshift covers (aka jackets and sweatshirts) to another compartment and sprawled out on the seats. When we got to Venice, it was very early in the morning, so we had to find our way to our hostel in the dark. But we made it there, only to find out that it was closed for another two hours (that's what happens during low season). So we wandered around, found a market to get a few ...

... artistically gifted. You can't take any photos inside the gallery because the works are soooo important (yet, you can take photos at Musee D'Orsay of Monet, Van Gogh etc) and ... get this ... they don't even let you take photos looking out the window of the gallery across the Grand Canal because "the iron grill design over the window is copyrighted!" What a joke! Especially considering you can go outside the gallery and take as many photos as you want ...

... having the privilege of being able to intimately talk to the most illustrious and successful men of the city, they were able to read and write, and discuss art, literature and politics.  A woman who succeeded in winning patrons which desired her company more than they desired her body, received the title of cortigiana onesta, or honest courtesan, a title very hard to obtain.  Veronica ...

... after then minutes everything looks the same and you don't know how to get back to where you were! Just hold on to that. There are shops everywhere; if you need to spend your money I'm sure you can find a spot quickly enough. We wandered through the low-end shops around the bridge, to the nicer and reasonably priced shops towards Piazza San Paolo, to the high-end you-can't ...

... occasion! We also caught up with Huy there, who we'd met in Barcelona. He tried to show us around, but the streets are so twisty that it's almost impossible not to get lost! Some other facts about Venice: Everything is extremely expensive Most restaurant's charge you a cover to eat there You can still get good pizza and gelati quite cheaply Drinking wine on the canals is fun!

... Arms of saints were preserved in gilt sleeves. Skulls leered from bell jars. Fragments of clothing, teeth were displayed in smaller cases. All the little containers were outfitted with gold stems, ornaments on top. I felt as though I'd walked in on a decadent nightmare. At the risk of being thrown out, I took a series of illicit photographs. I hardly needed to. The strange, morbid effect of those relics has branded itself upon my brain. The symbol of St. Mark, the ...