Vime Venice East Quarto D Altino Quarto D'Altino

... 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 ...

... endowed a museum of modern art, which seems especially radical in Venice, with its nearly universal focus on the Renaissance.
After dinner and a rest, we finished our day with a night at the Opera! We saw “The Barber of Seville” a great, silly romp of an opera - and to add to the fun, it was performed inside one of the old Venetian palaces, with each act taking place in a different room. (The small audience followed the players and the Piano Quartet from room to room.)

... 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 ...

... we will definitely sightsee, jewlery shop, pick up Bethany and dine on a nice Italian dinner! OH ya, and we decided that Italy definitely  has the best pizza ever! The next morning we walk around and window shop for jewelry. There are some truly beautiful things! [PHOTO I bought some rings for friends and a couple of organic beauty products. We met up with Bethany at the train station at 2 PM, shrieking and ...

Via Jenn Ok, so last night's post was a rather brief, but you must admit very concise and to the point. Here's the longer version before we board our plane to Venice, Italy via Vienna. Yesterday morning we got up bright and early for our drive from Split to Dubrovnik. While the distance was only 220km, the motorway connecting the southern half of Croatia is incomplete. Fortunately for us, the alternative route was the beautiful coastal highway. This highway has ...

... described, very exotic being draped entirely in gold. Unfortunately, due to the expensive nature of things in Venice, we didn't fancy paying to pray at the Golden Alter or climbing hundreds of steps to the top so we left pretty sharpish. Practically the whole day was spent exploring this strange, beautiful city and we were exhausted by the time we arrived back to the tent. We went to the bar at the campsite later and played several rounds of ******** waiting for Ben to show up, but ...

... Bellini, Tintoretto)...it rained this morning which was totally fine since we were in the museum and now it is warm and sunny again. Tonight we hope to look at more shops filled with Venetian glass, and dramatic costumes and masks. (Brynn you would really like them). The canals, to our surprise, do not smell funny so the scenery on the public boats is quite a pleasant experience. No gondolas for us though ...

... do without him! We then took the train to Milano, Italy and had 15 minutes to catch our next train. Next just imagine eight people running through the train station with a million bags, of course our next train is at the farthest platform from ours. We BARELY made it on the train. The doors were actually shutting on our suitcases as we were pulling them on the train. These trains really don't wait for anybody! Tonight we are ...