A different perspective - 8
Trip Start
Aug 28, 2008
1
18
40
Trip End
Sep 24, 2008
Bacharach,
Rhineland-Palatinate,
Germany
Monday, September 8, 2008
We left Austria around 8:00 am and would be on the bus for a full day getting to Venice. Occasionally Jennifer will play music on the bus according to the area we are driving through. Any guesses what we listen to thru the Austrian Alps? The Sound of Music soundtrack of course!!!! It was quite the windy road for awhile but the scenery was pretty....though it was cloudy and rainy all the way to Venice.
We stopped in Northern Ital for lunch and Gelato!!!!! Italian gelato is so good. I will need all the walking I did yesterday and the days to come to keep off all the gelato I plan on eating!!
Once to the mainland just across from Venice we board a private boat - luggage too- for the short ride to the island. Venice looks beautiful from the water and more incredible the closer we get. Our hotel is just a short walk from the dock. We get another small room but we won't be in there much anyway! Have about an hour to freshen up and then a short tour to St Mark's square and instructons on how to get around. By this time we are starving and head towards the canal for cooler air and something to eat. On the canal side of St Mark's square we find a pizza cafe by the water and gratefully plop down in the chairs. The pizza and beer come quickly and we enjoy our dinner with a sunset and huge cruise ships leaving this port.
Head back to St Mark's square....looks almost like Vegas :) and a little window shopping before a gondola ride. Murano glass is the item to get here....shop after shop sells jewelry, vases, platters, pens, etc. It will be hard to make a decision on what to get but I will definately enjoy looking!!
Meet the group for our gondola ride at 9:15 (past my bedtime) A gondola will seat 6 people so we form a group with my parents and Doug and Tamara. Once we all get in the boat they are pretty tipsy feeling. We are the second gondola out and we head down the canal. It is very peaceful until the gondola behind us has a singer who is quite loud. If you want music on your ride it is extra....but we were so close we had the music also. I'm sure normally this would be a good thing but the guy was so loud it kind of ruined the ride. We all got the giggles towards the end of the ride because the singing was just too much!!!
Monday morning we met a local guide to give us a walking tour of Venice. This tours are wonderful because you see things off the beaten path...like the only shop where they make the gondolas and, the only remaining outside circular staircase. We ended the tour at St Mark's square. There was time to find the bathroom (pay to pee for a clean bathroom 1£) and a slice of pizza before going into the Basilica. We wanted to be inside at 11:30. All the murals on the walls and ceiling are made from the murano glass and at 11:30 they slowly turn on the lights and the ceiling loos like the inside of a jewlery box! All the murals are beautiful by once the lights come up the are spectacular! The whose buildiong is made of marble in beautiful colurs. No two section match as the marble would come from different places. I could go on and on and on....but I won't! Pictures were not allowed so I picked up some postcards. One last thing...the Basilica wa built in the 11th century. It is incredible!!!!!
More later on Venice....time for an drink by the fountain! Ciao!!!
