Posts Tagged ‘italy’

  1. More Venice

    August 22, 2011

    It’s hard to condense all of my experiences in Venice down to a webpage, so all I’ve got here are more snippets and snapshots. Churches, bridges, canals, steps, cats, flowers, vaporetti, the sea, the lagoon, the beach, sand, seashells, tanned and toned vaporetto employees, peach iced tea, always perfect temperature, warm nights, pink lamp posts, sculptures embedded in houses, boats, islands in the distance, pigeons walking just like tourists, narrow streets, busy shopping districts, humid air, mild sunburns, lunches and dinners at outdoor tables in restaurants, waking up to church bells, Ciao, Grazie!

    Church of Madonna del'Orto. We passed it numerous times on the way to and from the vaporetto.


    Continue reading…

  2. The islands of Venice

    August 16, 2011

    A whole week in Venice is bound to be filled with way more things than can be safely recalled later. It is unsafe to think too much about your time in Venice because while you do that, time keeps passing, and you can easily spend hours recounting small incidents that only lasted a few minutes.

    Our typical days in Venice would begin by waking up in late morning, having a light breakfast and venturing off, usually in no specific direction. Sunrises are beautiful, but sleeping in is a luxury I rarely forgo while on vacation.

    A colour boost awaits just outside. We’d check up on the potted plants whenever we left or returned. They never needed watering – looked like it rained lightly on a lot of the nights.

    Continue reading…

  3. Venice Continues

    August 15, 2011

    The first time I saw Piazza San Marco was after midnight. Neat rows of tables and chairs lined up the edges, while the centre of the square was rather deserted. There were a few others enjoying the night at San Marco, but it was nothing compared to the daytime hustle.

    San Marco at night

    Venice is famous for its canals, Piazza San Marco, Rialto bridge, Murano glass. Yet none of these things fully explain what it is that captivates so many visitors of this city. Let me try to explain it more fully.
    Continue reading…

  4. Hello Venezia!

    August 14, 2011

    It happened rather suddenly – one evening we decided to go for a vacation. And by “go” I mean “fly”, because I would not settle for anything less than Venice. The perfect time seemed in June, which was a little less than 2 months in the future. Out of the three weeks I had for the trip, one would be spent in Venice, the rest – visiting other highlights of northern Italy.

    As I found out while booking travel and accommodations, it’s not uncommon for some to book their Italian vacations half a year in advance. That’s rather unusual for me, and the lack of affordable hotels in the city left me puzzled (they were all booked). Eventually I had a revelation – why not rent an apartment? Long story short we found one that cost only €100 per night and was located in a beautiful area in Cannaregio. Good luck finding a hotel in Venice for that much. Somehow the thought of renting an apartment for a vacation overseas made me feel like a seasoned traveller, even though I still had not a single visa stamp in my passport.

    Our arrival was not without minor annoyances. My partner was “randomly selected” for a full body scan at the security check point in YYZ. That’s one thing off his bucket list! Our Airbus was set to depart at 10pm, but ultimately the boarding only started at 11pm. That part is a bit of a haze in my mind, which is probably a good thing.

    Good buy, T.O.

    Good buy, T.O.

    Continue reading…

Newer Entries