the photos are really gorgeous too! more more more!!! :clap_1:
Cork & Alli's Trip Report
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Trip Report day 5 The adventure continues....
So, Cork & I decided to check out the recommended hotel. We set out on foot. As we walked out of the station I knew we were in Venice!
Water all around. We walked over the Rialto Bridge and stopped at a cafe to have some lunch. This cafe was right on the Grand Canal. We didn't want to eat too much so we split a sandwich. I had a grappa...not what I expected and not what I'll have again. Tasted too much like a scotch.
We didn't investigate this area much,(time for this later!) but began walking to our hotel located in the San Marco area. We walked through the streets with street vendors and shops all along the way. I loved the feeling of Venice. As we walked I was taking pictures of everything I saw. Venice is a feast for the eyes! Narrow alleys, small bridges over narrow canals. It was everything I had imagined! It is a beautiful city. The only disappointment was the graffiti on many of the walls...but even that became less and less as we neared the San Marco area. Plus Venice is so beautiful and so full of history and soul, that I ceased to even see the graffiti.
As we were walking, cork kept saying "this way" and we would turn into these narrow alley ways. I was amazed at her sense of direction and her memory of Venice. :shock: Turning here & there, zigzagging around. I finally commented on this and she told me to look up at one of the buildings...and there was a sign with an arrow pointing which way to go to get to San Marco....
We passed so many wonderful buildings, bridges and canals. It was very quiet, not many people around. We made our way to the general vicinity of our hotel. There are so many little shops lining the streets of Venice. We stopped in one that sold jewelry. It was a small shop. Let me tell you, it is difficult to look around a small shop with a mule pack on your back. I kept bumping into things. Cork & I bought a few things and asked the lady how to get to Hotel Rio. As usual we got "lost" but found our way. We went into the hotel and asked to see the room first. It was fine!:clap_1: We left our bags in the room, checked in and went exploring. The shops are amazing in Venice. The ones that intrigued me the most were the ones that had wonderful displays of Venetian masks for the carnival! (the ones displaying Venetian glass were pretty nice too )
Walking around Venice is such an amazing experience! I'll let the pictures do the talking for me!
We returned to the hotel to shower and relax for a while. I had purchased an international calling card, so I was able to make a few calls to home. Cork talked to her mom and dad. Back outside to find dinner! We walked around and stopped outside many restaurants to read the menu. (we did this in every city we visited....and we always ended up at the right place!) The one we chose this night was a bit unusual, which we did not notice until we sat down. In Venice you would expect to have Italian food in an Italian restaurant served and cooked by Italian people. Well, this restaurant was all Orientals. It did seem to be strange, but we gave it a try. The food was very good. I had a pizza with mushrooms, artichokes and ham.
After dinner we found an Internet cafe (not like the ones in Amsterdam
). Cork caught up on some business and I went back to the hotel to crash! After very little sleep the night before...I was needing a good night sleep!
The next morning we woke up pretty around 9:00. I showered again and we headed out for breakfast. I had cappuccino and an omelet. After breakfast we headed to San Marco Square. ( AKA St Marks) What a magnificent place! The architecture is indescribable! There are also pigeons everywhere. Cork wanted me to run through the lot of them, but I was afraid they would all poop on my head...so...NO!
We decided to walk back through the city and head for the station to make reservations to Brig. We returned to the hotel, checked out and stowed our backpacks. We leisurely walked back to the station, stopping at the Rialto for some amazing photo opps at the Grand Canal!
At the station we reserved a train to Brig leaving at 5:10. Close to the station we found an Internet Cafe. Cork looked for flights to Finland and I looked for hotels in Brig. Neither of us were having any luck, and before we knew it, it was 4:30, and we still had to go back to the hotel for our bags!
We decided to take a water taxi to San Marco ...but were dismayed to find out it was a half an hour ride. I thought it would only take us about 15-20 minutes to walk it...so we sprinted through Venice. Well...my sense of time was WAY WAY off! It takes about 1/2 hour on foot too! Once we made it to the hotel, we realized that there was no way we were going to make it back to the station in time for or train. We slowed down and decided to enjoy a few more precious hours in Venice. We did some more walking and shopping. We found another small cafe to have dinner. This one had one man, Italian, who cooked, served and cleaned up. I had vegetable lasagna. If I was going to "fall in love" in Venice, it would have been with this man. He was cute and friendly, but spoke no English. Cork & I were able to communicate with him to some degree. After dinner he asked us if we were staying in Venice long, and we let him know that we were leaving....Darn...I would have enjoyed spending some time with this man (he had no wedding band on...so who knows?) But...alas, we had to leave. Wouldn't that be a hoot...Alli falls for Italian man who runs his own restaurant! Maybe next time?
We picked up our bags from the hotel and headed to San Marco again. There we picked up a water bus. This was truly a highlight! You absolutely can NOT go to Venice and not get on the water at least once!!!! It was a wonderful ride to the station. I love being on the water anyway, and being on the water in Venice!!!!!!!!!! SIGH!
We chose to take a train to Bologna which arrived there around 10:00. There we decided to take the train to Brig, but it didn't leave the station until 12:30. We waited in the station lobby (which was warm but very crowded. As the night wore on, we started getting nervous (we didn't have a reservation and there seemed to be an awful lot of people waiting for the same train as us?) About 12:20 or so a train arrived and almost everyone got up and rushed to the train. As it turns out, all these people were waiting for a very over due train to Paris....whew! Our train arrived, and we were told to go to a certain part of the train. There a man took our supplement money, 20 euros, and gave us a 6 person couchette, with only us in it!! He also brought us water bottles and told us he would wake us up around 5:00 to get ready to get off in Brig. Having the couchette all to ourselves was a great luxury! :clap_1: (He also told us to lock our door...Cork explained that in years past, Italian trains have had trouble with people putting smoke bombs in couchettes, knocking the occupants out, and stealing from them.) We both slept until 5:00, when our porter woke us up, and gave us a container of juice and croissants.
Once in Brigg we hopped on a train headed to Zermatt! This is tomorrow's report!!!!
I must say, Venice was one of my most favorite cities. I love the history, architecture, old soul and old world feel!
So, Cork & I decided to check out the recommended hotel. We set out on foot. As we walked out of the station I knew we were in Venice!
Water all around. We walked over the Rialto Bridge and stopped at a cafe to have some lunch. This cafe was right on the Grand Canal. We didn't want to eat too much so we split a sandwich. I had a grappa...not what I expected and not what I'll have again. Tasted too much like a scotch. We didn't investigate this area much,(time for this later!) but began walking to our hotel located in the San Marco area. We walked through the streets with street vendors and shops all along the way. I loved the feeling of Venice. As we walked I was taking pictures of everything I saw. Venice is a feast for the eyes! Narrow alleys, small bridges over narrow canals. It was everything I had imagined! It is a beautiful city.
The only disappointment was the graffiti on many of the walls...but even that became less and less as we neared the San Marco area. Plus Venice is so beautiful and so full of history and soul, that I ceased to even see the graffiti. As we were walking, cork kept saying "this way" and we would turn into these narrow alley ways. I was amazed at her sense of direction and her memory of Venice. :shock: Turning here & there, zigzagging around. I finally commented on this and she told me to look up at one of the buildings...and there was a sign with an arrow pointing which way to go to get to San Marco....
We passed so many wonderful buildings, bridges and canals. It was very quiet, not many people around. We made our way to the general vicinity of our hotel. There are so many little shops lining the streets of Venice. We stopped in one that sold jewelry. It was a small shop. Let me tell you, it is difficult to look around a small shop with a mule pack on your back. I kept bumping into things. Cork & I bought a few things and asked the lady how to get to Hotel Rio. As usual we got "lost" but found our way. We went into the hotel and asked to see the room first. It was fine!:clap_1: We left our bags in the room, checked in and went exploring. The shops are amazing in Venice. The ones that intrigued me the most were the ones that had wonderful displays of Venetian masks for the carnival! (the ones displaying Venetian glass were pretty nice too
)Walking around Venice is such an amazing experience! I'll let the pictures do the talking for me!
We returned to the hotel to shower and relax for a while. I had purchased an international calling card, so I was able to make a few calls to home. Cork talked to her mom and dad. Back outside to find dinner! We walked around and stopped outside many restaurants to read the menu. (we did this in every city we visited....and we always ended up at the right place!) The one we chose this night was a bit unusual, which we did not notice until we sat down. In Venice you would expect to have Italian food in an Italian restaurant served and cooked by Italian people. Well, this restaurant was all Orientals. It did seem to be strange, but we gave it a try. The food was very good. I had a pizza with mushrooms, artichokes and ham.
After dinner we found an Internet cafe (not like the ones in Amsterdam
). Cork caught up on some business and I went back to the hotel to crash! After very little sleep the night before...I was needing a good night sleep!The next morning we woke up pretty around 9:00. I showered again and we headed out for breakfast. I had cappuccino and an omelet. After breakfast we headed to San Marco Square. ( AKA St Marks) What a magnificent place! The architecture is indescribable! There are also pigeons everywhere. Cork wanted me to run through the lot of them, but I was afraid they would all poop on my head...so...NO!
We decided to walk back through the city and head for the station to make reservations to Brig. We returned to the hotel, checked out and stowed our backpacks. We leisurely walked back to the station, stopping at the Rialto for some amazing photo opps at the Grand Canal!
At the station we reserved a train to Brig leaving at 5:10. Close to the station we found an Internet Cafe. Cork looked for flights to Finland and I looked for hotels in Brig. Neither of us were having any luck, and before we knew it, it was 4:30, and we still had to go back to the hotel for our bags!
We decided to take a water taxi to San Marco ...but were dismayed to find out it was a half an hour ride. I thought it would only take us about 15-20 minutes to walk it...so we sprinted through Venice. Well...my sense of time was WAY WAY off! It takes about 1/2 hour on foot too! Once we made it to the hotel, we realized that there was no way we were going to make it back to the station in time for or train. We slowed down and decided to enjoy a few more precious hours in Venice. We did some more walking and shopping. We found another small cafe to have dinner. This one had one man, Italian, who cooked, served and cleaned up. I had vegetable lasagna. If I was going to "fall in love" in Venice, it would have been with this man. He was cute and friendly, but spoke no English. Cork & I were able to communicate with him to some degree. After dinner he asked us if we were staying in Venice long, and we let him know that we were leaving....Darn...I would have enjoyed spending some time with this man (he had no wedding band on...so who knows?) But...alas, we had to leave. Wouldn't that be a hoot...Alli falls for Italian man who runs his own restaurant! Maybe next time?We picked up our bags from the hotel and headed to San Marco again. There we picked up a water bus. This was truly a highlight! You absolutely can NOT go to Venice and not get on the water at least once!!!! It was a wonderful ride to the station. I love being on the water anyway, and being on the water in Venice!!!!!!!!!! SIGH!
We chose to take a train to Bologna which arrived there around 10:00. There we decided to take the train to Brig, but it didn't leave the station until 12:30. We waited in the station lobby (which was warm but very crowded. As the night wore on, we started getting nervous (we didn't have a reservation and there seemed to be an awful lot of people waiting for the same train as us?) About 12:20 or so a train arrived and almost everyone got up and rushed to the train. As it turns out, all these people were waiting for a very over due train to Paris....whew! Our train arrived, and we were told to go to a certain part of the train. There a man took our supplement money, 20 euros, and gave us a 6 person couchette, with only us in it!! He also brought us water bottles and told us he would wake us up around 5:00 to get ready to get off in Brig. Having the couchette all to ourselves was a great luxury! :clap_1: (He also told us to lock our door...Cork explained that in years past, Italian trains have had trouble with people putting smoke bombs in couchettes, knocking the occupants out, and stealing from them.) We both slept until 5:00, when our porter woke us up, and gave us a container of juice and croissants.
Once in Brigg we hopped on a train headed to Zermatt! This is tomorrow's report!!!!
I must say, Venice was one of my most favorite cities. I love the history, architecture, old soul and old world feel!
Photos of my first impressions of Venice....
Shops of Venice
Photos from the Rialto.....
More Venice......
Bravo Bella Bravo!!! :clap_1: I loved Venice, too! I hated Grappa, too!
:clap_1: :clap_1: :clap_1: :clap_1: :clap_1: