Good-Bye Venice....Headed Across The Pond

This is the last time we'll see this view...it's time to pack and head away from Venice to our next adventure,...check out time is noon.

Venice will be a place I'll never forget...not what I expected and better than I could imagine.

 while waiting for our water taxi to pick us up in front of our hotel we watched while mail and supplies were being delivered to local businesses.

They have to bring it in by boat, unload it on dolly's and push carts and hit the streets to deliver.

 And here is our taxi driver (not too shabby) who will take us on a scenic view to the train station.

 One last view of  a back canal

 a boat on it's way to deliver supplies

And us one last time with the city of Venice around us.

Today we don't head far...we'll take a 10 minute train ride across the water to a town called Mestre...here we will stay the night before heading to Switzerland.

Our plan was to have 4 nights in Venice but the more I read the more nervous I got about catching an early train from Venice...I was afraid we would miss it and some of our time in Switzerland...so I decided to get a hotel room out of the city of Venice across from the train station.

It didn't turn out too bad with the exception of I didn't know at the time how much I would love my evenings in San Marco square...but as far as Venice went we felt we had seen enough....plus we could save on the pocket book a little since there was a huge difference in hotel cost.

So, we went to check into our hotel and we couldn't get in until 2 and it was noon so we checked our luggage and once again was train bound...we decided to hop a train and go and visit another Italian city....this time it would be Verona, the famed city of where once Juliet (of Romeo and Juliet) lived.

I have lots of pictures to share of our day in Verona and again it is so hard to choose...so I will stop this post here and will post again later and share with you our day in Verona, an unexpected jewel of a city.



Venice Day 3 ....Part 2....Last Night In Venice

After having a bottle of wine in our room and enjoying the views of gondola rides we decided it was time for us to enjoy a gondola ride of our own.

We did about a 40 minute ride.

Here is our gondolier...I don't remember his name but I do remember he is divorced and has a daughter and his gondola is named after his daughter...I don't remember her name either but he did say you never name your gondola after a girlfriend or a wife only the daughter as you will always have your daughter but maybe not the wife or girlfriend.

Most gondoliers own their own gondola's and the work through a company that is one reason prices vary as the gondolier is trying to make the most money he can...I think they are doing pretty well at the prices they charge....still a fun time in Venice and so worththe experience.

 It was very enjoyable to sit back in the beautiful evening breeze

 with our own bottles of Bellini....right before we got on our gondola we stopped at a place and bought us 2 bottles each so we could enjoy a drink on our ride...we payed the same amount for 4 of these bottle which hold about 2 glasses in each bottle as we did for one glass the night before at Harry's and honestly, it was just as good.

 we met up with another gondolier

 we enjoyed our ride and it was a perfect way to begin the last night in Venice...once the ride was over we headed to our favorite evening spot in San Marco square...we ordered a bottle of wine (duh!!!) and planned to end the evening right.

If you look at the picture below and look to the left of the center you will see a man in a red and white stripped shirt...he was with his family, a wife, a daughter and a son...they were taking pictures and messing with the birds...looked like typical tourist...all of a sudden 2 police officers came and walked him off across the square and into a building while the family waited outside...20 minutes later he came out, spoke to the wife and went back in....another 20 minutes he came out, came back to the square and took pictures and then they left....not sure what all happened but gave us something to talk about over our wine.

Never knew how much fun people watching could be.

 we watched children trying to feed the birds who didn't seem interested in the bird seed that night

 this little girl was so sweet and didn't seemed bothered by all the birds

 thinking maybe the birds may of wanted some drink to wash down the bird seed...it was a little freaky when he decided to land here for a couple of minutes.

After our Bellini's and 2 bottles of wine (not to mention the bottle in the room) we decided we needed a little chow before heading back to the room to call it a night...

at dinner we opted for the cappuccino's and water...thinking it was a good choice.

 below is the outdoor cafe we had dinner at...nice and quite and down a side alley

once back at the hotel we took a couple pictures from the boat dock...

Dodges Place

 Our hotel at night

 and me...thank you Venice for wonderful memories...my favorite place and memory will be your San Marco square...I will miss you and every time I have a glass of wine I will think of you.

Good Night Venice



Venice Day 3...Part 1

So this morning we woke up and after moving around decided to pack our boxes of goodies to send home....so far we had bought enough stuff that it was all too much to carry with us along with our luggage...so we packed what we could mail.

I still had some wine and limencello that I was carrying with me...I was warn not to mail it cause it wouldn't make it to the states ...so packing it in my luggage was the plan.

 We headed to the post office that was right outside San Marco square...never did I think mailing a package would be so difficult....the lady was rude...we filled the papers out wrong...she shock her headed and spoke loudly in Italian and so on and so on....

We were frustrated but afraid to say anything for fear our packages wouldn't make it home...never have I felt so stupid....mailing a package from Italy is not the same as mailing it from Texas.

So after what seemed like an hour at the post office...we headed out, walking trying to forget about how our day started out....by now it was lunch time and we were feeling a little hungry so we decided to stop at a cute little outdoor place across from a church and in front of a museum.

 Tho' it was still early in the day we decided after our ordeal at the post office we needed a drink to get past it all and try to erase that memory from our minds.

We had heard the Spritz was a popular drink so we decided to try it...man was it strong...and good....and it did help erase the memory of the mean bad post office lady that woke up on the wrong side of the bed by the way her hair looked.

 We enjoyed a relaxing lunch with not a lot of people around and once again just soaked up what is Venice.

 After lunch we just walked and walked ....above is the outside of a beautiful church

 this picture was capture from the top of a small bridge on one of the smaller canals....gondola's are all over the place during the day.

Above a statue in a square we came up on and below a building with beautiful flowers ...have I told you how much I love the flower window balcony pictures...the hard part is going to decide which one I want to blow up to hang in my office.



 gondola's parked while the gondoliers take their lunch break....lunch breaks in Italy is a very serious thing.

Flowers in my favorite colors 

 I really enjoyed Venice...it has been so hard to choose what pictures to share with you....I hope you have enjoyed them as much as I have enjoyed sharing them with you.

 After our day it was time to head back to the hotel to rest and take a break.

It was nice to be in a hotel that had air conditioning...not all hotels have them and this hotel had the best a/c....also ice is a hard thing to come by as well but this hotel had plenty.

So....after getting back to the room and relaxing, we opened a bottle of wine and enjoyed the view and the sounds from our room.

Below is myself looking out the window enjoying my wine and watching all the gondolas go by....my cousin Lonnie took this shot from our balcony.

 so from my window I took her picture on the balcony.

and from our side window you can see all the gondolas returning back to their starting and end spot.

and you can pay extra for a music on your gondola.

So...after our wine and relax time we decided it wasn't as hot out and it was time for us to take our gondola ride on the canal...after all tomorrow we leave Venice and this is something that has to be done.

Tomorrow I will post our gondola ride and our last evening in Venice.



Update on Venice Day 2 Part 4

I can't believe I forgot to post about a part of our evening...

So before we headed to San Marco Square we went to Harry's Bar...it was on The Grand Canal around the corner from our hotel.

This place has been in Venice forever....apparently a landmark...

 Everything I read about Venice always mentioned this place to go and visit and have their world famous Bellini....Bellini's...I like Bellini's...so we we went to try it out....after all teh guide book said to go...so we went.

 Apparently this is the place that created the Bellini and is a popular drink Venice...they were very good..our glass was considered the large glass, which in the picture looks larger than it really is....it's more like a orange juice glass.

Though the Bellini was very good along with the olives and appetizers you got while sitting at the bar

they were very expensive.

15 Euro (like $18 US) and we each had 4....120 Euro...Ouch! but they were good and it was fun sitting at the bar and my cousin got her flirt on with the bartender so it was a good start to the evening.

This Bellini post will have a place in a post for Day 3 Venice...stay tuned,



Venice Day 2...Part 4...The End Of A Beautiful Day

So after our taxi ride we walked around and did a little shopping.

Afterwards we headed back to the hotel to drop off our souvenir goodies.

The hotel was nice enough to send us up boxes so we could pack our stuff to send home.

We decided to head back to San Marco Square to end our evening.

We wanted to go back and try again to take some pictures with those damn pigeons hoping to get better pictures than the night before.

And here's my cousin Lonnie...good picture...

 then me...still a little freaked out by their movement....hard to pose trying to look pretty when their flappin' those damn wings.

 and Lonnie again...she was actually more calm around those damn birds than I was

 and this is as good as it gets

Now it's time to do what's important...

VINO TIME

This was my favorite thing to do...sit...drink...enjoy my surroundings and visit with my cousin.

I think about these times everyday and wish I could end every evening without a care in the world, sitting at the square just enjoying.

Who wouldn't enjoy this view...

After we were done with our usual 2 bottles we headed to get a pizza to take back to the room....along the way we stopped and shopped a little more...a dangerous thing to do after 2 bottles of wine.

Now time to say Goodnight as we still have another day in Venice to go.



Venice Day 2...Part 3...The Water Taxi Ride Continues

and so the ride continues....

 and we almost had a little too much excitement....a boat crash...so here's our boat in the middle with the brown top and 2 vaporettos (it's a bus on water) on each side of us...horns were going off and it was so close I could reach out and touch....

Not cool....lol

 the picture below is of their casino....as much as I wanted to go and check it out I was too afraid...after all Venice was already costing an arm and a couple of legs that I could just imagine the gambling cost...plus I did hear it was high dollar...so this is as close I got.

 lovin' the flowers

if you notice in the picture above the color of the brick is different closer to the water...the water normally comes up this high....no one lives on the lower levels of Venice anymore...the buildings are empty and vacant...they have a time of year where the tide is really high and the square we hang out in during the evenings will flood where people walk through it in rain boots past their ankles.

Just crazy....

 above.... modern day bridge bridge with steps...if you read yesterdays post I mentioned a bridge as the bridge with steps...I was wrong, it was the museum bridge, this is the bridge with steps...I have gone back and corrected yesterdays post...sorry...there's a lot to remember

 time to get ready to dock...if you look behind the statue you will see the church that is in the square where we spend our evenings....and look at all the tourist...they are everywhere.

well that is all the pictures of the taxi ride I am going to share....if you'd like to see more you'll just have to come over and sit a spell over a bottle of wine and share stories.

Tomorrow we'll close with the evening of Day 2.