Italy – Day 6 through 8 – Venice

Our train ride to Venice ended by travelling along a long bridge, beside the only road onto the island.  As we exited the train station, we were met by what seemed to be main street, the Grand Canal.  In front of us was a busy waterway with water buses, taxis, and of course, gondolas.  We waited in line for a 3-day bus pass, and then boarded the water bus, called a “vaporetto”, towards our stop, Rialto.  What we didn’t know was that there were two Rialto stops, and our hotel directions were from the stop we didn’t take.  Venice doesn’t have normal streets with names.  Most of the paths seemed to be unmarked and only wide enough for about three people to walk side-by-side.  After asking for directions from a nice Australian woman who basically gave us a general direction to continue walking, we stumbled across a sign for our hotel down a small vacant street.

Train tracks to the island:

View of the Grand Canal from Rialto Bridge:

Hidden street with our hotel:

The hotel had no elevator, so Mike and I carried the heavy bags and Lindsay and Jenna checked us in.  The people at the counter were very nice and had a large map where they showed us various places to visit in Venice.  They also had a pair of dachshunds that helped with business by sleeping on the computer chair behind them. At the hotel, we all shared one large room with a queen bed, and two twin beds.  On the plus side, the bathroom was very large and accommodating. 

On our first day of exploring, we ventured to San Marco’s Square.  Our hotel also gave us small pocket-sized maps for use on the tiny streets and on the vaporetto lines, so we decided to jump on board to travel around the Grand Canal back to our hotel.  This vaporetto turned out to be a bad choice; way more crowded than our first one, and it was stopping at every stop making for bad time.  So, we disembarked and took to walking back.  This allowed us to see more of the city and let us search for some of the recommended restaurants.  We decided on a nice Italian pasta/seafood place that squeezed us in, even though we didn’t have a reservation and tables were very limited.  After dinner and on the way home, we found a gelato stand and enjoyed dessert on the walk back to the hotel.

San Marco's Square:

Outside San Marco's Basilica:

Mike & Jenna on the Grand Canal:

Narrow canals and footbridges:

Calamari Pasta:

Grand Canal at night:

Lindz in a Venetian Carnival mask:

The next day, we went back to San Marco Square and went inside of the basilica.  It was superb.  Gold mosaic tiling allowed sunlight to bounce around the chapel’s inside, allowing reverence to be observed by the viewers.

Golden mosaic domed ceiling in San Marco's Basilica:

We saw this a lot in the Italian churches - workers would clap loudly at you if you were being too loud, right before loudly yelling "NO FOTOS!!!"

Upon leaving the basilica, we decided to seize the opportunity for a mid-day gondola ride through some of the smaller canals of Venice.  Our gondolier was part of the family of gondoliers that ran all the gondolas in the city.  He was very nice and answered all of my silly touristy-type questions that I had for him.  One of the aspects that Lindsay liked most, was how on corners, he would yell “Oiy!” and sometimes, a slightly longer “Ooiyyyy!” would return indicating another gondola nearing the same corner.  Very interesting… oh, and romantic! 

After the gondola ride, we made our way north to a vaporetto stop that took us to the legendary Murano Island.  Murano is where the glass factories are located, removed from the main city to protect them against the possibility of a city-wide fire.  We spent most of our day enjoying the colorful buildings, emerald green canals, and loads of small glass shops offering their wares.  

Riding a vaporetto to Murano:

Fancy Murano glass shop:

Back on the main island, we had our last Italian dinner at a highly recommended restaurant.  That night, we packed for the early water bus ride to the stop where actual buses took us to the airport.

Early morning vaporetto to the real bus station:

Sunrise over tranquil Grand Canal:

Our trip to Italy was one for the books.  The country looked more and more beautiful the longer we stayed.  The best part of the whole trip, besides the excellent company of course, had to have been the food.  We enjoyed the most excellent Italian food and dessert we have had in a long time.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we made time for another trip to Italy before our time ends in Europe.

~Blake

Italy – Day 4 through 6 – Florence

When we arrived, the city was in a Firenze.  The train depot was busy and the temperature was high as we departed the station with our baggage.  Instead of getting lost, we merely took the long, scenic way to our hotel, and when we arrived, our room was on the fifth floor, so the elevator was the way to go.  The man working the front desk spoke perfect English, mainly because he was from Brooklyn and moved to Italy to be with family and continue his family business of running the hotel.  Our rooms were very nice, split suites that shared a bathroom.  We had both air conditioners on full blast as soon as we entered the room.  After a cool off/power nap, we headed out to explore Florence.  Our host gave some recommendations for dinner and told us, “If you’re looking for good pizza, fugget about it.  These Florentino’s don’t know pizza.”  He did tell us he know of one place that serves real Napoli pizza, the only in the city, so we went there for dinner after exploring for a few hours.  While exploring, we got to see Boboli Gardens, the famous Ponte Vecchio Old Bridge, and lots of little shops selling their wares.

Lindz & Jenna with a strange statue at the Pitti Palace:

Boboli Gardens:

Us at the Boboli Gardens:

Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge):

Margharita Pizza, Napoli-style:

Our delicious daily habit, Gelato:

We sat an enjoyed our evening gelato in the Piazza Santa Maria Novella:

The next day, we went to go see Michelangelo's David, numerous other fine statues, and art that was stunning to say the least.  David really was remarkable.  Unfortunately, photos were not allowed, so instead people sat and relaxed in the presence of this masterpiece.

Later that day, we spent some time wandering the square where the Duomo was located.  The line to enter the Duomo, and the price, were a little too large for our tastes, so we decided to climb the tower next to the Duomo, and we were pleasantly surprised by the views.  Not only was this the best place to see the splendor of the Duomo, but we could see the entire city and for miles in every direction.  I loved being this high up, and took advantage of the chicken wire surrounding the top of the tower.

Piazza del Duomo:

Views of the Duomo and the rest of Florence from the Bell Tower:

The next day we gathered our possessions and made the trek back to the train station.  Traveling by train seemed easy to us by now, and we felt more at ease for the journey.  Our final city on our trip was Venice, the floating jewel of Italy.  Stay tuned…

~Blake

Italy – Day 1 through 4 – Rome

Long before anyone should have been awake we said good-bye to Cooper and were driving to London Stansted airport in the dark on nearly empty roads.  It was still dark as we parked in Zone N of the Long Stay Car Park.  A bus took us to the airport and after standing in the wrong queue for check-in, we found the right queue and checked our two bags for the flight.  We flew Ryan Air, a budget airline in Europe, in a Boeing 737 for the 1.5 hour flight to Rome.  The flight attendants were Italian and could speak English very well.  We saw our first Italian double cheek kiss there as the two male attendants greeted each other.

After we landed in Rome at Ciampino Airport, we took a bus through what seemed to be the shady part of town and as we neared the central part of Rome, the neighborhoods started looking better.  At Termini Station we stopped and walked to our rental apartment, Alex Penthouse.  Our friends Mike and Jenna arrived the day before and were meeting us at the apartment at noon, so when we arrived early and rang the bell for the apartment with no answer, we were a little scared that something happened to them and panic mode nearly set in.  We followed a random woman into the complex after she got buzzed in by another resident and we wandered around awhile before heading up to the 5^th floor and started knocking on random doors.  Mike answered the first door we tried and our group was united.

We dropped off our luggage and prepared for our first trip, The Vatican.  First we went to The Vatican Museum and wondered around for a few hours, following the tour path that ended with the Sistine Chapel.  After that, we rounded the city walls towards St. Peter’s Square and his Basilica.  We stopped that night for dinner at a restaurant near our apartment, followed by a stop at our first gelateria.

One of many pizza stops during the trip:

Ceiling painted by Raphael in the Vatican Museum:

Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel:

St. Peter's Basilica:

Vatican Swiss Guard:

Us at St. Peter's Square:

The four of us inside St. Peter's Basilica:

Rays of Light from the dome in St. Peter's Basilica:

Ornate ceilings and more rays of light in St. Peter's Basilica:

A nun in St. Peter's Basilica:

St. Peter's Basilica ceiling dome with afternoon rays of light:

Afternoon light coming through the sanctuary stained glass:

The next day was reserved for ancient Rome.  We started with the Palatine, an ancient complex of various buildings that were reserved for the social elite of Rome, mainly Imperial officials and the high-upper class.  It was also referred to as the Beverly Hills of Rome.  We continued to the Roman Forum, where ruins of important government buildings lined the paths.  Next, we walked by the current Capital of Italy, towards the Colosseum.  In my opinion, the Colosseum was the high-light of Rome.  It was a 2000 year old stadium that seated 50,000 spectators that has mostly survived fire, earthquakes, war and even stone looters.

Us on Palatine Hill:

The Stadium on Palatine Hill:

The four of us at the Palatine:

Temple column remains at the Roman Forum:

Temple column remains at the Roman Forum:

Triumphal arch in the Roman Forum:

Us under a triumphal arch at the Roman Forum:

Outside the Colosseum:

Inside the Colosseum:

Inside the Colosseum:

The next day, we visited the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps.  After approaching the Spanish Steps, Mike and I decided to race to the top, like a couple of crazy tourists.  While he held the lead for most of the race, on the final tier, I seized an opportunity and took the lead until the finish.  We then did as most people do, and sat on the steps to enjoy some people watching.  We shopped for a while near the steps, and then found a lovely restaurant to celebrate Mike and Jenna’s second anniversary.  During the wait for the restaurant to open, we stumbled upon the Piazza del Popolo and got to see some more amazing architecture.  After dinner, the subway was closed so we braved the public bus and made it back to Termini, near our apartment. 

Crowds at the massive Trevi Fountain:

Trevi Fountain

They say throwing a coin over your shoulder into the fountain will ensure you return to Rome... or lead to romance... or just bring luck!

Mike and Jenna at Trevi Fountain:

Outside the Pantheon:

The Spanish Steps:

Mike and Blake racing to the top:

Piazza del Popolo:

The Twin Churches at the Tridente:

Interior of one of the Twin Churches:

Anniversary dinner for Jenna and Mike:

The next day, we made our way back to Termini where we boarded our train to our next destination, Florence.

~Blake
p.s. tons more photos on Lindsay's photo site!