30 Oct 2009
The trip from Florence took me out of the mountains which could have been more spectacular if the clouds weren't hovering. The fall colors have reached their peak and I had only one chance to capture their brilliance.
I pulled into Venice about 5 pm this evening and parked the car in a garage for the next couple of days in Piazzale Roma. I packed the backpack with clean clothes and my toiletries, grabbed my camera case, laptop and boarded the boat to San Marco where my hotel is located. We passed through the Grand Canal into the Bacino di San Marco before leaving the canal bus.
While meandering about the walkways, I was taken through a maze or a virtual time tunnel that brought this traveler back to an era of long ago and far away with each turn of a corner.
After a few turnabouts due to a building numbering scheme that was totally incomprehensible, I found my my hotel. The numbers went up, then went down. There were numbers missing and some may have duplicated. I stopped and asked a nice lady in a shop on Frezzeria San Marco if she knew where Locanda Antica Venezia was located. She asked me if I knew the address and I told her Frezzeria San Marco 1672. "No," she said. "I don't know where it is." "But this is 1670 Frezzeria San Marco," I replied. And the store next door was 1674 . "Oh, this place has crazy numbers on the buildings," she said. "Walk around and you will find it." She smiled and went about her business. Of course, I went the wrong way at first. And upon return past 1670, the nice lady smiled at me again. I gave her a wink.
The next corner of the maze was rounded and on my right was an alleyway. Halfway down that alleyway and to the right was a large set of brown, wooden doors onto which a light was shining. To the right of the big wooden doors was a column of door bells with names of several studios, lawyer offices and a residence or two. To the left was a solitary door bell with the name of my hotel engraved above it.
To my excitement and relief, I had found it. I rang the bell and the right door unlocked which led to a common courtyard and the entrance to the building directly ahead. The hotel was up three flights to the lobby and the floor where my room is situated. I'm glad I didn't bring the suitcase from hell with me. I really would have lost it. A very sweet young lady greeted me at the top and showed me to my room after checking into the registry. She noticed I was somewhat out of breath and told me that one won't find elevators in Venice. "Good exercise," I replied. She smiled and handed me the key to the room.
The top floors where the hotel is located was once the residence of a Patrician back in 16th century when the building was built. My room has an antiquated vib to it and is quite comfortable. The minibar is loaded with all kinds of goodies as well.
Tomorrow, there will be further exploration of this maze that is called Venezia.
31 October 2009
Halloween Day in Venice
I just had breakfast outside on the roof of the hotel. It was quite fascinating and a bit chilly as well.
I had some little friends join me as well.
It's now approaching 10:20 AM and time to venture out to see what we can see.
Ciao
31 October 2009
2215 hrs
This is the last night in Venice and in Italy for this traveler. La separazione è tale dispiacere dolce. I covered the Grand Canal today and my legs are so sore. With no pain, there is no gain. I weighed myself today and the scale read 91 kg (200 lb). I can't believe it as I was tipping the scales at 240 (109 kg) pounds when I left Philly for this adventure. The scale has to be inacurate although I have walked more in the past 21 days than I have in two years.
Just a short walk from my hotel is the Piazza of San Marco, a 9th century plaza which Napolean once called: "The Drawing Room of Europe." It is one of the few great urban areas in Europe where the human voice prevails over the sounds of motorized traffic. It is a gathering place that is quite popular with tourists, photographers and Venetian pigeons.
The Basilica di San Marco, shown in the following pics, dates back to the 11th century. The art work is brilliant and in this writer's opinion is comparable to the magnificence of the works by the Renaissance masters of Florence.
The basilica is a great example of Byzantine architecture that reflects the architecture of The Roman Empire after 330 AD when the Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Empire from Rome to Byzantium. Byzantium was later renamed Constantinople and is now called Istanbul.
Originally, this cathedral was the chapel of the Venetian rulers and not the city's cathedral. Since 1807 it has been the seat of the Patriarch of Venice or the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Venice. The church, from when it was consecrated in 1094, has been known as Chiesa d'Oro or Church of Gold for its opulent design, guilded Byzantine mosaics and its status as a symbol of Venetian wealth and power.
The next photograph is of the second 24 hour clock that I had seen in the past couple of days. This clock operates differently than the 24 hour clock in Florence's Cathedral in that it displays the actual time in which the 12th and 24th hour represents noon and midnight respectively.
Venezia is for Art Lovers...
Venice is for lovers of beauty
View of the Piazza of San Marco from across the Grand Canal
Behold the Beauty and Charm of Venice...
The gondolier, seen in the above photo and the one below, reminds this movie fan of Randy Quaid
This has to be one of the most beautiful homes that this photographer has ever seen
More beauty that is Venezia...
I ate dinner in a quaint restaurant that appears to have been built before the hotel at which I'm staying. The food was out of this world. I started out with mussel soup and a garden salad after sampling a carafe of white wine that had an excellent bouquet and pallet to match the night. The soup was not too spicy and had a generous amount of mollusks. For the second course, I ordered another carafe of wine, but red this time, followed by a large plate of spaghetti and meat balls covered in the most exquisite tomato and meat sauce that this hungry traveler has ever tasted. And the Italian bread was fit for a king. I skipped desert and finished what was left of my red wine.
My stagger back to the hotel was fun. I was thinking while staggering, that it was strange to me that I hadn't seen anyone dressed in costume during any of my exploits today. After all, it is Halloween. I guess Halloween isn't high on the list of party nights here in Venice. But I bet somewhere in this fine city, someone must be having a Halloween party. Suddenly, I felt a tugging on my trouser leg. l looked down and saw a little girl, barely seven years old dressed as a witch with her hand outstreached as she said: "Trick or treat." How cool was that? I reached into my pocket and gave her the all the change that I had pulled out. "Grazie," she said as she left with her parents into the night.
"Prego," was my reply. I staggered onward to the hotel.
I'll be leaving Venice, tomorrow morning and heading to Amsterdam with a stop over in Frankfurt aM Main, tomorrow night.
Frankfurt is 588 mi (946 km) from Venice and about an 8 hour trip. I'm booking out of Venice early. I'll be in Amsterdam on 2nd, November until Saturday, the 7th. From there, it's back to London on Saturday night and checking out Monday, the 9th for the flight back to Philadelphia. I can't believe the trip is almost over.
The next edition and report of this whirlwind tour of Europe will be coming from Amsterdam as I'm sure I'll be too exhausted by the time I reach Frankfurt aM Main, Germany, tomorrow night to type one iota.
