From Milan to Leicester July 28, 2011

My flight from Milan left on Friday at 3:20 but I like being completely sure that I’m not going to miss my flight so I caught the 11:30 bus from the Milano Centrale to Bergamo airport (about an hour drive) and got through security very quickly. I had about 2.5 hours to hang in the airport so I read my Rick Steves Great Britain book. Have I mentioned how much I love Rick Steves? 🙂

 

Flight was uneventful. I sat next to a lovely woman from the Leeds area who currently lived in Italy with her partner and children. And then I went through customs. It has been a while since I’ve been through customs in the UK and I forgot that they require an address where you will be staying. I had forgotten to write down John’s address, as he was going to pick me up at the airport, and I couldn’t remember anything. The guard was not happy with me but he was pleasant and asked me all sorts of questions, just making sure I wasn’t planning on remaining in the country. After about 5 minutes they let me in, but I have to be honest, I was nervous. John picked me up and we went to his little cottage in Groby. John lives in this adorable, and tiny, thatched roof cottage. It has 2 rooms on the first floor (livingroom and kitchen) and two rooms on the second floor (bedroom and kitchen). I tried to take pictures of the inside but, in some cases, it was too small to really get a picture of anything.

 

         

         

 

Cat, John’s girlfriend, met us at the cottage and we went out for fish and chips at the local shop. The chips were great, the fish had no taste other than fat, but John ate the whole thing (which was HUGE) and then complained that he didn’t feel well. Shocking! After we all went out to the pub, which is conveniently located right next to the cottage, met Seb there, and had some pints.

 

         

 

John had a last minute change of plans for Saturday, he is the secretary of the Supporters’ Trust for the Lincoln football club and had an important meet and greet during the day, so we decided that I’d spend Saturday with Seb. So, I packed up my stuff and headed off to Wigston.

 

The next day, Seb and I decided to go for a ride in his boat. Here is a picture of the boat.

 

 

It is very amusing. We popped it onto the canal and headed towards the pub. It turned into a lovely day, although at first we were a bit nervous because it was raining pretty bad. We trundled down the canal and I learned how to work the locks, it was pretty cool, lovely country scenery, and I got my arm workouts in.

 

         

         

         

 

It took us about an hour and a half to get to the pub, which is a mile or two away; clearly not the most efficient mode of transportation. We got some cokes and cheesy chips, and made our way back to the boat.

 

 

I decided to walk back alongside the canal as I hadn’t gotten much walking in the last couple of days. I also got to work all the locks by myself on the way back. It was pretty cool but I didn’t get many pictures, mostly of sheep.

 

         

 

Overall, it was a lovely 3.5 hours. We got back around 7 and had to get ready quickly to go see Seb’s brother’s band play in town. They were actually quite good, unfortunately the mic was terrible and I could hardly hear Ollie’s singing. Way fun, though, and an overall fun day.

 

         

 

The next day, John and Cat picked me up and the plan was old broken things and green things.

 

Lake Como July 25, 2011

While in Venice, I told a bunch of people that I was going to Milan and many of them (read 3) recommended I make a day trip to Lake Como. I wasn’t sure it was something I wanted to do as I only had 1 full day in Milan, but after my not very exciting venture through Milan, I decided that perhaps getting away from the city wouldn’t be a bad idea. So on my way back from the Duomo, I stopped in the train station and bought my ticket for the next day (Thursday) at 11am.

 

Lake Como is about 30 mins (by Eurocity Train) north of Milan. It is a lake, shaped like an upside-down Y, surrounded by mountains and it’s where the Milanese go on weekends in the summer to escape the heat. I think George Clooney has a house there too. Anyway, when I got off the train in Como (at the bottom of the left-hand fork of the lake), I knew I had made the right decision. This post contains a lot of pictures of mountains, it was just too pretty for me to not take about a million pictures.

 

         

 

I got a map, walked to the ferry stop, and realized that I had just missed the next ferry so I had to wait. I had decided to spend the day in Verrano(?) which is a tiny little village on the right bank of the lake and has a castle and an old abbey. I also wanted to avoid the crowds in Bellagio, which was the main tourist part of the lake sitting where the two southern forks meet. While I was waiting for the 1:30 ferry, I had an ice cream with a shot of espresso in it, it was delicious! Finally, 1:30 rolled around and I got on the boat. I met a nice couple from Wisconsin and a mother/daughter originally from Cedar Rapids, IA. The scenery was amazing but the weather was a bit crappy. I took what pictures I could from the boat and hoped that things would clear up at some point, especially as I didn’t have an umbrella.

 

         

         

         

         

         

 

 

On the boat, everyone convinced me I should to go Bellagio instead of Verrano because there was no way I could spend an entire day in Verrano; it was just too small of a village. So I took their advice and Bellagio is a lovely little town. It’s built on a hillside so there are all sorts of steps leading but to the mountain. I explored the town a bit, did a bit of window shopping, looked into an old church, and really had a lovely time. By this point, the weather had turned gorgeous, it was sunny, breezy, and the perfect temperature, so I was in no hurry to get moving.

 

         

         

         

 

So I got a map and set off to find lunch. The woman at the information office recommended the restaurant on the very tip of the town, so I headed north. Unfortunately, it was closed until dinner so I had to find somewhere else. Luckily, there were amazing views of the lake. Totally worth the 15 minute walk!

 

         

         

 

 

I walked back into town and bought a purse that I had looked at on my way out. It might be the most beautiful purse I’ve ever seen. It was made in Tuscany and is lovely and shiny. I’ll take a picture of it later and post.

 

By this point, I was REALLY hungry so I went down to the lake to find a place to get some pasta and fish. I ended up going to a place which was part of a hotel and my meal was nice, not as great as the last pasta dish but definitely not terrible. but the views were amazing. The pink building on the water in the pictures above are of the restaurant where I ate dinner.

 

         

 

After lunch, I walked around a bit just looking at the amazing scenery and taking about a million pictures, and enjoying the fine weather. I had to catch an 8:00 train back to Milan so I caught the 6:20 boat back to Como and decided to walk around the town a bit. They had some nice buildings and a medieval tower that was nothing to write home about, but I took some pictures anyway (the digital camera age has ruined any image conservation I might have had). Here are some pictures of the boat ride back and of Como.

 

         

         

         

         

 

 

I got to the train station and our train was late… in fact it didn’t come. I ended up having to take a regional train, which took an hour and went to a different station. Luckily I met a nice family from Utah on the train so we worked together to figure things out. By the time we got to Milan it was dark, I was exhausted, and I still had no idea where I was in the city, add to the fact that the neighborhood that my hotel is in is not very nice at night, and I thought it best to just take a taxi. Boy am I glad I did. It was a 5 minute ride and cost about 10 euros. Totally worth it! Overall, it was an amazing day trip. I would love to go back and stay longer there is a castle and an abbey that I didn’t have time to see. I’d also like to spend more time on the water. Awesome!

Milano July 21, 2011

In Venice there is a bridge from the Doge’s palace to the prisons called the Bridge of Sighs. The reason, so the story goes, is that prisoners taken over that bridge would look out the window, see Venice for the last time, and sigh in despair. I caught a12:45ish train out of Venice and saw the city for the last time and crossed my own sort of bridge of sighs, although hopefully I’ll be returning some day.

 

After Venice, I decided to go to Milan. This decision was completely based on the price of plane tickets to the UK, so I really didn’t know what there was to do in Milan besides fashion, which I’m not super interested in and, either way, can’t afford. The trip was completely uneventful. Found my seat next to this young American couple, who were watching a movie together on their iPhones. I would like to rant a bit about technology, for a second. Here we are, traveling through northern Italy, and they are watching a movie and ignoring the scenery. In Venice, I saw a child (maybe 10) walking around with his parents playing a handheld game. Have we become so addicted to being constantly entertained that we can’t go to a beautiful city, or through a beautiful countryside, without constant stimulation? It was a 2 hour train ride; it wasn’t even enough time for them to finish the movie and yet they ignored what was happening outside in favor of a movie they could obviously watch any time. Anyway, that’s my little rant. It makes me feel a bit sorry for these people that they aren’t really experiencing their travel.

 

I got to Milan without incident and headed to my hotel. I ended up staying at the Hotel Demo which was right next to Milano Centrale train station, very convenient, but which is not a great part of town at night. The hotel, however, is very cute and my room was small but cozy, I highly recommend this hotel if you are traveling on the cheap. The only issue is that there was a giant reproduction of a painting on the wall above the bed that was Jesus being taken of the cross (I think) and the way the room was set up when I used the bathroom, I was staring at a bloody Jesus. It was a bit disconcerting.

 

    

 

After checking in I decided to wander around Milan for a couple hours. I got a map and decided to go to the Castello Sforzesco and the Duomo. I walked down to the  Castello and it was pretty neat. The Castello was the home of the Dukes of Lombardy, I think,  and now houses a bunch of museums, all of which were closed when I got there. Luckily it is HUGE and has lots of places to sit. At one point I was resting (it was about 2.5 miles from the hotel) and a woman dumped a bag of bread in front of me. The local pigeons tore that stuff up! Flinging it around, fighting each other for the choicest bits, it was quite interesting. Anyway, by the time I got there the museum was closed so I didn’t get to learn as much about the history as I normally do, but it was nice to walk around away from the bustle of the cars.

 

   

 

Then I walked down Via Dante to get to the Duomo. In case you haven’t noticed, I always visit the main churches in any city I’ve been in, and sometimes the minor ones. There are a couple reasons for this. 1. it is a free way to see some amazing art; 2. whatever the weather outside, the climate in the church is usually controlled enough that it is much nicer inside; 3. they are usually wonderful places to rest and get away from the tourists. Either way, the Duomo was amazing! I’ve never seen a church like this, it was more gothic than any gothic church in my experience and really, even the outside was magnificent!

 

    

    

 

 

I wasn’t sure if I was too late to go inside but I thought I’d try anyway, and lo and behold, they let me in (luckily I was dressed appropriately). The inside was really lovely. It was huge and gothic and decorated with amazing huge stained glass windows. I think I prefer the gothic churches to the byzantine style basilicas that I saw in Venice and Padua. The main difference to me is that in the basilicas, the color and decoration come from mosaics on the ceiling or paintings with some stone carving, whereas in the gothic churches, the color and decoration come from windows that not only decorate the walls but, depending on the light, decorate all over the church. I think I prefer the glittery light rather than the mosaics, but that’s just me, of course. The interesting thing about this church was that it was also decorated with paintings.

 

 

There were two mummified bodies of previous bishops in glass coffins along the wall, both of whom had been beatified. It was a bit disconcerting but after all the sculls I saw in Paris, it didn’t phase me all that much. The prized relic, however, can be found in the wall high above the altar. There is a cross with a glass box in the middle the holds a nail from the crucifixion. It was apparently once owned by Constantine and gifted to the Duomo at some point. It is reached by a strange elevator of sorts (ropes and pulleys), which is set up once a year so the bishop and a couple other people can take it down and process around the church and then put it back up.

 

After my time in the Duomo, I decided to have an early dinner (which was around 6, I’ve completely gotten on a European eating schedule). I found a place on the piazza overlooking the Duomo and ordered a salami pizza. It was terrible! It had clearly been made previously and just reheated with toppings because the middle was cold, like really cold, like the cheese wasn’t even melted cold. I ate the outside and vowed to never eat pizza in Italy again, unless it was in Naples! I walked back to my hotel, stopped in the train station for some gelato and to buy my ticked to Lake Como for the next day, and went to my room to mess around on the internet.

 

My thoughts on Milan: I’m not a fan. Granted, there were some extenuating circumstances: 1. I didn’t do my research before I went. This is a problem for me because I like knowing what I’m looking at when I’m looking at something. 2. the weather had turned windy and cloudy, it puts a bit of a damper on dinner when your hair is blowing in your pizza. 3. dinner wasn’t good and after I didn’t feel all that great. 4. it was just too much like an American city. After Paris and Venice, I was expecting something a bit less dirty and modern, so I was disappointed by the honking cars, yelly drivers, ugly buildings, and dirty streets. If I go again, hopefully, I will know what to expect and be more prepared.

 

Last day in Venice and Padua! July 16, 2011

I have a couple hours until my flight leaves so here’s my final Venice installment.

 

My big plan for Tuesday was a day trip to Padua and then relaxing before hanging out with the Fish gang. Unfortunately, there were still those museums that I wasn’t able to see on Monday so I had to fit them in on Tuesday. I ended up catching the 9am train to Padua and getting back to Venice around 3:30, which wasn’t quite enough time to do everything I wanted but it was enough to whet my appetite.

 

Padua

 

Padua (or Padova) is a university town about 30 minutes, by train, from Venice. The university was established in 1222, which is right up my alley, and I actually met a former student on the train when I was on my way to Venice last Friday. She told me all the things I should do… none of which I had time to do. Oh well. So here is what I did.

 

First, I went to the Scrovegni Chapel. This chapel is famous for it’s internal decoration which was done by Giotto in around 1305. For those not into medieval art, Giotto is considered the first Renaissance painter and is super famous. Anyway, the chapel is interesting because it is completely climate controlled, so you have to make an appointment (I made mine about a week in advance) then at your allotted time they usher you into a glass room in which you sit for about 15-20 minutes while your climate is fixed, finally they usher you into the chapel where you have about 15-20 minutes to view the art (watched over by a very dour guard).

 

The art is amazing and you really have to focus on one thing to look at because it can be overwhelming trying to see everything in the short amount of time. Again, I didn’t take any pictures but you can google them. The ceiling is all blue covered in gold stars. The wall of the main door shows giant image of the Last Judgement, which I thought was fascinating. I enjoy the contrast of those who are saved and those who are not. I also think medieval/renaissance images of the devil are interesting. This one was particularly graphic and had a lot of things to look at. The other images tell the story of Mary’s life and Jesus’s life. And finally at the bottom we have representations of vices and virtues, in which I am also interested as a gender historian. My favorite was Anger. She was renting her chest with her long hair flowing. For whatever reason it caught my attention.

 

Here are some images from outside the chapel, including the wall surrounding the park.

 

    

    

 

Then I went across the street to the Palazzo Zuckerman which houses both the Museum of Applied and Decorative Arts but also the collection of Nicola Bottacin, a wealthy merchant who donated all his art works and coins to the city of Padova in 1865.

 

Again, no pictures, but this museum was pretty interesting. They had a large selection of lace, jewelry, fabric, costumes, ceramics, wood, etc., all highly decorated using various methods. What was most interesting to me, however, was the coin collection on the 2nd floor. When I saw “coin collection” I mean tens of thousands of coins (of which they only displayed a fraction) from pre-Alexander the Great, with some from him, through the modern era. The museum did an amazing job presenting the history of these coins, which is basically the history of Western Civilization. I had no idea that coins could tell stories like that.

 

Finally, I hopped on a tram to the Basilica of Saint Anthony. This basilica is one of the most important pilgrimage sights in Christianity and I actually grew up right across the street from a church called St. Anthony of Padua when I lived in Hightstown.

 

 

This church was more impressive to me than San Marco, for some reason. Perhaps it was all the carvings or perhaps it was the devotion of the pilgrims. St. Anthony is off to the left in a white marble alcove, which almost seems to be glowing. The devout walk through and touch the altar saying silent prayers or kneel in front, completely oblivious to the world around them. I didn’t stay in that part long, not wanting to disturb anyone.

 

They also have a reliquary room that was closed when I went, but which holds St. Anthony’s tongue, lower jaw, vocal chords, his original coffin, his tunic, and a piece of the true cross. This alcove is also interesting because of the carvings on the ceiling. It shows St. Anthony ascending to Heaven with all these cherubs cavorting around him playing music and dancing. It was neat.

 

The Basilica is attached to a cloister, which I didn’t go in but which had some nice courtyards, so here is a picture of them.

 

 

Just a quick story about the importance of modest dressing in Italian churches. It was a VERY hot and humid day in Padua when I was there so, of course, I wore a tanktop and longish skirt, however because I knew the rules I brought an overshirt with me to get into the basilica. As I was going in this couple was refused entrance because of the woman’s dress (again, obsession with shoulders and knees). These people were shocked, they sounded American by their accent, and tried to argue with the guard. They mentioned something about the heat and that it made no sense for someone to be covered up when it was this hot. The guard saw me taking my shirt out of my backpack and pointed to me and said, next time do that. They weren’t allowed in. So remember, if you want to get into famous, Italian churches, bring an over-shirt. This was not the first or last time I saw someone get turned away from a church.

 

Finally I walked a bit to the Prato della Valle square, which is apparently the largest square in Italy, and had a sandwich. Amusingly (to me anyway) the person I ordered my sandwich from didn’t speak English but he spoke French, so I ordered my food in French. Who knew my French would come in handy in Italy! On my way to the square, there are numerous kiosks selling religious trinkets, one of which was a hologram image of John Paul II, which would change depending on where you were standing. It was probably one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen!

 

           

 

Finally, I hopped back on the tram and caught the 3pm (ish) train back to Venice.

 

Back in Venice, I ended up only seeing one of the museums that I hoped to see on Monday, the Palazzo Mocenigo, which houses the textile and costume museum. I was only allowed to take pictures in the main room, which didn’t have any dresses, but the clothing they had was amazing! I think men should dress in colors like that again, I think everyday male clothing is so boring (in the US anyway). I will start a movement to bring back colorful knee breeches!!!

 

 

The palace is right off of a Valparetto stop so I hopped on the number 1 boat and took a nice slow tour of the Grand Canal, this time during the day. Luckily I had my Rick Steves book with me so I learned all sorts of things. Have I mentioned that I LOVE Rick Steves? From now on I’m always buying one of his books before I go to a place! Here are some pictures of my tour.

 

   

    

    

 

I got back to my room and relaxed for a bit, showered and changed for dinner. I decided that as it was my last night I was going to be an adult and actually buy myself a nice dinner with wine and everything. I had no plan but I knew I was going to go to the Fish afterward to hang out on my last night. So as I was walking I saw this little hole-in-the-wall place with a couple eating outside. As I was looking at the menu a waiter said, “If you want, you can have the last garden seat.” That sounded great to me so I took it. Boy am I glad I did! The “garden” was really a stone courtyard, not much to look at but it was private. I had a pasta with seafood, which was probably the best mean I’ve had on this trip. The pasta was cooked perfectly, it was in a light tomato sauce, and it was covered with fresh shellfish. Unbelievably delicious!!! I had a nice glass of wine and an expensive bottle of water, and in total my bill was about 23 euros. The waiter was overly nice, which wierded me out a bit, but overall it was amazing. I don’t remember the name of the place, but the courtyard was called “Corte del Pozzo Roverso,” so if you’re interested you can map it.  Here are some pictures.

 

    

 

Everything took a bit longer than I was expecting so I booked it to the Fish and met everyone at their first stop. As this is my last post about these guys, let me give you a brief cast of characters who work at the place.

 

Jacob – adorable gay man from California. He’s the main person I dealt with as he was currently managing the San Marco property where I was staying. He makes a mean tiramisu and is SUPER nice! He also tans on the balcony every day.

Hans – an attractive and charming man from Australia. He’s the second person I got to know pretty well. He is planning on moving to New York to become an actor, if I remember correctly he did some acting in Perth and wants to expand his market. He had a new girl every night and watching him work his moves was fascinating. Luckily he was VERY nice and didn’t take himself too seriously, which made him endearing.

Daniel – From Manchester and very nice. We talked a bit my last night in Venice and he was super nice. He was wearing a Dirty Dancing 25th anniversary shirt.

Peter – Not sure where he was from and we didn’t talk much.

Sophie – From Leeds and the only woman in the group. She was friends with Daniel from home (he moved to Leeds at one point). I didn’t hang out with her much but she was super nice. I wish I had been able to spend time with her.

 

So I met them at their first stop and we ended up at a bar by the Rialto with really cheap, and not great, spritzes. We got our drinks and went to a pier in the Grand Canal and just chilled. Nothing much happened, we just chatted and watched the boats go by. Overall, it was an excellent day.

Venice and Murano, days 2 and 3 July 14, 2011

I have a couple of hours downtime before my train leaves for Lake Como, so I thought I’d tell you a bit about what went on Sunday and Monday in Venice.

 

Sunday, I decided to go to Murano. Mom wanted some glass beads for her art and I like buying direct from the manufacturer, so it worked out perfectly. I also wanted to go to the glass museum that is on the island. Murano is basically a mini-Venice with way fewer people and it is only accessible by boat (the number 5 from San Marco is the most direct). It was really cute but I didn’t have much time to explore. Here are some general pictures of the island.

 

   

   

   

   

       

 

Next, I went to the glass museum. It was very interesting. I, obviously, enjoy learning about history and the history of glass sort of tells the history of Murano, in many ways. They had glass from Roman times until the present. It is amazing what they can make out of glass!  Unfortunately, I couldn’t take pictures inside but I did take some of the courtyard/garden, which was lovely.

 

   

 

After, I had a lovely lunch at a small place right on a canal. I had pasta with clams in a very light white wine sauce. It was delicious! I also got to see some interesting boating, in particular an amazing instance of parallel parking, U-turn, and then parallel parking again. A guy was dropping off a tour group and then had to turn the boat around in order to face the right way. It was some kind of skill! I am a pretty good parallel parker in a car, but it must take YEARS to get that good in a boat!

 

   

   

 

Finally I wandered around the island and bought some glass jewelry and beads. I went into a couple of the furnace showrooms and looked at the amazing creations. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to see anything being made but the end products blew me away. The chandeliers are completely ridiculous. I think I said something about them in relation to the Doge’s palace and I felt the same way in the showroom. Here is a picture of one (that I got off the internet). This is a traditional chandelier that I saw in the palaces I visited. The only difference is that in several cases, the glass flowers are all different colors. Completely amazing!

 

I didn’t have a lot of time because I wanted to go to the 6:45 mass at San Marco and I needed to change (Italian churches are very concerned with shoulders and knees). If I’m at a large, touristy church, I much prefer going to mass because I get to see things in action, so to speak. The 6:45 mass, I read, was particularly excellent. So I got to my room, changed, and had about 25 minutes to get to the church. I decided to go a different way, that was shorter… can we guess where this went? I got lost and ended up running through the streets of Venice, stopping every so often to ask for directions. I made it just before mass was starting and took my seat. Now keep in mind that it is hot, humid, I’m wearing a half sleeved cotton dress and leggings, and I just ran for 10 minutes. I was DRIPPING with sweat, yuck! Either way, I made it and the mass was amazing.

 

Again, I like respecting houses of worship so I didn’t take any pictures, but I want to describe what it is like inside San Marco (you can google pictures if you want). First, there are many domes, it is of Byzantine design so it is completely different from the Gothic cathedrals that I’m used to from France and England. Every inch of the ceiling (starting from about half way up the walls) is covered in a massive mosaic filled with the trinity, saints, angels, stories, all sorts of things (for my medieval friends, when there are words they are in classic abbreviations that can be found in Cappelli, which was convenient). The most amazing part of the mosaic, however, and where the basilica got it’s nickname of Chiesa d’Oro, is the the entire background is gold. I mean real sparkly, could feed a nation, gold. The reason I went to this particular mass is 1. to avoid the crowds and not stand in line, and 2. because this is the only time the ceiling is lit up. When tourists go into the church, the ceiling is shadowed and it is difficult to see everything, during this particular mass, lights are shining directly on the mosaics and it is phenomenal! I didn’t realize the difference until they turned them off after mass, but it is significant. They also had a choir, which was amazing. It was like a movie.

 

After mass, I went back to my room to change and then off to the Fish for dinner, which I ended up missing. Luckily, Jacob, had made tiramisu so I ended up having that for dinner. It was delish! Then I left early and took the night cruise up the Grand Canal and saw all the palaces lit up. It was lovely. (Sorry the pictures aren’t that great; it was, well, dark.)

 

   

   

 

I got back to my room around 11 and I couldn’t get in the house. For whatever reason, my key wouldn’t turn, and no one was there, so I had to walk back to the Fish (about a mile) get Hans to call Jacob and then walk back and of course, when I went back my key was fine. I was exhausted, my feet were killing me (I had decided to wear cute shoes that night, not realizing that I was going to add 2 miles to my trip), and I went to bed.

 

Monday was going to be another museum day but it turns out, all of the museums I wanted to see are closed on Mondays, SOOO… I wandered around, did some shopping, and got a little lost (which was part of the plan). I had my first Italian capuccino, which was excellent, and had my first Italian pizza, which was so-so. In my wandering, I found an amazing string trio, just playing in the square of the Chiesa Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. It was excellent and really made my day, I gave them 5 euros and convinced the people sitting next to me to give them 5 euros also. Here are some pictures of my wandering and the trio.

 

   

       

       

   

 

That evening, I went to the Fish for dinner and met Ash, a soon to be lawyer from Australia, and Andrea, a traveler from Germany. Everyone went out to a bar, again, and the three of us got a table and just chatted for a couple hours. It was nice. I hope they’ll keep in touch.

 

And that’s it. That’s Sunday and Monday in Venice. Oh, and it was basically impossible to keep track of how much I walked in Venice. I tried but I simply didn’t know where I’d been, it was always at least 3 miles and probably up to 5. However, my grand total in Paris was about 120 miles.

First night and day in Venice July 11, 2011

Basically, Venice is wonderful. It is a collection of winding canals and tiny streets with zero straight lines and many dead ends, so before I tell what actually happened, I have a say that I freaking LOVE Rick Steves! I’ve been here for a day and a half and he’s already saved me money and time enough to pay for the book. Ok, now, on to Venice! There are some things I didn’t realize about Venice that I probably should have known. 1. I knew there were no cars but I didn’t realize the streets were so narrow; I can regularly touch both sides. 2. On any given day, there are more tourists than Venetians. In fact, I hear more English being spoken than Italian, which makes me both sad and a bit more comfortable. Although I’m not fluent in French, by any means, I realize how much I do know by how much Italian I don’t know. Ok, now on to my night and day!

 

First off, I made it to my place with no problem. I took the 51 vaporetto route to San Marco and followed the excellent directions to the place. I was met by Jacob, a nice young man from California, who is currently running the place. It is bare bones, (in my room is a metal twin bed,  wooden chair, and a small table not even a piece of art on the wall) but it is clean, quiet, safe, and cheap. I also get breakfast, which consists of cold cereal and fruit, basically my favorite normal breakfast. Here are some pictures of the room and the charmingly overgrown garden out my window

 

 

 

What I didn’t realize is that it is connected to a larger youth hostel, called A Venice Fish, which is really hopping, and where they serve free dinner and go out partying every night. Friday night, my first night here, I decided to go for the free dinner and I got lost. Like REALLY lost. I stupidly didn’t buy a map because I have an excellent sense of direction, which, in case you’re wondering, makes absolutely no difference in Venice. I wrote down turn-by-turn directions and that also made absolutely no difference. So I ended up wandering around Venice in the dark. I think my issue is distance perception. I’m used to running around Paris, which is pretty large, so when I look at the Venice map, I think of the streets as larger than they are. Here are some pictures I took during my wandering.

 

 

 

So, I ended up just going home. Luckily I’m REALLY close to San Marco and everyone knows where that is, so without TOO much trouble I made it back. Oh, and on my way back, I bought a map.

 

The next day (Saturday) I decided would be a museum day so, as Rick Steves told me, I bought my Museum Pass at the Carrer Museum instead of the Doge’s Palace. Thank goodness I did, because the line was super long. Unfortunately I couldn’t take pictures in the museum but I did take some lovely pictures of the outside and of San Marco’s Piazza. Here are some of those.

 

 

Then I went to the Doge’s Palace which was amazing. It was SO amazing that by the end I was overwhelmed with ornately carved, gilded ceilings and I was happy to get into the prisons. Again, no pictures are allowed in the palace so I took a bunch from the courtyard and then I took some in the prison. Here are some pictures of the courtyard.

 

 

Here are pictures of the prison. I was especially intrigued with the art that the prisoners drew on the walls and carved in the “window” sills. Here are some pictures from the prisons and the inside of the Bridge of Sighs.

 

 

Finally, I headed toward the hostel for dinner, called A Venice Fish. I was early so I wandered around a bit, visited the Rialto Bridge, and got a Spritz at a bar and did some work.

 

 

I made it to the Fish and had dinner with the kids there. I say kids because the oldest was 24 and they were all making fun of him for being old. We all chatted for a bit and then a large group of us went out to a bar and then to a pier on the Grand Canal to chill. It was very nice. I ended up home around 2am. Unfortunately I didn’t take many pictures of the night. I did take a picture of a liquor kiosk, which opens at about 10:30pm and just sells shots/mixed drinks. A kiosk that only sells booze. Crazy!

 

 

Overall, it was an excellent day. I don’t think I’m going out again tonight, I will stop by for dinner though, but that is for the next post!

From Paris to Venice July 8, 2011

First off, the final couple of days in Paris were very productive. I got pictures of all of my new documents and I discovered that I’m getting much better at reading them, like MUCH better, which is fantastic! My final evening was taken up with cleaning and packing so no walk on the Seine or any cheese. I did have a pastry, though, which made me happy. I also had to go to bed early because the next morning (meaning this morning) I had to get up at 5am to finish packing and cleaning in order to catch my 7:42 train to Milan and then on to Venice.

 

Ok, now comes the fun part. So I woke up at 5:10 because my plan was to leave at 6:30 in order to give myself plenty of time to get to the station by metro. Unfortunately (and typically) everything ended up taking longer than I had planned and I ended up being  about 20 minutes late. So, I left my house at 6:50ish, got on the metro around 7 and then had to wait for the train (I was going against rush hour). I then had to connect to a different train in order to end up at Gare de Lyon. Unfortunately, the train I needed to switch to was under construction and they had a bus instead. At this point I had 30 minutes to get to the station. I decided to just take a taxi from that point. I found one after a few minutes and the driver was lovely and made excellent time. I got to the station with about 10 minutes to spare. So I went to print out my ticket and it didn’t recognize my name. I went to information and they sent me to another room with a REALLY long line (by this point I’m almost in tears and I have 5 minutes). Instead of getting in the line, I talk to someone standing by a ticket machine. She helped me get my ticket (I have no idea what I did the first time that it didn’t work) and I was, luckily, in the correct area for my train. I validated my ticket got about half way down the train (I was in the last car) and the whistle blew so I hopped on and eventually got to my seat, after the train started moving. Needless to say I was a bit stressed.

 

Anyway, as I made it on the train I took a TON of pictures of the trip. I went from Paris to Milan and switched trains to Venice. The mountains were beautiful but, unfortunately, we went through the smaller/thinner section and for a while we actually went through them so it was dark. I’ve posted my favorite ones.

 

Once I got to Venice, I made it to my  room (which is a bare bones B&B) and promptly got lost walking through the city. I bought a map so it won’t happen again and I post those pictures tomorrow with my “Day 1 in Venice” post. The final picture in the series is of Venice from the train coming into Santa Lucia station.

 

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Final weekend in Paris – Sacre Coeur and the Catacombs July 4, 2011

Today I finished with my main source. YAY!! This means that tomorrow I get to look at something different, for 1 day. On Wed. I’m going to go back to my main documents and make sure that all the pictures are good. However, I’m definitely looking forward to tomorrow. In fact, they might actually not be in microfilm… that would be AMAZING!!! So basically, my research is going pretty well. Then, in honor of the 4th of July, Eve and I got McDonalds, as is my tradition when in France. It is so much better than American McDonalds, in that it doesn’t make my internal organs want to leave my body in protest. So that was fun.

 

On a completely non-research note, this past weekend was my final weekend in Paris. Next weekend I’ll be in Venice, which will be super exciting as I’ve never been there. However, the weekend was exciting. On Friday, Eve and I went to Sacre Coeur, which is beautiful.

 

                                                

                                                 

 

On our way up we met the Gold Man, you know, one of those guys who is completely painted gold and stands like a statue until you give him some money. Well, we got our pictures taken with him, and he was very nice.

 

 

Then we went up to the basilica, which has an excellent view of the city.

 

                                                  

 

Finally, we went inside (they ask you not to take pictures, so I didn’t) and there was the Jubilee mass going on. We went in at the end of mass so we didn’t disturb anything but we got to hear the giant organ playing. It was very cool as I’d never heard an organ that large play. After leaving the church, we wandered around the neighborhood behind and ran into an excellent fiddler; I bought his CD.

 

 

On Saturday, we decided to go to the Catacombs.

 

 

Basically, in the late 18th century, one of the cemeteries in the center of Paris had become so overcrowded that it was causing diseases for the people who lived around it. They decided to disinter all of the people and deposit them in an old quarry south of town. After this initial collection, they removed the bones from the remaining cemeteries until 1814 and deposited them in the catacombs. What they ended up with was miles of tunnels with millions of bones (about 6 million people) stacked along the corridors. The bones from each cemetery are labeled with a stone cross which bears the cemetery name and the date the bones were transferred.  What is interesting, to me anyway, is that the bones are arranged decoratively. They created shapes with the skulls and the long bones such as crosses, hearts, scalloped edges, and simple layers. There were also very interesting carvings of buildings. I’m not quite sure what they are about, perhaps I’ll do some research and let you know… but probably not. 🙂

 

Here are some pictures before the Ossuary. You basically have to walk about a km in a very low tunnel. If you are claustrophobic, you do not want to go down there. In some cases the ceiling was about 2-5 inches above my head. It was VERY low! Overall, you spend about 45 minutes underground, you walk down about 130 steps, walk for about 2km, and then walk up about 80 steps or so. You pop out in the most nondescript doorway in the middle of a residential area. It is fascinating that there are millions of bones buried under the city of Paris.

 

                                    

                                               

                                      

 

Here are pictures inside the Ossuary (warning, these pictures are of bones)

 

                                           

 

Walking:

Wed. – 3 miles

Thurs. – 3 miles

Fri. – 6.5 miles

Sat. – 10 miles

Mon. – 4.5 miles

Total: 108.5 miles