Our last city & stop was Venice. We decided to drive the 200 miles from Tuscany to Venice, and I'm so glad we did. It was such an interesting & beautiful drive, through the Tuscan hills & countryside, then through Emilia-Romano & past the Apennines mountain range, around the city of Bologna & into the flat Po Valley, and then finally to Venice. The terrain was constantly changing & I wish I had taken some photos.
I know everybody says this, but if you get a chance to see Venice, you have to! Yes, there are too many tourists (up to 60% of the population is a tourist during the busy season). Yes, the canals smell, especially in late May to October. But it's a 1500 year old city on 118 separate islands all connected by canals & bridges. Unlike anyplace anywhere in the world, and it's slowly disappearing.
We spent all of our time just walking around & soaking it all in. It was our 1st trip to Venice, and I didn't really want to spend too much time waiting in queues or inside museums. Venetian architecture is so unique - a combination of Byzantine styles from Constantinople (Istanbul today) and Moorish influences from Spain.
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| Doge's Palace |
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| A Gondola, although most of the drivers still do wear the classic black & white striped shirt |
The colors of the old palazzos & buildings are still vibrant, after so many years of wear.
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| me |
Rialto Market is a "must-do", especially if you are obsessed with them like we are. Seafood is their thing
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| "Don't mess with the Rialto", in response with a (failed) city council effort to move the market outside the city center. What a stupid idea! |
Finally, we took a vaporetti (sea bus) to the island of Murano, most famous for it's venetian glass. Yes, we bought some!
A beautiful place. Hope to get back there some day...............
Ahhh, Venice ! You have much better luck finding kitties to photograph than I do.
ReplyDeleteIt is a must city to see for anyone who travels
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