A Weekend in Venice/Venezia/Venedig
(Click the thumbnails for the big picture.)
Drove from Munich to Venice with Kathrin on Friday the 8th of March. Officially it's about a 5 hour trip but in reality, with road works, fines from Austrian cops and nightmare traffic jams it's more like at least 6-7 hours. That's the first tip, never drive to a tourist city during rush hour on a Friday evening. Left Munich about lunchtime, headed down through Garmisch towards Innsbruck, stopped by Austrian cops for doing 80km in a 60km zone (EUR 21), through the Brenner pass (about EUR 8 for the toll), straight down to Verona and then swing left for Venice. It a total distance of around 500km and with tolls, fines and petrol for Jeep the cost was about EUR 120. Coming off the Autostrada a couple of KM from Venice you pay your toll (about EUR 18) and the road goes from a spectacular 8 lanes into a frenetic 3 lanes. We got held up for about an hour there. It's every man for himself and nobody's taking any prisoners.
We parked in the Tronchetto car park which apparently is cheaper (EUR 18 per day or part thereof) and easier to get into than the larger and busier Piazzale Roma car park. Headed over the bridge towards Venice and just before the end, take the well sign-posted right hand turn for Tronchetto. Collect a ticket on the way in and find a space. And here's the second tip, don't park in section 'A' or you'll have a very long walk to get to the ferry terminal. Anyway, on with the pictures......
It's very easy to get around Venice once you follow the clear signs.
Pigeons in the Piazza San Marco. People buy little bags of seed for EUR 1 and the birds come flocking. Bloody flying rats!
Rush hour on the water. Even with lots of boats all over the place (like in the first picture below), the Grand Canal still has a peaceful quality which seems to slow to pace of life down to a nicely relaxed level.
Clearly some of the original architects of Venice were not overly endowed in the height department.
The famous Bridge of Sighs (Ponte de Sospiri). It got its name in the 17th century, because the prisoners who passed through it on their way to the prison cells on the other side would most likely see the beautiful sight of the lagoon and the island of S.Giorgio and freedom for the last time. The movie "A Little Romance" made up a myth that if you kissed under the Bridge of Sighs in a gondola at sunset then your romance would last forever.
Kathrin outside the maritime museum. Couldn't decide which picture I liked the most so I included all three, maybe you could let me know.
Some of the canals & bridges that are very common around the city.
A lot of the buildings look quite old and decrepit. Apparently there's something about modern buildings being very highly taxed or something like that, so most people don't bother. It definitely adds to the charm of the city.
St Mark's basilica and the view from the balcony. We couldn't look around the inside of the church as Kathrin was wearing a skirt and therefore not allowed inside. Did I mention that Italians are weird about some stuff... Anyway, it was a beautiful warm day so we didn't want to be inside anyway.
St. Mark's bell tower (which collapsed completely on July 14th, 1902 and was rebuilt in 1912) and a scene inside one of the arches of the basilica.
The Doge's palace, built between 1309 and 1424. It's old...and big.
Paolo Sarpi (1552-1623 - friend and benefactor of Galileo) who always helped let us know we were on the right street. A hanging effigy outside the military barracks, something to do with starving children in Africa but I'm not sure and laundry day in Venice.
A well earned Hoegarden in "Bacaro Jazz" on Salizada del Fontego dei Tedeschi. Great little bar/restaurant which we came back to later that evening for dinner. Excellent service from our waiter Michael, top quality cocktails (try the Godfather), cool music and very good food. I only give the food 'very good' cause I am a bit suspicious about my main course of "Giant Norwegian Lobsters".
From what I can find out about Norwegian lobsters, "The biggest recorded in Norway was caught outside Bergen and weighed 5.3 kg. The biggest crushing claw of a lobster ever found was calculated to have been from a specimen that weighed about 9.3 kg. This claw was trawled up outside Skagen, Denmark in 1964. It was caught in 40 metres of water and the claw was 351 mm long."
Mine was not. My plate had about 5 or 6 of them on it and they were more like large prawns than lobster. There was a lot more picking & scraping going on than actual eating. But the starters were excellent and overall the meal was very enjoyable.
A few miscellaneous shots around the place.
A bit of hair-brushing action on the balcony at our hotel.
And finally, the only ATM machine I've ever seen which has a special button for three zeros. Of course with the Euro firmly in place, that button will most likely never be used again.
Go to Venice, you won't regret it.
A few Quick Tips
If arriving by car, don't do it at rush hour on a Friday evening.
Park in Tronchetto, it's cheaper and not too far away.
Don't take taxis unless you really have to. They're very expensive. Use the Vaparettos.
Definitely try the ice-cream. It's fantastic.
Most bridges have guys selling leather hand-bags on them. Don't be intimidated into buying something dodgey.
Walk some of the back-streets away from St. Mark's Square. There's some great non-touristy cafes & bars to be found.
Don't stay at the Carlton Executive. It's nice enough, but way over-priced for what you getting, even by Venetian standards.
Try "Bacaro Jazz" near the Rialto bridge, not exactly Venetian but a good night out.
Spend as many hours as possible just walking the back-streets (and bring a good map just in case)