Dave & Meredith’s Travel Blog

I’ve just posted three more galleries of photographs from our trip to Italy. It feels good to finally be caught up since we left Venice one week ago. So without further ado, the gallery from the Cinque Terre is here, the gallery from Lake Como, Ravenna, and Bologna is here, and the gallery from Venice is here. And of course, the Photo Galleries page has been updated with the same links. Any feedback is welcome. Enjoy!

- Dave

Venice has been praised and put down by so many people.  I think it’s the kind of place you have to experience yourself and make up your own mind.

The Cons

It’s touristy, expensive, and it’s hard to find a good meal at a remotely reasonable price.

The Pros

It’s beautiful, over-the-top, and fun to explore on foot or boat.  If you accept that you’re going to spend a lot of money here and submit to a little bit of cheesiness, it’s quite a romantic setting.

Venice doesn’t feel like other places in Italy.  As cities go, I personally preferred Rome over Venice, but I’d certainly like to come back to Venice and see more (hopefully on foot next time!).  Our guidebooks say that Venice’s biggest attraction is the city itself.  I agree with that.  As a city built on water, it’s so different than any other place I’ve been, that it’s a little bit exotic.  It’s cool that our hotel is right on the water, and I can hear gondoliers passing by while I’m in the room.  But it’s not totally exotic, because there are too many tourists, and too many shops and restaurants that feed on the tourist drug.

Venice must have been very exotic through the 18th century or so, but I suspect that as the city’s power declined, tourism grew, water levels rose, and property became more and more expensive to maintain, visitors today experience a less authentic Venice than in the past.  Still, it’s quite beautiful.  Here are some pics of the city:

 St. Mark’s Basilica

 Rush Hour on the Grand Canal

 Rush Hour on a Smaller Canal 

 Rush Hour on the Rialto Bridge

 The Rialto Bridge at Dusk

Palazzos and Gondolas lining the Grand Canal 

 Gondolas Jousting

Yesterday, we visited the islands of Murano (of glass fame) and Burano (of lace and colorful house fame).  This was one of my favorite days on this part of the trip.  It felt a little more relaxed, a little less touristy, a little less over the top, and a little more authentic.  When you come here, don’t miss these islands.  Here are some pics from the islands:

 A Glassworker on Murano Heating a Vase in a Furnace

 Canal in Burano

 A Few of Burano’s Colorful Houses

 Reflection of Burano Houses in the Canal

Speaking of canals, about 1 in 10 gondolas that pass by our hotel are carrying tourists that want their gondolier to sing “O Sole Mio” because it’s the only Italian song they know.  Unfortunately, “O Sole Mio” is a song from Naples, not Venice.  I’m sure the gondoliers are used to it (and well paid, and should be because they are seriously working it out there), but when you come here, don’t ask your gondolier to sing “O Sole Mio.”  I think you’d be doing a favor to yourself, as well as to the girl who is stuck in the hotel room all day putting her foot up and listening to gondolas go by.  Not that I don’t like the song “O Sole Mio.”  It’s just more appropriate that you ask an accordionist to play it when you’re in Sorrento or Naples, that’s all.  We took a gondola ride on our last morning in Venice (I know you’re supposed to ride in the evening but we sort of ran out of time).  Here’s a pic our gondolier took of us:

And here’s a pic Dave took of us in a mirror the gondoliers use to see what other boats may be coming around the corner:

- Meredith

Here is the view from our Venice hotel room:

Hmm, that probably requires some explanation. A week before we arrived in Venice, our hotel emailed us to say that the building they are in just started renovation by another tenant. They gave us a discount if we were willing to keep our reservation so we took it. Venice ain’t cheap. This picture shows our hotel from the outside on a bridge over a canal nearby:

Our room was at the lower left edge of the scaffolding and building-wrap which is why, if we leaned out of our window, we had that partial view of the canal to the right. We were on a common route for gondoliers so that gondola in the picture was a pretty common sight.

- Meredith

After Lago di Como, we went to the Veneto to stay with two sisters we met while traveling in the Caribbean last year.  We kept in touch with them via email, and when we told them we were coming to Italy, they generously offered to have us stay with them.

Silvia and Valeria live in Bassano del Grappa, a beautiful town in the Veneto.  We had a great time with them - they practiced speaking English with us (like many Italians, their English is very good), and we practiced a little Italian with them.  We talked about the differences and similarities between our two countries, and enjoyed the local food - especially white asparagus, which is in season right now.

There is a lot to see in the Veneto (Padua, Verona, Vicenza and small towns like Bassano), but because of my “condition”, we mostly spent time talking, seeing just a few sights in Bassano, Asolo and the surrounding area.  Dave and I enjoyed this part of the trip very much, and we hope Silvia and Valeria will come to Boston soon so we can show them some of our favorite places and everyone back home can meet them. 

Here is a picture of the four of us at a cafe around the corner from their place:

- Meredith