Leaving Venezia Behind

A Morning Stroll: Me and Grandpa got up early this morning, (like, 5:20) and were out of the hotel by 6:00am. We were destined for a woodsy-park area on the bottom fish-tail part of Venice.
We got lost for the first hour, and ended up at the top of the fish-tail (about five minutes away from our hotel, but it took us an hour to get there :) right across from the cemetery island.
It was this experience that brought me to believe Grandpa's saying about getting lost in Venice. The sun was just coming up on this side of the island, and it reflected off of the water in a picture perfect way.











I was almost sad to continue on our adventure. NOTE: Grandpa thought that if we did a pattern of turn right, turn left, turn right, etc. that we would be heading in the correct direction of the park. The only problem is, the streets aren't strait here, so instead of going in a generally strait direction, we did a U-Turn.





Finally we made it to the bottom of the fish where we followed that edge to the park. On the way we saw a couple cruise ships...a couple HUGE cruise ships!!!! For someone who has only ever seen personal boats, gondola's, and traghetta's, this was JAW DROPPING! Those things are Giganormous!! You can see a rock climbing wall on the top of the ship in the picture to the right.

























The only plants in the actual city of Venice are potted plants on windowsills, and the occasional private garden. So the park we went to was kind of a shock after wandering through five story apartments for the past day and a half. It was almost like my Little Rain Forest!!! There was a pavilion where the ceiling was the branches of six different trees and a random tree bent in strange directions.




















This is Giuseppe Garibaldi. He helped Italy gain their freedom around 1860. He's Uncle Larry's hero.




















After the park we went back to the hotel to eat breakfast, pack our things, them head to the train station.
I was very, very sad to be leaving. I grew very fond of Venezia in the 48 hours we were there. I would like very muchly so to come here for my honeymoon in 5 or 6 years. :)

Random facts from Venice: Everything is expensive here. One dress: 918 Euro. About $1,000. We saw another that was almost $1,500!

Here's a random statue of an anchor. It made me happy.




















Grandpa got a picture of the Carabinieri , which is a field in the military, or something like that. For some reason, you're not supposed to take pictures of them, but Grandpa got one! Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of that picture.

(I had an awesome picture for this next part, but I can't find it so it doesn't make as much sense. But I'm going to keep in here because it's just a bit of me. :)

This is a nice fish display at a restaurant. If you listen really close you can hear the sea critters saying, "Eat me! I dare you! And then I'll squirm around in your tummy!" That's why I don't particularly enjoy eating sea critters.

In Love with Venezia-Part 2

Ghetto's and Books!: There's a Jewish Ghetto in Venice that is pretty neat to see. They have these plaques on the walls that depict the Holocaust and the persecution of the Jews. That time in history has always intrigued and touched me, so I was glad we got to see this.

















This is the Venezia hospital. No joke. It used to be a church, once upon a time ago, which makes sense. That's what I thought it was anyway.



















I almost cried when we visited the bookshop. Look at all the books! It's so beautiful! There are hundreds of books stacked inside of bathtubs and old boats in case of a flood. This is the back door to the bookshop: (the gondola driver posed for me :)





















And here's one of the bookshop cats. They just lay on the books throughout the shop. It's kinda cute.






















We went back to the hotel at about 4:00 and took a muchly needed nap. Oh, that was so heavenly! We woke up at 6:30ish, just in time to search for dinner.
For dinner we went to Burger King because we couldn't find the McDonald's. (There's only one in Venice, and it wasn't where we thought it was.) Now, before you start grumbling about me eating McDonald's or Burger King while I'm in ITALY, let me explain something. Italy is not like America where you can find 7 different cultured restaurants on the same block. Every restaurant here is pizza, pasta, seafood, or a mixture of the three. We saw a chinese restaurant in Rome once, and then you have one, maybe two McDonald's in the big cities, but that's about it. Well, I'm sure there's more, but I didn't see any. I LOVE Italian food, but I need variety as well.
Anyhoo, dinner at BK, then we headed back to the hotel.


(For some reason I can't find some of my pictures, I think I had a lot on Grandma's camera and I don't have copies of all of them. The picture for this next scene must be one that I'm missing because...well, if it wasn't missing I would post it.)


We passed San Marco Square again which was sooooooo cool! When the tide comes in here, water bubbles up into the square via the drains. With the sun setting and the lights everywhere, the water reflections were breath taking! Lot's of people were eating here, and there were a couple restaurants with a band playing. And then some people started to dance in the ankle deep tide water! It was so beautiful.

I forgot!!! Special thanks to Emily for suggesting Pear Gelato which I had after lunch. Just like my Peach Gelato in Florence, it tasted like real fruit! And there were actual chunks of pear in it!!
Note: One of the big differences between Gelato's and Ice Cream: Gelato, real Gelato, is always fresh. A Gelateria produces fresh Gelato every day! So FREAKIN' GOOD!!!!!

In Love with Venezia-Part 1

On our feet: One of Grandpa's favorite things to say is, "The best place in the world to get lost is Venice." Today we practiced that concept many times. The Traghetta's (bus-boats) were on strike today-I don't know why-so we were limited to our feet. I suppose that's what they're there for.
First we walked to San Marco square. One thing I love about Italy is the fruit stands. They are so colorful, and they just have them right there in the open!




















This tower is so cool because it's leaning! We saw another leaning tower in Venice, but this one is my favorite because it's made out of brick.





















We had gelato's this morning, and of course, they were delicious. We also went inside some amazing churches. Like the museums in Siena, no pictures or videos are allowed. The first church we went to has the most AMAZING ceiling. I know I say that sort of thing a lot, but seriously, this one puts me at a loss for words. Since I couldn't take a picture, Grandma found me a postcard. So here's a picture of the postcard that has a picture of the ceiling I speak so fondly of.

(Except not really. I can't find that picture. Blast it all.)


The picture of the postcard doesn't compare. The ceiling took 24 years to complete and it's done on canvas. I just wanted to lie down and look at it forever!
For lunch I had spaghetti with egg sauce and chunks of ham. It was actually pretty good. Like a breakfast pasta or something.



All right. It's time to talk about my ultimate favorite thing about Venezia, just ahead of the beautifully unique scenery. For about a month before Ash Wednesday every year, Venezia has Carnevale, like Mardi Gras. It's HUGE! Everybody wears the most amazing masks and outfits.







It's incredible. About every other shop I saw (maybe even more) and almost every souvenir stand sells masks. These masks run from 8 euro to several HUNDRED euro!! And they were so unique and incredibly intricate that I never got tired of looking at them. I'm sure Grandma and Grandpa got tired of me stopping at every window to just stare. I would love to be here when the Carnevale is going on.

Another specialty of Venice is their murano glass. They have the coolest designs and make the most beautiful statues and trinkets with it. My favorite one, which I didn't take a picture of, was a 4' 6'' tall tree with 6 or 7 tropical parrots perched on the branches.



We passed a carpenter's shop of sorts in our wanderings, and it had a life size wooden motorcycle! I got a picture of this one.

















Here's a gondola driver that we got to pose for a picture.

First day in Venice

City on Water: Venezia is pretty amazing. Contrary to what I had believed, Venice is not a city with canals instead of roads. It is actually a city built on many little islands that are connected by bridges. However, some of the rivers have a title with 'canal' in it. (Something we learned on our second day in Venice is that the islands, from above, make the shape of a fish! Seriously!!! So, FYI, I sometimes refer to where we are in relation to the fish-shape of Venice.)















Going down the Grand Canal is cool because a lot of the buildings front doors are right on the water! Grandpa said that the first floor (zero floor is what they call it) of most buildings are actually abandoned because of flood damage.




















This building is one of my favorites because of the beautiful red coloring. Next to all the white and grey buildings, it just draws the eye.















Venice has beautiful bridges.

































You know those classic pictures of the guy in the striped shirt rowing people around Venezia? I actually saw them!!




















The boats they use are called Gondola's. These boats are very intricate and rich looking. Grandma said that last time she checked it cost 60 Euro (around $80) to ride in one, and who knows if it's gone up since then? So of course we didn't ride in one. They're everywhere!















All right. Remember when I said that a city here can't be a major city without a pretty fountain? Well, there's another requirement in addition to that, perhaps even more important. The city must have a major dome. They are so big and beautifully made, and they were all built 600 or more years ago! This dome was built in thanksgiving for the city's deliverance from the plague.





















Next to the dome was a building with this statue on it. I don't know what it is, but I like it.




















These pictures are from San Marco Square. (NOTE: third requirement for major cities: famous square. No, not the shape!) One of the buildings was made out of brick and, oh my! The diamond pattern was so precise!
















































I got a picture of one of these in Siena, but I lost it with the memory stick crash. This one is prettier anyway. It's a 24 hour clock! I don't know what all the animals are, maybe constellations or something, but it's really beautiful.




















This is a picture of one of the more distant islands in Venezia. The entire island is the city cemetery. Cool, huh?















Here's me and grandma on one of the traghetta's. That's like a bus, but it's a boat. See the guy in the background? He cracks me up!















Okay, this is cool. This is the view from our hotel window. It's someone's garden of sorts, but look at the stone path. The stones are feet! How freaking cool!!




























We ate dinner at Alla Stregga, a pizza restaurant that our host recommended. They have an open courtyard you can eat in where the 'ceiling' is a huge grapevine. It's really pretty.


























Unfortunately, someone was having a party there, so little kids were running and screaming...it was super loud. Oh well.
Here's something I never told you. In Italy when you order your own pizza, they don't give you one of those 8 inch or 10 inch pizzas. They give you a while pizza! Like, a Domino's medium size pizza! All to yourself! However, the pizza dough is as thin as a tortilla. So it's ok. Tonight was the first night I have ordered a pizza and I didn't know if I could finish it. Bah! After Primo and Paulo's Pizza Party, this was nuthin'!

After dinner we walked around trying to find a Gelateria, but they were all closed already. It was past ten, so I suppose that's okay. But it's kinda weird for Italy. When we left the restaurant at ten, some people were just sitting down to eat. Anyhoo, there's my first day in Venezia: Venice.

The Hike

Andiamo! To the Top: Well, me and Uncle Larry woke up early this morning and were out the door by 8:00am. We went on a 10 hour hike, no biggy, and got back just after 6:00pm, took showers, Larry made dinner, I crashed on the couch, Vera came over for a few minutes, me and Grandma had some ice cream, and that's about it. Ciao!!!







All right!!! Kaisa this is especially for you. So, like I said, Larry and I started our hike at 8:00 this morning from our house in Belforte. We were destined for Sasso di Simone, a big plateau that used to have a Roman city on it. (If you look really close you can see it in this picture...that flat thing in the distance. Can you see it?)
















It took about an hour, give or take, to get to the point where the trail turns off the highway, and from there the real adventure began. First off, let me mention that my number one reason for hating spiders is because they leave their stupid sticky webs hanging wherever I want to walk!!!! I'm sure if someone passed us on the trail they would think I was possessed for how wild I swatted at the air and slapped my skin. EEEEWWWW!!!!! It was horrible, and about the only thing that I really hated about today.


The first 2 or 3 hours of the hike was on a trail that was pretty overgrown. We did take some "detour" paths to see some cool things off the trail and a lot of that was so overgrown (because it wasn't meant to be walked through) that I could hardly walk! Some areas were bad because they had a lot of spiky, thorny plants that were unavoidable. I have a big scratch on the back on one of my legs that bled a little, and it wasn't too long before my legs looked like I had a disease because of all the welted scratches and bites. I'm not exaggerating. It was pretty gruesome. I finally just gave up on trying not to let my legs touch the plants and I just plowed through. It gave me a bit of my pride back in contrast to the spiderweb conflict, so I didn't complain at all.


Here's a lookout tower that we passed. It's out in the middle of the forest, no buildings around, boarded up, no sign saying what it is.
















At one point on the hike, as I was walking behind Larry, I saw something move in between his feet. It was a snake! He didn't seem to notice, so I said, "Larry, look what you almost stepped on." He came over and was freaking out because he had always wanted to see one of those snakes here. Not just any snake. A Viper!!!! It was small, maybe a foot long, and it got away before I could get my camera out.


It's kinda crazy, but even up in the mountains people have farms, planting fields, cattle, sheep, etc. We walked right through a herd of cattle, only about ten feet away from some of them and they're BEASTIE things!!! Really big cattle. And it's so funny, they stop when they see you and just watch until you're gone.

















NOTE: the trial we followed once we got out of all the forest growth is supposed to be suitable for driving, but I don't know how. I still don't believe it after seeing a car pass us from behind about two hours away from Sasso di Simone. I was sure that we would come across the car again, this time upside down in a ditch. The road is that bad.

So, remember that picture up at the top of Sasso di Simone? That was still two hours away. This one is just less than an hour away:












Finally we got to the base of the plateau where we did find that car from before. The people who were driving were just getting back from the top of Sasso di Simone. They climbed in their car and drove off the way we just came. It took us two hours to catch up with them, and by that time they were ready to leave.

After a really steep climb we came to a...I guess you could call it a grove...with stone slabs engraved with a description of the place. Apparently this:














used to look like this:








Can you believe that? A whole city used to be here and now it's all forest! If you look really close you can see an old rock wall that used to be there. It's mostly just a pile of rocks actually.





This cross is at the very top of the Sasso di Simone:

























Here's a couple pictures from the top. Larry said that when the sky is really clear you can sometimes see the ocean on the horizon. And here's a video of our triumph!
















After touring the top we went back down to the little grove and ate our small but perfect lunch of apples and bread. On the way back, we had to take a big detour to go around a military set up where they were practicing shooting. Our detour took us into another forest that was full of cool things. Here's an old wall that's now covered in moss:






















Here's a tree, or two that are connected at the base, where in the middle is a perfect pool of water.




















This is one of the natural rock structures that is in this area. I was really surprised to find out it was natural and not man-made, because it seems that everything here was once a Roman or Byzantine structure.




















When we got out of the forest we followed a cattle path down a ravine to get to San Sisto, our first town in 7 hours. Guess what I found?!?! All the way up here I found a fossil of a sea shell! How cool is that? It's pretty cool.
















Finally, we started to get close to Belforte. I had this thought that when you're looking forward to reaching your destination, it always seems to be over the next hill. It was at this time of my deep pondering that I realized my legs were really sore. And they seemed to get more sore when I thought about how close we were to being done. I almost fell over when I saw the house. It was so beautiful!!!!



Each of us took a shower right when we walked in the door. Oh my, did I get burned!!! I wore sunscreen, but when it's 80 degrees and you're hiking for ten hours with the sun on your back the whole time...not much is going to help that.


So at the end of the day I'm covered in sunburn, scratches, stings, and I can barely walk because every muscle below my torso is worn down, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything. 10 hours, Larry says it was at least 15 miles, maybe more. And more than half of it was uphill. I thought of you the whole time, Kaisa!!!!!!





We had dinner, then I crashed on the couch. I didn't mean too. I was supposed to update my blog. Grandma woke me up when Vera came over to see me for the last time. Tomorrow we head to Venice and we won't get back until Saturday. On Saturday Vera and her family are going to Albania. That's where they're originally from and they're going back to visit friends and family.










And now I'm here on the computer. I'm going to bed soon. And then I won't be able to update anything until we get back on Saturday. Ciao!!!