Italy
is portrayed as being expensive for travellers but
I found some real good
value deals on hotels I've provided links to the
excellent mostly family run hotels that I stayed
with on my trip. I certainly wasn't dissapointed
with any of my choices my expectations were more
than fulfilled and I can fully recommend all of
these listed below
......
MORE IMAGES BELOW WITH THE DIARY......
*HOT
TIPS*
"TRAVEL
IN VENICE" vaporetto's (water
buses) buy a travel card for the duration of your
stay its great value and can be used
for trips to the Islands too... available for 24
or 72hrs and 7days they need to be validated .....walking
is no hardship (well if you've packed comfy shoes
) and you take a really good map (or you could end
up using twice as much shoe leather)....I used an
Insight fleximap very durable a necessity when its
used that much its also very clear & easy to
follow www.insightguides.com
*Don't forget
when booking your hotel count the canals (and therefore
the bridges) en route from the nearest vaporetto
stop.....you'll have to carry any cases over
the bridges and you'll regret those extra
items you just couldn't travel without*
Baggage can be delivered at
a price per piece by "Cooperativa
Trasbagagli" tel: 041 731 719 between 8am-6pm
"FOOD"
Trattorie
are family run restaurants serving popular local
hearty dishes, Bacari are bars that sell wine &
snacks like tapas, Osterie are old drinking places
that serve simple home cooked food. and of course
"Pizza" is
cheap, filling & available on every street corner.......even
in the very near vicinity of San Marco I bought
a huge slice for just €1.10 to go .....although
your allowed to eat in as long as you stand &
be good!.
"WATER"
is drinkable
from the tap I did and still here!!........so no
need to keep buying bottled one will do and re-fill
with the free stuff to take on trips
"DRIVING"
a pleasure
the ROMANS ( I'm presuming all Italians are direct
descendants )know how to build roads with signs
that actually get you to your destination without
the usual multi detours trying to trace the dissapearing
sign.......*but
Don't forget you're supposed to
use lights at ALL times *
......To
skip back to any of the galleries 1 click
on the titles below......
|
| ......."THE
DIARY" ....... |
I
like many other non Italians had a yearning to experience
the magic, the romance, the pictorial scenery and this year
at last I fullfilled that dream!!.....If you haven't yet
done so a visit to my "Photolog Travel Guides"
of "Venice"
& the "Italian Lakes" will
at the very least give you a flavor of whats in store ........because
I'm afraid it will wet your appetite to experience &
live!! the dream
3rd
July at last the day has arrived to make my
journey to the destination that has been on my hit list
for years (since I watched the film "Room with a View",
the scenery was captivating & I promised myself then
to make a visit one day).......I'd actually been looking
for a flight to Sevilla from Alicante Spain and found a
new budget airline Vueling promoting cheap flights to multiple
destinations ..........hmmm
I'll have a look where Ooooh now thats interesting Venice
......WELL!! before I knew it I'd booked not only for the
4 days to Venice, but well while I'm at it the Lakes are
so close and so in all 11 days I pick up the hire car and
drive to Sirmione...... a peninsular on
the southern tip of Lake Garda. I'd read about the Castle
& Roman Ruins so I could just park myself there for
2 days and explore .......then moving up to the north west
of the Lake.... Tremosine looked stunningly
beautiful, and believe me nothing can prepare you for living
and breathing this experience 3 nights here.........&
my last stop Lake Como for me just because
the name struck a chord in my memory from childhood I think...anyway
that long ago no comment please!then a flight out from Milan.
Yes a flying visit in more than one sense but funds didn't
allow for the time I would have preffered.........SO......
I took FULL opportunity to engage ALL my senses SIGHT, SOUND,
SMELL (and NO!! Venice was not smelly even in July ) although
I have heard a few whispers it has occasions when you'd
rather not engage that sense.
My
flight from Alicante was via Barcelona (must visit one day)
the flight in to Venice Marco Polo airport is wonderful
captured a few aerial shots gives you a real sense of the
scale positioning
of important locations
Directly
out
from the arrivals you will find yourself at the bus stop
for theconnection
to Venice you can buy a ticket from the machine by the stop
or in the arrivals hall ( but normally there is a queue
there)....the journey is about 20mins and
costs just €3. You'll alight at the Piazzale Roma a
short walk to the left will be the vaporetto stop (water
bus) .....yes one of my top tips came from a real boo boo
I made here I made a decision from two ways to get to my
first nights accomodation either a 5min walk or the vaporetto
and 3min walk ......so I thought I'll take the 5 min option
I forgot to check out the bridges bad move .....did I regret
taking so much luggage sure did!!
Arrived
at "Antico Capon" hotel
I was staying just 1 night in the female 4 bed dorm it was
located in the annex but a beautiful old character building
full marks for cleanliness........the staff were very friendly
and helpful too....and nice chatty Chinese and English roomates
made the fleeting stay a pleasure. I was actually glad I
had decided to stay here, because I was arriving late in
the evening and it seemed such a waste to lose out on most
of my first day with my next Hotel (I had treated myself
to a room overlooking a canal frequented by Gondolas). But
I was pleasantly surprised with Anton Capon it's certainly
somewhere I would return to.
Next
morning a quick walk around the area for photos "Campo
Santa Margherita" is a very charming square
Bustling,
Vibrant........where fresh fish is prepared to the delight
of the seagulls in Venice (who would have thought,certainly
not me) Playful rituals re-enacting later times to the delight
of the crowd (no seagulls too busy with the fish) The girl
was quoting ancient prose that prompted a daubing &
dousing of flour & eggs ........anything nasty.....and
apparently enjoyable. Not sure how often this happened but
the locals were unfazed so? A unique area of Venice I think.
So
it's time to move on to my next accomodation I'm really
looking forward to staying at "Hotel Mercurio"....I
have read some brilliant reviews.....about the atmosphere
(this is no. 1 on my priority list).
And yes my first experience was on the button........serenading
Gondola along the pretty character canal my balcony overlooked
it's proximity to San Marco is excellent ....and as you'll
see from my photolog I was there before sunrise to capture
the magic of this all time must see.........BUT!! a small
matter of transfering my luggage first, thankfully Anton
Capon has the facility to store luggage so this time I took
2 trips to move it, although thankfully only 2 bridges and
the vaporetto made it easy..........en route I passed
"Campo Santa Barbara"another smaller
but worthy of a visit square situated on a canal perfect
for the cafe culture it seems to have adopted. I did walk
back to Campo Santa Margherita it was easily walkable as
is most of Venice
 |
| And
I wanted to see Academia Bridge an amazing wooden structure
with comanding views of the Grande Canal ...........this
walk also takes in some very interesting side streets
& unique little shops with decorated eggs, as well
as the prevelant displays of hand made masks to be found
just about everywhere from market stalls to the the
up market San Marco shops alike, although the quality
and the price certainly differs. |
So
now I'm in my room it's amazing even better than I had imagined,
although quite a bit more than I would normally pay I was
languishing in a huge double bed on my own ( I know in Venice
a complete romantic .....and on my own!! ) well I'll just
have to interact with the people outside my balcony ......and
surprisingly they were all willing ......tourists on the
quaint bridge taking photos of ME!! for a change and in
the evening the serenades HOW!!! wonderful......no really!!!
some of these guys have great voices. Just what I'd hoped
for, Venice had
