Day 5 : Venice Italy (18 June 2008) Cont

After spending time in Piazza San Marco we decided to just walk around and explore Venice.  We walked around for about 2 hours over bridges and down narrow streets between the old buildings of Venice.  It is a beautiful old city and even with hundreds of tourists walking everywhere it seems quiet and calm.  All the buildings look old and even a bit neglected.  The rising water damages the bottom part of walls and doors.

























 

At about 17:45 we went on a gondola ride through the canals to get another view of the city.  A gondola is a flat-bottomed rowing boat and is 11 meters long.  Our gondolier took us on a tranquil trip through small canals, under bridges and even passes clothes on washing lines.  In some smaller canals the water is dirty and does not smell very nice.  Because of the length of the gondola it is difficult to turn in the narrow canals.



































After the gondola ride we went to a restaurant for dinner with different pasta dishes and delicious lemon flavoured gelato.  While we were eating a man was playing an accordion creating a wonderful atmosphere.
At 21:00 we went back to the mainland with the motorboat.  We were sad to leave the beautiful city but ready to rest after a long day.  A short bus ride with the full moon shining behind us took us to the hotel Palladio. 

 
Read more of the trip to Europe in 2008:
1.                  Mossel Bay to London
2.                  Day 1: London to Amsterdam
3.                  Day 1: Amsterdam Canal Cruise
4.                  Day 2: Amsterdam
5.                  Day 2: St Goar Germany
6.                  Day 3: Munich Germany
7.                  Day 3: Munich Germany Cont
8.                  Day 4: Austria
9.                  Day 5: Venice Italy

Comments

  1. Emm11 August, 2012 14:37

    What gorgeous photos! Venice and Italy are high on my to-visit list but I haven't made it yet!!

    You had lovely weather - it looks like it wasn't too hot.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eyewitness Travel Guides – A Book Review

Image
  Last month I wrote a book review and I enjoyed it.   Today I want to share some more of my favourite travel books.   DK Eyewitness Travel Guides I bought my first travel guide in 2008. I was planning a trip with my friend Lelanie to London and Europe.   While planning the trip I bought the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Europe and I paid R 282.00 for it.   Except for my university textbooks, this was the most expensive book I have ever bought for myself.    We were doing a Contiki Tour and visited 7 countries.   I studied the information in guide the about the cities we would visit.    I made lists of places I want to see and then looked for more information about them.   In the end I did not take the guide with me (the 800 pages was just to heavy to carry along) but packed all my lists to use.  At Departures at Cape Town Airport in 2008 My second guide was for the same trip.   The Eyewitness Travel Top 10 London traveled with us.   We stayed in London for 4 da
Read more

Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê

Image
   Weather vane on the VGK Church in Carnarvon    This photo made me think of a song we used to sing as kids.    It is a traditional Afrikaans song about the rooster on top of the church. The words of the song and its translation: Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê There is a chicken that cannot lay an egg Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê There is a chicken that cannot lay an egg Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê There is a chicken that cannot lay an egg Dis die haan wat op die kerktoring staan It’s the rooster standing on the church tower Dis die haan, Dis die haan It’s the rooster, It’s the rooster Dis die haan wat op die kerktoring staan It’s the rooster standing on the church tower More about all the churches and other buildings we saw in Carnarvon in the next post.
Read more

Dutch Reformed Mother Church, George

Image
One of my favourite sights in George is the white Dutch Reformed Mother Church with the beautiful Outeniqua Mountain as background.   I have many memories of visiting this church: On a history class trip when I was about 10, for a art class when I was about 13, for my cousins wedding in 2004, for her baby’s christening a few years later and many other times.   But most of all I like seeing this church every time we drive through town.   The cornerstone for the church was laid on 14 April 1832.   Slaves were used for some of the building work like the digging of the six-foot deep by five-foot wide foundations.   Due to financial problems it took 12 years to complete the church and it was consecrated in 9 October 1842.  The church is a National Heritage Site. On 13 September 1905 disaster struck when the church tower collapsed.   The wood rotted from water damage and lead to the walls weakening.   After a lot of rain for two days the tower collapsed.   The tower was reb
Read more