Thursday, August 6, 2009
Videos of Venice
Venetian Streets
Gondola's in Venice
Nelson sings "like a virgin" under the Bridge of Sighs
Plaza San Marco 1
Plaza San Marco 2
Plaza San Marco Moonlight
Venice Dreams, Olive Oil and Sun in Greece
We arrived from Spain to Venice with a bang. We picked up our pre-paid vaporatti tickets (thanks for the tip Mary Lynn) and were soon aboard a bus zipping towards the water. We entered Venice through the long causeway and suddenly we were there. Lugging the bags (Mom's included) was a huge task. We dragged them aboard the Vaporatti (water bus) and set off for the Rialto bridge. Nelz clicked away on his camera barely aware of anything other than what he saw through his camera lens. We haled off our bags and made our way to our internet hotel find (don't laugh at the name) the hotel Canada (so-named due to the owner's father having lived in Montreal years ago). The hotel fit our budget and not so much our desire for air-con... we were back to fans and humid heat. So we made due and used our skills (thanks Michael) and had many daily showers to keep cool.
The streets of Venice are a woven maze that we ventured off into right away in search of the famous Plaza San Marco (I have to say a must see in life). We made our way through the narrow paths and remarked at the shop windows being still filled with masks from carnival (the masks were amazing and one made its way into our suit case). The Plaza San Marco stunned me. We had been mere moments before in narrow and a dense space, and suddenly a massive square emerged. The basilica was stunning, the square gorgeous and yes massively filled with tourists. In spite of the throngs of camera filled hands and babies screaming the sheer beauty made me fall in love with the city. I know now that I have to go back and spend more time.
The food (how could I not mention it) was yummy. The pasta, the risotto, the seafood - all yum yum yum. I of course found the chances to wash it down with wine and fizzy water. But dinner and an evening never seemed to end without another ball of gelato being devoured. The good news about our travel is that while we are eating well we are also walking so much in the sun. My skin grows darker than Nelz's skin daily.
Finally three days later we had to leave the city that took my heart.
Our cruise began in Venice, and the departure from the City was stunning. I climbed to the highest deck and found a little spot to perch on as we sailed hundreds of feet above the city on the ship. What a view of the city. I clicked madly with Nelson's camera as he slept through the amazing passage.
Having never been aboard a cruise ship before I had no idea of what to expect. My first thought was that I had enter Las Vegas and the bling was hard on the eyes. We had our first meal aboard and were impressed with the food. Later Nelz and I snuck off into the night to figure out what was aboard the massive ship. Casinos, pools, baskeball courts, restaurants, and 3500+ passengers.
Our first stop was the next morning in the sleepy little city of Bari, Italy. It was great to suddenly been in a place where people did not speak much english at all and were not used to tourists.
That night we set sail for Olympia. We set off on our first excursion to see the ruins of Olympia (the site of the original olympic games). It was hot and proved to be too much for Mom, so Nelson continued on the tour and Mom and I made our own smaller tour of the grounds. The original stadium that german archaeologists had uncovered was really cool to see. See the next two videos.
Nelson Does Olympia
Olympia
We then sailed for Santorini in the morning and now in the evening we are in Mykonos.
Santorini was interesting. We anchored in the harbour and boarded small boats (tenders) to the dock. We then rode a cable car (instead of walking up 600+ steps) or a long donkey ride (poor asses - our butts too). Santorini is perched on a cliff over looking the harbour. narrow cobble streets wet and covered in donkey dung, white-washed buildings, and tourists galore. After we got back in line and made it again to the steep cable car as it dropped swiftly towards the sea. Our car was filled with some older croatian women from Rijeka screaming in croatian about the fact that they were about to die as they plunged to the sea. I intervened in what seems to be limited croatian - sadly I am losing the language.
Last I will post a short video of our arrival by small boat into Mykonos:
The streets of Venice are a woven maze that we ventured off into right away in search of the famous Plaza San Marco (I have to say a must see in life). We made our way through the narrow paths and remarked at the shop windows being still filled with masks from carnival (the masks were amazing and one made its way into our suit case). The Plaza San Marco stunned me. We had been mere moments before in narrow and a dense space, and suddenly a massive square emerged. The basilica was stunning, the square gorgeous and yes massively filled with tourists. In spite of the throngs of camera filled hands and babies screaming the sheer beauty made me fall in love with the city. I know now that I have to go back and spend more time.
The food (how could I not mention it) was yummy. The pasta, the risotto, the seafood - all yum yum yum. I of course found the chances to wash it down with wine and fizzy water. But dinner and an evening never seemed to end without another ball of gelato being devoured. The good news about our travel is that while we are eating well we are also walking so much in the sun. My skin grows darker than Nelz's skin daily.
Finally three days later we had to leave the city that took my heart.
Our cruise began in Venice, and the departure from the City was stunning. I climbed to the highest deck and found a little spot to perch on as we sailed hundreds of feet above the city on the ship. What a view of the city. I clicked madly with Nelson's camera as he slept through the amazing passage.
Having never been aboard a cruise ship before I had no idea of what to expect. My first thought was that I had enter Las Vegas and the bling was hard on the eyes. We had our first meal aboard and were impressed with the food. Later Nelz and I snuck off into the night to figure out what was aboard the massive ship. Casinos, pools, baskeball courts, restaurants, and 3500+ passengers.
Our first stop was the next morning in the sleepy little city of Bari, Italy. It was great to suddenly been in a place where people did not speak much english at all and were not used to tourists.
That night we set sail for Olympia. We set off on our first excursion to see the ruins of Olympia (the site of the original olympic games). It was hot and proved to be too much for Mom, so Nelson continued on the tour and Mom and I made our own smaller tour of the grounds. The original stadium that german archaeologists had uncovered was really cool to see. See the next two videos.
Nelson Does Olympia
Olympia
We then sailed for Santorini in the morning and now in the evening we are in Mykonos.
Santorini was interesting. We anchored in the harbour and boarded small boats (tenders) to the dock. We then rode a cable car (instead of walking up 600+ steps) or a long donkey ride (poor asses - our butts too). Santorini is perched on a cliff over looking the harbour. narrow cobble streets wet and covered in donkey dung, white-washed buildings, and tourists galore. After we got back in line and made it again to the steep cable car as it dropped swiftly towards the sea. Our car was filled with some older croatian women from Rijeka screaming in croatian about the fact that they were about to die as they plunged to the sea. I intervened in what seems to be limited croatian - sadly I am losing the language.
Last I will post a short video of our arrival by small boat into Mykonos:
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Videos of Cordoba
Bells in Cordoba
Mezquita in Cordoba
Roman Bridge in Cordoba
Royal Palace in Cordoba
Tagalog Message from Nelson in Cordoba
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