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Sunday, August 12, 2007

Tour of Europe - Venice

Ah, Venice.
Our tour next took us down to Venice, Italy. Admiring the grapevines along the side of the highways. 


We arrived late at night and took a water taxi over to a restaurant for dinner. There we had the most delicious lasagna either of us had tasted.

The next morning we were back in Venice. First up was a glass blowing demonstration.



Then, we were free to wander as we liked.


We saw many of the Grand Canals.

Sampled foods from the local markets.

Of course there was lots of gelato.

And in general just got ourselves lost in the crazy alleyways and back streets of Venice.


Every once in a while you'd hit a dead-end and have to backtrack.


More gelato.

When you're in Venice, you naturally think of a gondola ride, right? We booked one with our tour group, along with a few other couples.

It... did not live up to the romantic hype. Dirty, smelly water with trash floating in it, plus our chain smoking gondolier who tossed his cigarette butts into the water. It's better to imagine than to actually participate in. At least for us.



More gelato? Why not.



Even more?



Maps are only so useful here.




2 comments:

  1. I had to laugh when you said "better to imagine than participate" regarding the gondola ride (when I saw the 1st picture and Venice title, I immediately thought of "a romantic gondola ride"...didn't expect what you wrote!) The glass blowing demo must have been interesting to watch...did he make anything special during the demo? Local markets must have been fun to wander through and just explore. Gelato looks yummy...what better place than in Italy? Ever stumble upon a just-as-good or better gelato in the US? EOM

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    1. When I think of beautiful gondola rides, instead of Italy, I will remember the time at Tokyo Disney Sea at dusk. A much better experience.
      http://www.flowerstales.com/2011/11/japan-day-3-tokyo-disney-sea.html

      From what I remember, it was a glass vase he made. And I think he broke it right afterwards to melt back down again.
      Wandering the markets was fun. T liked stopping at the fruit stands to see what interesting new things existed there that we didn't have back home.
      It's difficult to compare the gelato to anything back home. Over there gelato is everywhere. So many shops have a dozen different flavors on display, and only 1-2 Euro each, it's easy to feel like a frozen treat. I haven't found a city back in the US that can compare.

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