10-14-17 The Greek and Roman Ruins at Paestum

We have often heard about Paestum where there are some wonderful Greek and Roman ruins – some of them in much better condition than in other parts of the ‘old world’. So, we took ourselves there to see. We arrived after a nice lunch in a small pizza place along the side of the road then just walked in to the ruins.

Janeen enjoying her lunch

 

 

David – eating again!
Pasta course for lunch.
Lunch ravioli’s prior to visiting the ruin

No ticket required – however, we didn’t have any guidebook information of idea of what we were looking at. Fortunately there were key signs placed around the area giving you sufficient information to get some idea of what you were looking at. We recognized Hera, Athena and Apollo as gods for the temples, or maybe the big one was for Neptune…still not enough knowledge about the Greek colony that initially founded the trading city.

Two Temples – Hera 1 and Hera 2. Hera 2 is the closest one.
Temple of Athena c. 500 B.C.E.

Both Republican and Imperial Romans added their own touches, or at least covered with dignity the old and declared a new.

The day was beautiful – clear skies, not too warm and limited number of people wandering around.

 

Paestum was a major ancient Greek  city on the coast of southern Italy. The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric orderr, dating from about 600 to 450 BC, which are in a very good state of preservation. The city walls and amphitheater are largely intact, and the bottom of the walls of many other structures remains, as well as paved roads.

Much the most celebrated features of the site are the three large temples in the Archaic version of the Greek Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC. All are typical of the period, with massive colonnades having a very pronounced entasis (widening as they go down), and very wide capitals resembling upturned mushrooms. Above the columns, only the second temple of Hera retains most of its entablature,  the other two having only the architrave  in place.

Temple of Athena c. 500 B.C.E.

These three temples were dedicated to Hera, Athena, and Poseidon (Juno, Minerva, and Neptune to the Romans). The two temples of Hera are right next to each other, while the Temple of Athena is on the other side of the town center. Paestum is far from any sources of good marble resulting in the temples having had few stone reliefs, perhaps using painting instead. The whole ancient city of Paestum covers an area of approximately 300 acres. It is only the 61 arcs that contain the three main temples and the other main buildings that have been excavated. The other areas remain on private land and have not been excavated. The city is surrounded by defensive walls that still stand.

The Via Sacra – the main street of the Roman city (after the Greeks left of course).
Janeen standing in the large grassy area before the temple.
Janeen looking over the foundations of the residential area.
Janeen on the 2,500 year old bench.
Just taking our rest on a 2,500 year old bench.
The foundations take up a goodly portion of the area showing how the buildings would have been situated.

The central area is completely clear of modern buildings since the Middle Ages. Although much stone has been stripped from the site, large numbers of buildings remain detectable by their footings or the lower parts of their walls, and the main roads remain paved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first Temple of Hera, built around 550 BC by the Greek colonists, is the oldest surviving temple. Eighteenth-century archaeologists named it “The Basilica” because some mistakenly believed it to be a Roman building. The temple is wider than most Greek temples, probably because there are two doors and a row of seven columns running centrally inside the cella or inner sanctuary, an unusual feature. This may reflect a dual dedication of the temple. Having an odd number of columns, here nine, across the shorter sides also is very unusual; there are eighteen columns along the longer sides. This was possible, or necessary, because of the two doors, so that neither has a view blocked by a column.

The second Temple of Hera was built around 460–450 BC, just north of the first Hera Temple. The columns do not have the typical 20 flutes on each column, but have 24 flutes. The Temple of Hera II also has a wider column size and smaller intervals between columns.

On the highest point of the town, some way from the Hera Temples and north of the center of the ancient settlement is the Temple of Athena .  It was built around 500 BC. The architecture is transitional, being partly in the Ionic style and partly early Doric.

After viewing the various main buildings we walked through the “town” looking at the foundations and remaining walls of the structures. One had a particularly nice inlay floor we didn’t find out if it was original or added sometime over the last couple thousand years.

Here’s Janeen at the entrance to the Theatre.
At the entrance to the Theatre. Most of this structure is still underground – outside the area under the main road of the town.
The inlayed floor was quite nice. I am certain Janeen would like to have this installed somewhere.

 

10-11-17 to 10-13-17 – Torre di Palma

The last several days have been interesting – altho not much of note for the blog. When we re in Oregon, we met a women, Rebecca Ponzi, at a wine dinner at the Stoller vineyards. She and her husband moved to Italy something like 6 years ago and are doing stuff like producing olive oil, raising two sons and having a great time. Unfortunately they also have family ties to the Ponzi properties in Oregon and have to travel back frequently – including the fact that they are in charge of a restaurant in Dundee – meaning on a weekly basis they have Skype meeting with the staff to go over the restaurant and it’s operations and fly back frequently to take care of business.

The overlook by our B&B
Views from the hilltop
The overlook at the end of the road by our B&B.

Well, she made the mistake of inviting us to come and visit. And not one to let something like that pass by, we arranged to stay in an interesting B&B in the very small village of Torre di Palme – this is on the coast of the Adriatic Sea and a beautiful little hill top village – population (currently ) of about 65 people. Aside from just relaxing, which we did a lot of, she gave us the 50cent tour of the area and shared her “villa” with us prior to taking us to a lovely spot for lunch overlooking the water.

Rebecca and Janeen after lunch
Pasta and sea food – lovely.
Fried Calimari – wonderful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After checking into our hotel, we went into town for lunch – Janeen seemed to have enjoyed it.

After getting everything together, we drove south along the water to Barletta – right about the “heel” of Italy. WE have decided to NOT got to Sicily but wind our way back up the western side of Italy and find a place to settle in for a while. More on that as it develops.

So far now, know that we are well and having a great time.

10-8-17 to 10-10-17 – On the Road, Rimini and San Marino

OK, the last several days have been RELAXING.  I admit, we haven’t done really any tourist things…we have relaxed, traveled some, eaten some and had some wines.  We left our Agratourisim place, which was really out in the country between Bologna and Moderna, and headed to a foreign country – yes a different country from Italy.

Espaliered fruit trees with irritation coming across the top and down the rows.

Along the drive we snapped a picture of the espaliered trees along the road.  It seems most of the fruit trees(apples and pears) are espaliered along rows with the irrigation at the top.  I guess to make picking the fruit easier or something, but we have seen these a lot.

 

Our drive took us to Rimini – a coastal town on the east coast of Italy where we stopped for lunch.  Not only did we stop for a really lovely lunch, but wandered into a couple of shops and bought strange things – a night light (which we have looked for in several places and never found), a knife to be able to cut snacks, fruit and other things when we have supper in our room (seems the little Swiss army knife isn’t good enough or strong enough) some fantastic grapes (funny the things you pick up along the way). 

Janeen looking at the water under the bridge in Rimini.
Here we are before getting our lunch in Rimini.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch we headed west to another country – specifically to Republic of San Marino.  Yes, this is a small country all of 61 square Km (24 square miles) right smack dab in Italy.  Seems this place was a City State during all the history and never got incorporated into Italy.  It has the claim of being the 5th smallest country in the world!  We had heard about this from Rebecca Ponzi (who we met at the Stoller dinner in Oregon prior to IPNC and is related to the Ponzi Wine folks of Oregon) and who it turns out has an olive oil company in Italy – where we are going to connect with her in a couple of days.

After we got checked into our hotel we walked around with the specific goal of getting to the tourist office so we could get a San Marino Visa stamp in our passports!  Doesn’t do much good but it is proof we made it to another country (this makes our 5th so far on this trip).  After that we just sort of relaxed with a bottle of wine in our room with some cheese (using our new knife!) and crackers.  Today, Tuesday, we set a goal to do laundry and to get Janeen a hair appointment.  We accomplished both!

Just some of the buildings in San Marino not far from our hotel.
Just one of the sites we saw while walking around at the top of San Marino

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stork Sculpture made of various things – car parts, trash cans, electric hair dryer and other metal stuff.
Here we are outside the tourist office after getting our “visa”
This overlook is not at the top of the mountain but close.
One of the municipal buildings in San Marino
I don’t know what’s in the bottles but for 3.50 euros I was tempted to find out.
We got a kick out of this crossing guard. While there wasn’t much traffic, he was there to make sure pedestrians got across the street safely.
Just one of the various “strange” museums in San Marino.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several things – we have now been in Europe for almost a month (OK, it’s been actually 28 day so far) and several things are clear.  1) It’s nice to have my computer so we can listen to our own music (along with my Bluetooth speaker); 2) not have an actual agenda so we can do things like come to San Marino and do laundry and get hair done 3) be able to communicate with all of you via this blog 4) drink really good inexpensive wines and eat really great foods 5) discover new things every day 6) and drive a car we are actually keeping.  So, while we still have 3 more months to go (and I expect several more countries) it’s nice to be here and see this part of the world I would never have expected to visit.

We were having a lovely time walking around for sure.

10-8-17 Balsamic Vinegar day and a visit to Modena

The last couple of days haven’t had much to justify putting words together and posting on the blog – maybe we are getting tired of writing, I don’t know but today was different. Saturday’s goal museum, The Story of Bologna, failed to be worth the effort to find parking and access to Bologna Centro.

Our AgriTurismo is in the area where Balsamic Vinegar is made; well the area around Modena is the “hot spot” for this stuff. I was checking, this morning, about tours or places to visit and found a link to Giuseppe Giusti – the oldest producer in the world! A tour was available at 10:50 and we headed out arriving with plenty of time to sign up.

Sign at the entrance to the place.

Giuseppe Giusti is the oldest balsamic vinegar produced by a company in the world having been founded in Modena in 1605 – still in the family after 17 generations!

It seems it was fall colors outside of the balsamic vinegar place. Lovely colors.on a beautiful day.

Now we have all tasted balsamic vinegar – used on salads, soaked bread with olive oil in it and in general, enjoyed the flavor.   Most of the balsamic vinegars we have used are 2 to 3 months old – maybe even up to 2 years old. The stuff produced here starts at 6 years old and just gets older!

A very old barrel – this was used to take the balsamic vinegar “on the road” during the mid to late 1800’s. It’s still is use.

The process of making balsamic vinegar is a safely guarded family secret – but basically true balsamic vinegar is made from a reduction of pressed Trebbiano and or Lambrusco grapes. The resulting thick syrup is subsequently aged for a minimum of 12 years in a series of barrels of successively smaller sizes. This is very similar to the process of the making sherry with the cascading solera system of barrels. The barrels are made of different woods like acacia, chestnut, cherry, oak, mulberry, ash and juniper.

 

 

Here we are in the attic where the oldest balsamic vinegar is made – some of it gets to be in the 25 years plus range.
In the second barrel room – these don’t age as long as the ones in the smaller “attic” room.
Janeen checking how the stuff smells – none of the barrels were plugged, they all had gauze pieces over the holes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

True balsamic vinegar is rich, glossy, and deep chestnut brown in color and has a complex flavor. Just as a side note here, the most expensive balsamic vinegar is made in the attic – where it gets HOT and allows the vinegar to evaporate out water and concentrates the ‘juice’.

The process of moving from a larger barrel to a smaller one is done in stages with each successive batch being introduced into the prior years in small portions. Again very much like the sherry solera system. This long aged balsamic vinegar isn’t anything like the stuff we get and use all the time. That is a similar process but made in very large barrels and aged for only a few months.

Our guide did a really good job of explaining the process and history.
The awards given to the place in the 1800’s – nicely displayed.
In the second barrel room – these don’t age as long as the ones in the smaller “attic” room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More of what we sampled during our tasting.
More stuff to taste.
Some of the various bottles available for purchase.
100 year old Balsamic Vineger. The price was 490 euros for the bottle. In some restaurant in Dubai they sell this by the drop! and we got to sample 2 drops of the stuff for free.

After learning about the process, and seeing all the various barrels, we ended up having a tasting. We tasting several different levels included both a 25 year old and a 100-year-old balsamic vinegar. As the balsamic vinegar gets older it gets much thicker – taking longer to even drip out of the bottle, as we tasted it. Needless to say there was also the opportunity to buy anything they produce. I’m so glad we don’t have the ability to use this right now, being on the road for the next several months, so we were able to keep from purchasing anything. However, when we get back and settled into a place where ‘cooking’ seems like we will need to do again I’m confident we will be looking for the older, aged balsamic vinegar for our eating enjoyment.

Plazzina dei Giardini – the focal point of the park.

Modena Centro on a Sunday was a relaxing, stroll through the park, and nurse a glass of wine with focaccia snack, autumn afternoon. The Military School uniforms were a colorful addition to people watching.

In the park, not far from where we had some lunch, were these chickens out for a walk.
I actually picked up several t-shirts in the market. Hope the fit…
It was market day – cloths, house hold goods and other stuff. No food which was quite intersting.
There were soldiers around – the military academy was across the square. I’m guessing they were doing parade kind of stuff.
Soldiers and their rifles and flag.
We caught a quick glimpse of this as it was leaving the park.

 

 

10-5-17 Beautiful Frescos and Food Porn

Today we headed out on foot to visit the Scuola della Carita is a real gem hidden in the heart of the city center. Beautiful Roman architecture, grandeur, breathtaking. What’s best about it – free entry. The second floor is a masterpiece of wall murals painted in the sixteenth century. The history reflects those times when many people suffered hard situations where the community helped through charity. It looks rather plain from the outside, but when you go up the stairs and see the murals you will be in awe.

There is a series of 12 fresco’s on the walls painted by Dario Varotan in 1579 with stories from the Life of the Virgin.

#1: Gioacchino’s thrown away from the temple
#2: Joachen among the shepherds. Dario Varotari’s ability to paint animals is manifested here fully well before others in the 17th century.
#4: Nativity of the Virgin
#7: Presentation of the flowered Verga
#13 – The assumption. The Virgin reappears according to the elongated form present in the relief in front of which the Bonafari spouses pray.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of the paintings were well done and looked beautiful – they had a restoration about 10 years ago – and the entire room is quite stunning.  Well worth a visit.

 

 

 

Janeen at the entrance to Le Calandre

Listed as number 29 on the best restaurants in the world, Le Calandre was a goal to reach while in Italy. Located not far from our hotel, what a surprise, we taxied over for a late lunch. Located in lovely space, Chef Alajmo is presenting wonderful and delicious dishes. Together with brother Raffaele and sister Laura, he is part of the 5th generation of the family of Chefs. This place was awarded its third Michelin Star in 2002!

After meeting both Chef Alajmo and his brother Raffaele, we had a wonderful glass of Prosecco and looked over the menu. Raffaele came by and asked about our likes and dislikes and said he would plan our menu accordingly. We really didn’t have to decide ANYTHING which is always a treat. There were at least five course and as many wines over the next couple of hours.

Janeen and Raffaele – brother of the Chef.
David and Chef Alajmo before the start of our meal.

 

 

There were three little bits- each an explosion of flavor.
A little starter cheese crips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At one point, one of the waters brought over a copy of Chef Alajmo’s book showing us the recipe for the dish we were having – saffron risotto with licorice, rosemary chanterelles and king oyster mushrooms – which was neat.

Lobster carpaccio with cold avocado and bergamot cream green apple and prataioli mushroom salad with sauce
Saffron risotto with licorice, rosemary chanterelles and king oyster mushrooms
janeen with saffron risotto with licorice, rosemary chanterelles and king oyster mushrooms
David with saffron risotto with licorice, rosemary chanterelles and king oyster mushrooms
Jon Marko our primary water was great and poured some great wines.
Smoked tagliolini with egg yolk shavings
Cuttlefish cappuccino – dig deep and drag the flavors up in your spoon.
Braised red beef cheek with celery root cream and black truffle – no knife was provided and it was certainly NOT needed.
First cold autumn day – little treats.
A ball containing almond mozzarella. Crack the ball to release the flavors.
Fried soft-shell crabs with turmeric sauce

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, we ending up buying the book and having them ship it home for us after getting several signatures and notes from the Chef. It will be interesting to see the book once we get back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pictures really are food porn – it was a great meal and ranks right up there at the top for all meals we have had over the years.

We finished everything and bought the book!
We sampled all of these wines along with a wonderful Prosecco during the evening.

 

 

10-4-17 – Padova Botanical Garden

Yesterday was just a recoup day – with a nice lunch thrown in for good behavior. Today we packed everything up and headed to Padua – about 40 minutes away from Venice but without all the water worlds apart. The main goal, of stopping in Padua, was to visit the Gardens.

Janeen at entrance sign

The botanical garden of Padua is at the origin of all botanical gardens in the world and represents the cradle of science, scientific exchanges and understanding of the relationship between nature and culture. It has largely contributed to the advancement of many modern scientific disciplines , in particular botany, medicine, chemistry, ecology and pharmacy.” UNESCO

Because of Janeen’s [who is writing todays blog] Huntington Herb Garden workshops and Herbals introductions, this garden has been on her radar for at least two years.

An original layout of the garden – still very much the same today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Moorish” medicinal” which inspired the Italian drawings of Padua students under Francesco Bonafede, were taken from the actual plants grown in the university gardens starting in the 16th century.

Gate entrance to the Garden.

The garden had to be enclosed with walls to keep thieves out as the plants were so highly valued. There is still a Medicinals Quadrant to this day, but the garden expanded in the 18th and 19th centuries with the “collectors” of new world plants and flora. Many of these plants were “exchange” botanicals between students of the plant world. Janeen loved recognizing Huntington plants, and was in awe of the 1750 Ginkgo Biloba, a male specimen grafted with a female branch in 1850. The order and design of the garden is much like it was almost 200 years ago, with separate gardens outside the walls, planted around waterfalls, fountains and pools fed from underground springs.

Ginkgo Biloba 1750 Tree . An old maile specimen grafted with a female branch in the mid 1850’s.
Ginkgo Biloba 1850 Tree Close up
Fountain one of many spring fed fountains
Busy Bees doing their stuff
Autumn Color
A large and very old Persimmon ‘tree’
Oriental Plane tree 1680 – Recognisable by its hollow trunk, which was probably caused by a lightening strike.
Rock Garden with spring
All of the planting beds were separated with stone borders – very old stone borders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Janeen getting her Green On

On a less academic note, I [Janeen} needed green relief, having had my fill of roundabout directions and diesel fumes (even in watery Venice). David has found new Mercedes to be a friendly steed, even amongst the narrow streets with Italian drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians.

 

 

A view of the Prato Della Valle

 

Near the Botanical Gardens was our bonus of the day, Prato Della Valle, an elliptical square, the largest in all of Italy and one of the largest in Europe. A water feature divides its quadrants into green space, and statuary surround I’lsola Memmia. The bridge offers great photo ops.

 

Overlooking the circular canal at Prato Della Valle.

 

On the way out of the garden we watched workers placing stones to make a new roadbed – lots of labor involved.

This guy was hand placing the stones in sand or gravel base for the roadway. Lot of handwork for sure.

10-3-17 Peggy Guggenheim Museum and a Tour of the Grand Canal

Today we split up – Jason and Terri went for a guided tour of Saint Mark’s Square and Janeen and I went to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. Peggy is related to all the other Guggenheims around – but didn’t have all the money they did. Her father didn’t have enough time to score big points in the family as he died on the Titanic leaving the family without the vast sums of money the other Guggenheims received. However, we should not feel sorry for Peggy, she did get over $3 million (about 35 million today) so she did OK. She started out collecting art first in Paris and London then in the US and finally in Venice where she remained for over 20 years.

This is the Museum from the water. The Palazzo was ‘unfinished’ as it was set to be 4 stories tall but never completed.

The Museum holds a portion of her collection in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni where she lived and died. She had a fondness for collecting living artists and purchased works early on from a number of different artists– and married at least one (Max Ernst) having a couple of kids. When she died, the collection and the Palazzo were turned over to the Guggenheim Trust for management.

Raymond Duchamp-Villon 1914 – The Horse
Pablo Picasso 1928 The Studio
My Love Janeen taking a moment in the Museum to relax and reflect on all the wonderful art.
Jackson Pollock – 1946 Croaking Movement
Jackson Pollock – 1942 – The Moon Woman. Janeen actually liked this one.
Gino Severini 1914 – Sea Dancer
Jean Metzinger 1912 – At the Cycle Race Track
Marino Marini 1948 – The Angel of the City. The phallus was removable and when ever the head of the Church came by it would be removed.
Pablo Picasso, On the beach, February 12, 1937
Jackson Pollock had his own room for his works.
Alexander Calder- Silver Bed Head – In New York in the winter of 1945–46, Peggy Guggenheim commissioned Alexander Calder to make a silver bedhead. His design combines fish, insect, and plant motifs in an exuberant conflation of the worlds of sea and garden.
I can just imagine living in this space.
Alexander Calder – Earrings Calder created for Peggy
Another of the rooms in the Museum.
This Caldar was lovely hanging in the entrance to the Museum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In walking around the place you really get a feeling it was a home and the artwork was displayed for her pleasure. One entire room is filled with Jackson Pollock’s works – I don’t recall ever seen so many in one spot. Other works by Salvador Dali, Marc Chagail, Alexander Calder, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso and others make up the collection.

We loved walking through this museum
Here we are on the ‘dock’ at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting ready for our evening boat tour.

After we connected with Jason and Terri we had a quick bite to eat, a brief rest and got into a water taxi we had hired for a 2-hour water tour of Venice. Our driver was knowledgeable about all the various neighborhood buildings, the history of the area and how to get around. It was a wonderful tour, viewing at least five of the seven districts, including the Jewish Ghetto, Arsenal (still military), residential, rather than resort, canals, and views of church plazas and historic palaces.

The exterior of this place was redone – now they are looking for a new owner to do the interior.
This Palazzo seems to have a dark history – owners seem to die mysteriously and therefore it hasn’t been renovated like so many have been

Two recently renovated Palacios are available for an under market eleven million euros, but the resident ghost and bad luck of previous owners, keeps the money away.

 

Our taxi driver was a born in Venice waterman, who had crewed at the America’s Cup in 1991, and liked San Diego a lot.

Yes, they enjoyed the ride.
Janeen ALWAYS gets excited when she sees a garden.
The exterior of this place was redone – now they are looking for a new owner to do the interior.
Hands holding up the building – cute.
The Customs House with the weathervane on the top. All goods had to be stored here for a month before they could be distributed. Part of the way to collect taxes.
One of the Churches along the Grand Canal.
The building on the right, with four windows at the top, was used for the James Bond Movie where it collapses into the Canal – of course that was with CGI.
This is one of the main boat yards that is still making the Gondolia’s Boats
Each boat is hand made and the hull is NOT symmetrical – each side is different.
Just another example of artwork along the Canal.
This hotel had some artwork on the Grand Canal too.
Here we are with St Marks and the Doge’s palace behind us on our Boating adventure
Terri and Jason with St. Marks in the background.
Jason and Terri seem to be enjoying our boat tour.
Janeen was promised a Grand Canal Tour – and she says it was great!
We really did have a great time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Early Tuesday, David and Janeen walked the Virginia Lees to a neighborhood water taxi pick-up for the rapid ride to Marco Polo Airport, then had a Café in a neighborhood shop, and reverently walked through .

Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. Just across the canal from our apartment.

St. Maria Gloriosa, to view the Michelangelo’s and impressive chapels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Main alter of the Basilica of Frari
The Monument to Canova inside the Church
One of the side alters
Triptych painting along one side wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The church bells were our sound track for our stay at this beautiful VRBO.

10-1-17 Wondering around Venice

Not all of those who Wander are Lost!

Today, we wandered around a bit but were never lost. After a late start in the morning, we huffed it to the Rialto Bridge – which was CROWDED as to be expected being one of the main photo spots for the Grand Canal.

David and Janeen with the Rialto Bridge behind us.
Terri and Jason with the Rialto Bridge behind them.
Terri and Jason on the Rialto Bridge looking towards the Grand Canal.
Janeen and Dvid on the Rialto Bridge.

 

We crossed over, taking a picture or two of course, and walked around to see the sights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The CROWDS going done the side of the Rialto Bridge.

Getting hungry, we crossed back over the and went to a nice restaurant for a lovely lunch – clams, soup, lasagna, salad, steak, lamp shank…all really lovely.

The tile work on the exterior of this place was lovely.
Lovely weathervane on the top of one of the buildings close to the entrance of the Grand Canal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch, we took the Vapareto along the Grand Canal to St. Marks Square for a walk around and to see where Jason and Terri are to meet up with their guide tomorrow.

Here we all are in front of Saint Marks having a lovely time.

We also walked past the Bridge of Sighs.

The Bridge of Sighs is an enclosed bridge made of white limestone, has windows with stone bars, passes over the Rio di Palazzo, and connects the New Prison to the interrogation rooms in the Doge’s Palace. Bridge was built in 1600. The view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment

Of course we stopped for a espresso,

Janeen had her melon gelato

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Janeen had Melon gelato (something she has been looking for since she had it in Provence 10 years ago!) and ultimately back over the Rialto Bridge (for the 3rd time) heading back to our apartment and a coffee break and finally gelato stop along the way.

Generally a really nice day was had by all.

9-30-17 Venice!

After checking out of our BW Travelers hotel, we went over to the Venice Marco Polo Airport and picked up Jason and Terri who arrived from Germany to spend a few days with us in Venice. After getting everyone in the NEW CAR we drove across

The only ‘land’ bridge to Venice. Parking is limited to the area at the end of this road by the train station.

causeway to the City Of Venice! Needless to say there are very few parking areas but I had reserved a spot for our stay.

 

Once we navigated the parking structure

Garage entrance – not sure if I go on the right or left???

 

 

 

 

 

Typical vaporetto – water bus – for use getting around Venice.

and purchased our vaporetto (water bus) tickets, we boarded Line #1 and motored down the Grand Canal to our stop S. Toma, where Greg, our host in the VRBO, was waiting.

 

 

On the water bus to our apartment

After a short walk, we got to the apartment – overlooking Campo dei Frari, near Gloriosa dei Frari church.

 

 

 

 

 

The apartment is on the second floor, the one with the red blind.

We are on the second floor of a nice building next to a “rio”canal. This apartment has two bedrooms, a large living room, dining room, 2,5 baths a nice kitchen and LOTS of windows for light.

This is the view from our living room.
Here’s the living room from the windows.
Nice large dining room – party anyone?
Kitchen with all the required items and space too!
The larger of the two bathrooms
Here’s the smaller of the two bedrooms.
Large bedroom with TV and big closets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice and relaxed in Venice

We got settled in a few minutes and then headed out to Antiche Carampane, a restaurant Janeen and I had visited during our first visit (15 months ago) to share lunch.

Well, the restaurant did NOT disappoint!

Having our first glass of wine of the day.
Best prawns so far on this trip!
Grilled octopus – fantastic!
Seafood Pasta
Sea Bream – also tasty but to be honest not as good as the Sea Bass.
Sea Bass – really tasty
Hazel nuts with chocolate covered ice cream
Pumpkin Tiramisu
Café Correcto – Espresso and Grappa – nice after a large meal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having a wonderful time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A happy group after a wonderful lunch.
Walking back to the apartment.

Jason and Terri were a little tired after a very long day so they took a nap – and then they went out for pizza while Janeen and I stayed home. Tomorrow, even if it is calling for some rain, we will venture out and do some exploring and actually take more pictures!