Monday, July 06, 2009

VENICE WITH MY EYES

I think that everybody in our civilized world has at least heard about Venice in Italy and its incredible beauty. I won't bother you with history which you can read in the above link and I won't show you either the photos of Venice you usualy see in all books, my intention is to show you how I saw Venice.

Photobucket

Once the car parked on the 8th floor I had a wonderful view over Venice

Photobucket

no cars are allowed in the center of Venice and even if it would be there is no space for a car, so everything is done by boat.

The "bus" boat took us to the Piazza San Marco (St. Marks square) , which is the most famous one in Venice.

Photobucket

on the way to the place

Photobucket

As you can see everything which would be transported by truck in a "normal" city, here boats are used.

Photobucket

A "Gondoliere" and behind a boat loaded with parcels.

Photobucket

Photobucket

some cement is needed somewhere

Photobucket

Photobucket

a little chat

Photobucket

Photobucket

A Gondola, but a very simple one

Photobucket

A parking

Photobucket

small canals

Photobucket

Photobucket

here you see a simple Gondola, which is less expensive. The once with beautiful decorations ask you at least 30 € per person !

Photobucket

Photobucket

Not only people on holidays, others have to work

Photobucket

Don't know what kind of boat this was

Photobucket

building materials

Photobucket

boat parkings

Photobucket

taxis besides the bridge

Photobucket

The Piazza San Marco full of tourists. Here you can pay up to 15 € for one cup of coffee !

Photobucket

Lots and lots of tourists from all over the world

Photobucket

I just took this beautiful fresco over the entrance of the St. Mark's Basilica. I didn't go inside, my son did, I had seen it already.

Photobucket

Photobucket

and here you should see "The Leads” which was the famous prison attached to the Doge's palace, across the Bridge of Sighs, named for the thick lead plates on the roof. In here Casanova was sentenced to five years in the “unescapable” prison. Unfortunately besides the bridge you couldn't see anything else. The whole building was covered by an advertising from "Sisley" !

Photobucket

I found it a real pity, but apparently this company pays for the renovation of the palace. Venice needs a lot of money to keep all these historical monuments in a good shape.

Photobucket

there were lots of other companies who did the same.

Photobucket

little canals leading through the city

Photobucket

Photobucket

In a little side street we found a nice place to have a drink

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

That's also Venice

Photobucket

A bank

Photobucket

Photobucket

I didn't take pictures of us and the pigeons on the Piazza San Marco, I prefered a smaller place and this little man.

Photobucket

Photobucket

A carnival outfit and masks

Photobucket

We ate in this little restaurant, where the food was excellent and not expensive at all (13 €) for a whole menu. There are lots of them in the little side streets.

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Souvenir shops

Photobucket

Photobucket

and then we took the "bus" boat back to our parking. My son lines up for the ticket (the tallest one)

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

and we left Venice

23 comments:

Sylvia K said...

What a fantastic trip! And your photos are fabulous! Venice is one of the cities that I didn't get to while in Italy and always regretted it. Now I really do!! Thanks for sharing the trip! The next best thing to being there.

L. Neusiedler said...

thanks for taking us to Venice! what a wonderful city! pictures perfect to go with my morning coffee!

Wolynski said...

Wow, gorgeous photos of Venice. $20 for cup of coffee in St. Marks Square? Gouging the tourists is as old as tourism itself. It's always cheaper and more interesting to find out of the way places. Beautiful.

Puss-in-Boots said...

Now that was a very interesting photographic tour, Gattina. It's interesting to see an ancient city that's such a tourist attraction from another perspective. Showing the tiny out of the way places, narrow back canals and the old buildings and people doing their normal every day things. That's what I like to see, too.

MaR said...

Outstanding collection!! I feel like singing O sole mioooooo !
Your shots are fantastic, I fell in love with the little lonely red boat and the little man wearing stripes :)

claudie said...

Your photos are gorgeous!!! I was in Venezia with the girls and Pierre during the carnival and it was full of people everywhere and one day I will go there again but when it is more quiet! Venezia is a very romantic place. You are like in another planet there. Ton blog est vraiment super!

diane b said...

What an interesting ancient city.Lovely shots of out of the way places. I've been browsing your blog. I loved your trip to Petra. You are so lucky to have been there. I read an autobiography of a New Zealand woman who visited there many years ago as a back packer and she fell in love with a bedouin and married him and had children there. She lived in a cave in the wall and became accepted as one of them. She learnt the language and customs. When her children were grown and her husband died she went to live in Sydney. Ever since I read that book I wanted to visit Petra.

Maribeth said...

Beautiful. I've never been to Venice. We did go to Verona once, but that was as far as I got. Hubby did much more traveling with his first wife!

Melli said...

What a GREAT tour of Venice! I LOVE all the water. I can imagine living there and waiting for the UPS Boat to show up! Much more fun than waiting for UPS trucks, I'm sure!

I would have to NOT do business with any company that would plaster their advertisement all over historic landmarks. There MUST be a way for them to advertise without defacing historic places -- and without ruining the ambiance of the city! Ugh! It goes on in the US too... drives me nuts!

Anneke (Mudhooks) said...

Hae you ever seen the film "Bread and Roses" ("Pane e tulipani")? It is set in Venice. Not the "tourtist" Venice, but the living Venice.

The photo which has the caption "Small canals" looks like the spot where the "private detective" (actually an indebted plumber with a penchant for reading detective novels, hired on the cheap by the husband of the main character) finds the only "hotel" left to be had in Venice, a run-down houseboat.

If you haven't seen the film... DO!

Erin said...

lovely, lovely photographs...enjoyed them all. of course when we went it was at the end of winter and things were not so crowded. i love the blue skies, don't think i would love the crowds.
thanks for sharing with us. now i need to take a trip back again and soon :)

srp said...

In that second picture, the colors of the buildings are so vivid... beautiful. How does the water smell.. it looks quite green in many areas. I know it is very hard to keep the buildings sound with all that water around. Thanks for stopping by.

Amanda said...

Gattina, I thing if you don't travel I won't see Anything!The Basilica was amazing but now I know what Venice looks like in depth! Thank you so much I just loved this!

Louise said...

I love your tour of Venice. Someday I will be there and know to go down quaint little side streets so I don't lose my life savings on a bit of refreshment!

Marites said...

Venice is one of my must-see places. With your awesome pics, I felt like i was traveling with you:) Really nice post.

My world is here

Lifecruiser Travel Blog said...

Beautiful photos Gattina! (And I really love your blue top in one of the photos - it did match the background :-)

That restaurant looked just lovely. I hope there are lots of them when we go there too.

I love the basilica. My sister did too when she was there. Fantastic architecture and fresco's!!!!

The canals and gondolas are romantic but not in the crowds, so better to take the vaparettos I think. At least hen in the worst tourist season.

Arija said...

It is so wonderful to see your perspective of Venice from the water as it is really meant to be see. A great post indeed.

Anneke (Mudhooks) said...

Yes... I erred... The film is called "Bread and Tulips" (Bread and Roses is a song honoring working women and is associated with the Union movement). I had the Italian title correct. And it isn't as though I was thinking it was Roses instead of Tulips... I knew it was Tulips and typed Roses...

Jenn said...

I enjoyed Venice through your eyes. Reminded me of when I visited some 8 years back. It was what I saw and more.

TopChamp said...

It is a very beautiful place for a holiday but how could you really live there with only boats for transport?? Are there fast boats for residents to get about?

Irina Mate said...

Nice, very nice photos! Love them all!

Auntie E said...

thank you for the link. I So miss Venice, I really loved it there. We stay at the Concordia Hotel both times in the 80's. You are right it does look the same.

bhaven said...

This is a lovely collection of pics, a great visual journey through this incredibly historical and charming place.

Bhaven (www.bhavenjani.wordpress.com)

Translate

About Me

My photo
I love writing, traveling and photography. . I am German, married to an Italian and we live in Waterloo (15 km from Brussels) / Belgium since many years. Waterloo is a famous place to many tourists, because Napoleon lost his battle here against Wellington and other European countries.

Followers

Pageviews from the past week

Blog Archive