Visiting Venice - 15.08. (First day)
It's been ages since I posted anything here, and even longer since it was something public, so...yeah, I'm alive, I got a BSc degree in the meantime and I went on holiday so that's why I have something to write about apart from the four months in Scotland which I still haven't written anything proper about.
In July, my sister Betty and I rather spontaneously decided to go on holidays together. Our original plan was Valenzia (Spain) or Rome (Italy, obviously). Between looking and booking, both prices rocketed, while those for Venice didn't. Being poor students(-to-be in her case), we took that option. Considering the usual rates in Venice, we got away pretty damn cheap!
As I'm very much into twitter at the moment (clickityclick if you're interested), I started off twitter style on paper, originally planning to post it all there, too. Don't want to spam my followers though, so a link here will have to do. Also, I ignored the character count since that's a pain in the brain ;)
5:35 - *yawns* Tiiiired but sooo excited!!! Good thing I managed to force myself out of bed, cause Betty overslept.
6:10 - Breakfast was quick, off to the airport now.
6:45 - No queue at check-in, so we could have slept longer....lots of spare time to check out the shopping area though.
7:00 - "The security check never beeped when I went through!" Seconds later, it did for the first time and Betty had to do a body-check. Haha ;)
7:40 - Oh, already boarding time in a few minutes!
7:50 - Cool, free magazines :)
9:00 - Wish we had a seat at the window. The Alps look beautiful!
9:35 - Sunny and very warm. Holidaaaaays! Could see Venice from the plane!!
10:15 - Just about made it to the Alilaguna express water bus to Lido di Venezia. Nice boat :D
11:30 - Found the hotel, after walking around in the heat of Italian noon. The hotel seems to be quite nice (a lot posher than expected!) but we can't check in yet since we're very early. Handsome and nice Concierge Andrea wrote us a ticket for the beach :)
13:15 - Soooo hot! Already got a slight sunburn from walking down the beach through the shallow water. That's your average computer scientist ;P Checking in now. Very tired.
16:00 - Had a siesta, so we're rather late. Got a Rolling Venice card (discounts for under 29s) and thus cheaper Vaporetto 3-day travelcards (18 instead of 33 Euros. What a discount!!!). Going to explore Venice now. :D
17:00 - Already walked through San Marco and San Polo and bought some postcards (normal price) and water (high price, very high keeping in mind how much we need in this heat!). They didn't have any francobelli (stamps) though. Relaxing at the Canal Grande now, writing the postcards. The houses here seem to have Venice numbers rather than street ones.
19:00 - Soooo beautiful! Discovered a lot of gorgeous places - most of which we'll possibly never find again. It's pretty much of a maze around here! Still no stamps, were told to look for Tabacchi shops.
19:38 - Just saw some people in fancy dresses. Wondering what they're up to.
19:55 - Bought a bottle of Bellini for 7€ (champagne and peach juice, the Venezian longdrink!). Now, we're drinking it at the port side of Lido (the one towards Venice, without a beach), watching the sun set over Venice.
20:12 - Just heard a surprised cry behind me, from the couple sitting near us. I see a smallish object hit the water two metres down. Judging by their reaction it was something valuable. Oops?
20:15 - Handsome guy found out that the water is only about 2.5 metres deep and strips down to his underwear. No way....
20:16 - Not bad. He retrieves the object in one dive. It's a camera, and it was switched on. Now he's pretty girl's big hero and they're off. Guess he fancies a shower now, the lagoon water is said to be very bad here. Since our bottle's empty and the sun has set, we leave as well.
That's it for tonight. There will be photos, but I took almost 800 so I'll need some time to sort them ;)
First view of Venice from the Alilaguna boat.
The beach of Lido di Venezia; the reddish building in the back was our hotel.
View from our window. We could see the Adriatic sea!!
Our very nicely furnished room. The lamps' glass is from Murano!
Piazza di San Marco with San Marco and Campanile.
Small canal
Big canal (actually called Canal Grande)
The houses here are numbered consecutively, rather than by street.
More Canal Grande with vaporetto station on the left
Us. I'm the left one (for those who don't know me). Yes, that's a slight sunburn and I'm very pale ;)
Some alley, one of the larger ones though. Isn't it pretty?
Santa Maria della Salute - beautiful church with a great name!
Gondoliere in action. Too close to get a full shot of the gondola though.
Palazzo Ducale - didn't see it from inside in the end because the queues are looong.
San Giorgio, taken from San Zaccharia, where we usually got out of the vaporetto. Here, you can see a vaporetto, too!
Fancy dress people, matching the old buildings
Lido di Venezia, seen from a boat.
Sunset over Venice
Betty and Bellini (already half-gone, one bottle really isn't that much).
Handsome guy and pretty girl before the dive. (Didn't take any after pics - white underwear :P)
In July, my sister Betty and I rather spontaneously decided to go on holidays together. Our original plan was Valenzia (Spain) or Rome (Italy, obviously). Between looking and booking, both prices rocketed, while those for Venice didn't. Being poor students(-to-be in her case), we took that option. Considering the usual rates in Venice, we got away pretty damn cheap!
As I'm very much into twitter at the moment (clickityclick if you're interested), I started off twitter style on paper, originally planning to post it all there, too. Don't want to spam my followers though, so a link here will have to do. Also, I ignored the character count since that's a pain in the brain ;)
5:35 - *yawns* Tiiiired but sooo excited!!! Good thing I managed to force myself out of bed, cause Betty overslept.
6:10 - Breakfast was quick, off to the airport now.
6:45 - No queue at check-in, so we could have slept longer....lots of spare time to check out the shopping area though.
7:00 - "The security check never beeped when I went through!" Seconds later, it did for the first time and Betty had to do a body-check. Haha ;)
7:40 - Oh, already boarding time in a few minutes!
7:50 - Cool, free magazines :)
9:00 - Wish we had a seat at the window. The Alps look beautiful!
9:35 - Sunny and very warm. Holidaaaaays! Could see Venice from the plane!!
10:15 - Just about made it to the Alilaguna express water bus to Lido di Venezia. Nice boat :D
11:30 - Found the hotel, after walking around in the heat of Italian noon. The hotel seems to be quite nice (a lot posher than expected!) but we can't check in yet since we're very early. Handsome and nice Concierge Andrea wrote us a ticket for the beach :)
13:15 - Soooo hot! Already got a slight sunburn from walking down the beach through the shallow water. That's your average computer scientist ;P Checking in now. Very tired.
16:00 - Had a siesta, so we're rather late. Got a Rolling Venice card (discounts for under 29s) and thus cheaper Vaporetto 3-day travelcards (18 instead of 33 Euros. What a discount!!!). Going to explore Venice now. :D
17:00 - Already walked through San Marco and San Polo and bought some postcards (normal price) and water (high price, very high keeping in mind how much we need in this heat!). They didn't have any francobelli (stamps) though. Relaxing at the Canal Grande now, writing the postcards. The houses here seem to have Venice numbers rather than street ones.
19:00 - Soooo beautiful! Discovered a lot of gorgeous places - most of which we'll possibly never find again. It's pretty much of a maze around here! Still no stamps, were told to look for Tabacchi shops.
19:38 - Just saw some people in fancy dresses. Wondering what they're up to.
19:55 - Bought a bottle of Bellini for 7€ (champagne and peach juice, the Venezian longdrink!). Now, we're drinking it at the port side of Lido (the one towards Venice, without a beach), watching the sun set over Venice.
20:12 - Just heard a surprised cry behind me, from the couple sitting near us. I see a smallish object hit the water two metres down. Judging by their reaction it was something valuable. Oops?
20:15 - Handsome guy found out that the water is only about 2.5 metres deep and strips down to his underwear. No way....
20:16 - Not bad. He retrieves the object in one dive. It's a camera, and it was switched on. Now he's pretty girl's big hero and they're off. Guess he fancies a shower now, the lagoon water is said to be very bad here. Since our bottle's empty and the sun has set, we leave as well.
That's it for tonight. There will be photos, but I took almost 800 so I'll need some time to sort them ;)
First view of Venice from the Alilaguna boat.
The beach of Lido di Venezia; the reddish building in the back was our hotel.
View from our window. We could see the Adriatic sea!!
Our very nicely furnished room. The lamps' glass is from Murano!
Piazza di San Marco with San Marco and Campanile.
Small canal
Big canal (actually called Canal Grande)
The houses here are numbered consecutively, rather than by street.
More Canal Grande with vaporetto station on the left
Us. I'm the left one (for those who don't know me). Yes, that's a slight sunburn and I'm very pale ;)
Some alley, one of the larger ones though. Isn't it pretty?
Santa Maria della Salute - beautiful church with a great name!
Gondoliere in action. Too close to get a full shot of the gondola though.
Palazzo Ducale - didn't see it from inside in the end because the queues are looong.
San Giorgio, taken from San Zaccharia, where we usually got out of the vaporetto. Here, you can see a vaporetto, too!
Fancy dress people, matching the old buildings
Lido di Venezia, seen from a boat.
Sunset over Venice
Betty and Bellini (already half-gone, one bottle really isn't that much).
Handsome guy and pretty girl before the dive. (Didn't take any after pics - white underwear :P)
