Venice, Italy

A weekend trip to Venice in mid April 2009 with Amporn. The first day we had rain, the second day it was cloudy and the third day it was all perfect! Our Hotel Belle Epoque was located in the heart of Venice in Cannaregio. The district takes its name from the Cannaregio Canal which is the main entrance to the city from land. The hotel was price worthy and had a good location.

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Our hotel. Very well situated near the central station.

The first day we were walking over bridges >

> and down the streets in the rain >

> exploring different street vendors, >

> shops where you can buy pizzas you haven’t seen elsewhere >

> or a shop where they have traditional Venice carnival masks.

Amporn happily trying out a new outfit

Venice is also known for glass so you will find thousands of places to buy glassware

The population in Venice is roughly 63,000 people

Venice is built on 117 small islands, and holds 150 canals, >

> connected by an amazing 409 bridges, of which only three cross the main canal.

I’m trying to keep up with the map but Venice is the place to get hopelessly lost!

The canals serve the function of roads, and every form of transport is on water

If you feel like doing the canals the touristy way, you can hire a gondola for 50 >

> minutes for the price of €60-€100!

But this time we didn’t go for the gondolas.

Gondolas on The Grand Canal

The Grand Canal, it forms one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city.

It is 3,800 m long, 30-90 m wide, with an average depth of five meters.

Water taxis waiting for customers near The Rialto Bridge

The Rialto Bridge, designed by Antonio da Ponte, was finally completed in 1591

Amporn among the tourists on The Rialto Bridge which >

> is the oldest bridge across the canal and probably the most famous in the city

Venice is Europe's largest urban car free area

Roughly 20 million tourists visiting >

> Venice every year. Many of them are just day-trippers

A smile for the photographer!

It could be as many as 150,000 tourists in and out of the city in one day!

Amporn in the corner

Me in the dark alley

One of the 409 bridges in Venice

The famous doves at Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square)

Amporn at Piazza San Marco

Saint Mark's Basilica

Children playing with the doves at Piazza San Marco

Gondolas waiting to be seated

Water taxi

Me

Young artists doing their work

You may notice the leaning tower in the background

St Mark's Campanile is the bell tower of St Mark's Basilica

There were many tourists here despite the rainy weather

Amporn admireing The Four Tetrarchs. It was taken from Constantinople, during >

> the Fourth Crusade in 1204, and set into the south-west corner of the basilica.

St Mark's Square, which is the principal square of Venice

This day we took the vaporetto (water bus) >

> to the island of Murano, famous for it’s glassmakers.

On our way to Murano we got beautiful views of Venice from the seaside

To the left you see the impressive dome of Santa Maria della Salute church

Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square) and you see the bell tower, St Mark's Campanile

The Doge's Palace

Gondolas near the Piazza San Marco

Glassmakers in action on glassworks in Murano

Murano was a commercial port as far back as the 7th Century, and by the 10th >

> Century it had grown into a prosperous trading center with its own coins, >

> police force, and commercial aristocracy. Then, in 1291, >

> the Venetian Republic ordered glassmakers to move their foundries to Murano >

> because the glassworks represented a fire danger in Venice, >

> whose buildings were mostly wooden at the time.

By the way, Amporn is showing off here :-)

Amporn is investigating...

...a grasshopper! She tells me that this one is a delicacy! Back home in Thailand she >

> used to eat them, fried with chili, garlic and spices.

Typical art works here

Fixing the shoes

One of the main canals here on this little island (Murano)

Still fixing the shoes...

Fixing the sun glasses

We ate lunch here, expensive and not so good

Amporn is posing for the photographer

Drying the laundry gets a new meaning here

I am approaching the photographer

Two pictures being taken

A narrow alley

Fruit time

My personal conclusion about Venice is: It’s a very romantic and beautiful >

> city unlike every city I’ve seen before. You can really feel the ancient history >

> when you are strolling around in Venice. The drawback is that >

> everything is very expensive. Hotels, restaurants and so on >

> are said to be more expensive than in the rest of Italy. And why is that? >

It’s due to all the transports to, from and inside the city needs to go by boats or feet

Furthermore the food is not price worthy at all. I eat much better lasagna and >

> pizza back home in Sweden. Therefore the last day we decided for a nice picnic in >

> the park instead of an expensive restaurant. But without doubt Venice >

> is a place to visit at least once in a lifetime.

Amporn admireing the view at the sea front

Street vendors sell fake purses and luggage

View from the sea front near Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square)

The Doge's Palace is a gothic palace in Venice. The palace was the residence of the >

> Doge of Venice. The current palace was largely constructed from >

> 1309 to 1424. The building is preserved as a museum.

Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square)