Jun 11, 2005 - Venice, Italy

June 9 to June 10 We just spent one night in Venice but it was a beautiful city. We did all the main touristy things, like going to San Marco square, walking along the canals and taking a gondola ride. The city was like a maze with all of the little side canals and it was easy to get lost, the perfect tourist trap, but should not be missed on any trip to Italy. Italy was a great country and one of our favorite destinations, now on to Switzerland.

Jun 9, 2005 - Venice

I don`t really think it is possible for a city to have more charm than Venice. All those tiny colourful houses squished in next to eachother with the clotheslines hanging from the windows, the cute little bridges criss-crossing the canals filled with gondolas and the abundance of tiny cafes and carnival mask stores. It felt a bit like walking around in a cliche but I still managed to fall in love with the place. Even though it is quite small, Venice is kind of like a labirynth. Anna and I got lost quite a few times because after a while it...

Jun 6, 2005 - Venice, Italy

Well I arrived here a few days ago but have been a little busy to write, I am staying just outside of Venice at a camp site that rents cabins and tents. The whole camp site is almost all backpackers from all over the world and a lot of lone travellers, I have met up with some guys from Toronto and we have been just hanging out for a few days, I am actually getting a little tired of the tourist thing by myself, you can only see so many churchs and museums before they all start to blend together. I am heading up to German this week to meet up...

May 27, 2005 - Another Adventure in Venice

We decided to take the early train to Venice to avoid the problem we had in Rome of not being able to find a place to stay. Unfortunately, our train was delayed 1h 40min and because of that we ended up missing our transfer. We finally arrived in Venice around 11:20pm, and guess what...there was no room in the inn! We ran into a group of backpackers from the US (two guys who were engineers in the USAF) and some other people, and we had a little camp out on the stairs infront of the train station. I didn't get much sleep on the cold marble...

May 25, 2005 - A Venetian Night

It took me a minute to put my finger on it, but finally did so with the aide of my mousepad here. For my 28 hours in Venezia, I felt like Bart in one of Lisa Simpson's school science projects. And like Bart, the rat was kicking my arse and I never did find the cheese. Maps in this town are pointless and you can only hope that you're heading in the general direction intended. Trying to find something specifically is a guarantee that you will never find it, you can merely wander through this claustrophobic maze, enduring one dead end after...

May 21, 2005 - Venice, Italy

Venice is such a unique city. Instead of streets there are canals that wind through the city carrying water taxis, gondolas, and valporettas (buses) as traffic. Beautifully decorated bridges span the grand canal and quaint little wooden and iron bridges cross the many smaller canals that lace the city. Everything is very crowded with tall buildings, narrow passageways, and tourists (or pigeons) everywhere you turn. We checked into our hotel, near the train station, and grabbed some vegetable pizza before exploring (it's a big deal anytime...

May 20, 2005 - Venice, Italy

Venice was, in the words of Amit, serene and sureal. Its got canals and boats, and lots of plazas with lots of pigeons. We met some Canadian girs and explored a little with them. We stayed at a campsite that is way out of town, so our second day in Venice was spent sitting by a pool and being bums. On the bright side, the water was cleaner than the canal water. We took a nigth train to Vienna and sat in a compartment with a very nice Austrian family. They didnt even mind when Amit asked how old their daughter was, in reference to their 4...

May 11, 2005 - Jumping off the boat a bit early

Did we mention that the tender boat experience was very scary? Did we mention that our last port of call would be docking by tender boat? We were due to get off the boat at Portofino, Italy. The boat would not be leaving Genoa until 10 am. We had to be out of our room at 11 am, then off the boat once it got to Portofino (at ??? time). Once we got to Portofino we would need to catch a train to get back to Genoa by 2 am for an overnight train back to Ljubljana. Did we mention the problems Andrew had on the last overnight train? All forces...

May 6, 2005 - Our first day in Venice!

Well, first of all, the train ride was beautiful! Northern Italy is both remote and strangely-attractive, at least the part the train goes through. I really enjoyed my first-class train ride (thanks Dana!) where the seats were actually leather and they bring you a newspaper in any language you want! When we got to Venice we went straight to our hotel, which was called "Hotel Ai Mori D'Oriente," and it was fantastic! (Ok, so anything better than a youth hostel dormitory-style room will seem fantastic to me these days). I got my own room with...

May 2, 2005 - Venice

Wow, Venice is just fabulous. So we had one heck of a day running around Venice enjoying the sites. We arrived in Venice yesterday evening. No matter how you plan it, travel days are just long and wearing. We left from Nafplio at 7am to have enought time to drive to Athens, turn in the car, and catch our flight. The flight from Athens was only a couple hours, but after you add in the 3 hour train ride to Venice - it makes for a long day. We checked into the Alloggi Barbaria, which is about a 10 minute walk from San Marco Square. Our room...

Apr 28, 2005 - Off to Venice

All good things must come to an end. The good news is that while our stay in Slovenia is ending, we'll be coming back for a few days at the end of our trip. Visiting friends and enjoying their hospitality is always a great thing, but now it's time for a tour of Italy before we start our mini-cruise. Today we didn't do that much really. We just got on a train, and rode it for nearly five hours to Venice. The nice thing about trains is that they almost always take you directly into the city. So even though they are almost as expensive as...

Apr 24, 2005 - Italy -- Venice

Day 21 - Sun Apr 24 to Venice (Chris) Ahhh the church bells struck at 7am. And 7:15. And 7:30. And 7:45... you get the gist. So Arrividerci to Civita. We got into the car, with our pals from Portland who we gave a lift to the Orvieto train station. That was an adventure unto itself (it always is when Jen and I are trying to find things!), but we got a good look up close at Orvieto, a much larger hill town perched on a cliff-banded hill. We managed to drive through some pedestrian-only areas and unfortunately looked like the stupid Americans...