2010 Venice

Dreamy Venice, a place so unreal, where the past dictates how the present live.

Built on wooden piles, Venice appears to be floating - surrounded by the sea. The canals are the roadways of this city, with the many boats that transport people and provide commerce.

At the peak of power, Venice was ruled by the doges during the mid-1200s to 1400s. Venice has retained the history with the architecture and culture.

Ornate window grill

The Venetian lifestyle - enjoying a lazy afternoon overlooking the canal.

One of the many water taxis available, but it can be expensive. We were lucky that our hotel provided us with a water taxi to visit Murano, the glass-blowing island. Murano is known for it's fine glassworks, and was set up there with glass-blowing kilns, solely, to prevent any fires from spreading to the main island of Venice. The water taxi ride was kick - I enjoyed pretending to be one of the privileged few racing off with the the cool ocean breezes and the wind in my hair.

This is our hotel, the Hotel Al Sole. We had a great room, the one with the 4 arched windows at the top. We could see the gondolas and water taxis from our windows, and hear someone singing classic Italian love songs from below, every morning.

Looking from the bridge in front of our hotel - at sunset.

Assortment of windows on the corner.

The Grande Canal, the main waterway that divides Venice. In the background is the bus boat, which has several stops up and down the canal, as well as to the neighboring islands of Murano and Burano. Most Venetians and tourists take the bus. The cost is 6.50 euros ($8.00). The water taxis, in the middle, can run 55 euros per trip ($65.oo), and the gondolas, are 80 euros ($100) for a 1 hour joyride! We ended up walking a lot!

Gondola detail

Throughout Venice, there are churches at every turn. Some have elaborate exteriors,

while others are much simpler, but just as meaningful. We witnessed a funeral procession on Murano, where the casket was carried out in front of the procession, to a waiting boat. Apparently, there's an island that is strictly a cemetery island. Where do you bury the dead, when there's so little land?

Venice was hot and humid by day - and by night, it was... hot and humid. A shopkeeper told me, Venice typically has 15 days of extreme heat yearly, scattered over the summer, and we were experiencing 3 days of it -- lucky us! Out and about in the morning, by mid-afternoon, we would have to collapse in our air-conditioned rooms to recover and cool off. After that, we'd go exploring into the Venetian night.

We found a wonderful jazz trio playing the most relaxing and enjoyable music right in St. Mark's Square one evening. We paid astronomical prices for having drinks there, but the entertainment value of being mesmerized by the music and the location, it was well worth it! It will be something I'll never forget!