Venice

One final post on the trip. We concluded by getting up Sunday morning and dashing out of Padova to catch our train to Venice. We made it with some time to spare, and enjoyed a relatively peaceful ride through the Italian countryside. As we came closer, we saw it:

Yes, we had finally arrived in Venice. We really didn't have any sort of plan to speak of, other than our departure time of 4 pm, so we bought a map of the city and began to wander.

Now, I'm as obsessed with bridges as I am with reflections, so Venice was a magical city for me. The bridges were superb, and great fun to photograph.

Details, also, were fun to observe as we moved between cities. I really enjoyed looking at the intricate metalwork that was similar throughout entire cities, but different between them. Each place had its own distinct style. Venice was no different, so I captured plenty of images of the little details.

Of course, everyone loves the symmetrical views down the waterways with the bridges spanning in the distance and gondolas floating along, so I took some of those as well.

In the end, Venice was an absolutely beautiful city, if touristy. But given that this is nearing summer-time, that's to be expected. I'm glad that I was able to visit this early in the year, because I expect that the city (and Italy in general) will only get more crowded as time goes on.

Eventaully, we had to bid farewell to Venice, and caught our train home. We were on a EuroStar, a "fast" train, but it still took us about 5 hours to get back. We arrived about 10 o' clock and took a little bus back to Trestevere, and home.

Padova

When we arrived in Padova, it was already after dark. We ran into a hotel, found a map of the city and directions to a hostel, and began making our way across the city. We conveniently ran into an English-speaking couple who were going to their home just a few blocks from our stay. The hostel was clear on the other side of Padova, and though with the map I could get us there, it would have taken substantially longer. Because we were moving quickly (and getting a nice tour along the way), we didn't take any pictures that night.

We found our hostel, booked a room, and went to dinner at a nice little place whose name translates to "Up and Down". We spent a laid back evening wandering around the city, getting a little gelato, and just enjoying not having to be places. Eventually though, we turned in for the night.

The next moring, we grabbed a quick (really quick) breakfast from the hostel and dashed our way to the train station, because our train to Venice departed at 8:30. We did manage to snap a few pictures along the way though. Behold, Padova:














And then there was this cool little guy

Vicenza

I know I've been out for a while, but I've been very busy. Hopefully I'll be able to post a lot soon to catch back up. I'll continue to talk a bit about my trip from the weekend before last (sigh, so far behind...)

If you look at a map of Italy, you'll see that Florence is right in the center, and Vicenza is a short distance to the North. The day after my little adventure of being lost in Florence, the three of us made our way around the city to check out some things we'd missed the first time around. This included a visit to David, but for the most part we just wandered for a bit.

That afternoon we jumped on a train to Vicenza, which lasted about 3 hours. We honestly didn't know much about the city when we left, except that Palladio -- a famous Renaissance architect -- built a bunch of buildings there.

We arrived, walked around a bit, took some pictures, found a little hostel, ate at a cool help-yourself (but not really buffet) restaurant, explored the night-time city, and went to bed.

The next morning we did more of the same, mainly just exploring. However we did have one noteworthy experience, we visited the Villa Rotonda, aforementioned Palladio's most famous work. It's a jewel of Renaissance thinking: perfectly symmetrical in all directions. Not exactly my favorite, but exquisite in proportion and balance.

Afterward, we walked back into the city and caught the train to our next stop: Padova.

Florence IV

I couldn't stop after only 3 roman numerals, so a forth post on Florence was inevitable. Plus I have a few more pictures for you guys. Enjoy!

Florence III

Well, I've safely returned from my trip around Italy, so I thought I'd fill everyone in. Before I went and got lost, it rained/hailed a bit. For some, this means having to sit inside and mope about not being able to see the city. For me, this means clean air and richer colors everywhere, making for stunning photography. And that's not counting reflections. Honestly, I can't tell you exactly what it is about puddles that just feels so wonderful. I think it's being able to look down to see the sky.

At any rate, I had my camera with me the whole time, and took a bunch of photos. These are just a few.

Florence was actually pretty touristy the first day, though perhaps it was just the part of the city we were in. Once we got to area near our hostel it settled down nicely and we saw more "real" people. It still kind of bothers me when I see large groups of people loudly speaking English.

In general, Florence was a lot like Rome, at least more so than the other cities we saw. It was pretty hilly, and the streets were just as narrow. One of the biggest differences was the street paving, of all things. Rome has these cobblestone streets that make it a real pain to walk. Florence was pretty well paved though, despite the fact that the pedestrian traffic was a lot less dense.

As wonderful as Florence was, though, we decided that a full day was longer than we wanted to stay, so we decided to move on by noon the next day. But that's a story for another post.

Chao!

Florence II

My room here in the hostel (ostello in Italian) has a computer, so I'll be able to make a quick post. Yesterday a whole bunch of us, who were all going to different places and intending to all leave at different times, ended up taking the same train up North. Most of them got off at Siena, and then a few more at Arezzo, leaving just the three of us: Amy, Nicole, and myself. When we first got here, it felt very touristy, but as the afternoon wore on and we moved to other parts of the city, it started to become more genuine. For the 19 euro price of our hostel, Archi Rossi, we got a dinner and breakfast included. The dinner was, while not extravagant, certainly enjoyable, and quite filling -- it was quite huge for the price. Of course, I got to enjoy this only after gettinig lost in Florence for a tad over an hour, but I got some excellent pictures as a consequence. Without my computer cable, I have no way to upload them, though, so you're just going to have to take my word on it for now. However, here are some other pictures I just found on this computer and thought you might like to see. Again, I didn't take these:

These are Santa Maria dell' Fiore, more commonly known as the Duomo (Italian for Dome), as it was the first dome constructed in Europe since the ancient Roman Empire.

Florence

I'll be getting up early in the morning to take a train to Florence, one the cities I've most wanted to visit. This is our only four-day weekend, so I'm making sure to take advantage of it. I won't be bringing my laptop, so I really doubt I'll be able to post over the next few days, but you can expect some great news on Sunday night!