Venice Part 2,Europe Trip .

After the Gondola trip we did what other 50,000 odd people did that day . We did sightseeing , and yes , it is estimated that almost 50,000 tourist visit Venice every day and which proves Venice as one to the most sought after tourist destination of the world .

Its popularity is due to uniqueness and rich musical and artistic cultural heritage . For the  rich and famous it had become a place to be seen in and so its popularity as tourist place increased many fold.It became a place for Venice Film Festival , Venice Biennale which further attracted the visitors for their cinematic , cultural , musical and dramatic contents. Revival of Venice Carnival also helped.So far as architectural attractions are concerned it has St Mark's Basilica , Piazza San Marco , Grand Canal and Palaces of Doges which was the residence of Doge of Venice , Supreme Authority of Venice republic.
There were no Venice Film Festival , Venice Biennale or the Carnival so we are the poorer for  missing out on all that  cinematic , cultural , musical and dramatic contents :-)
We die see the other attractions from the out side . I felt that Piazza San Marco which has St Mark Besilica , the famous St Marks clock tower, Doge's Palace and other historical monuments and pillers , as the most popular tourist place .
However in recent years the city is threatened by "High Water" or "Aqua Alta" which is flooding by high tides particularly in Autumn and Spring.This is caused even by adverse high winds .Large areas are flooded .In many localities lower floors have become unusable .Stagnant water gives rise to unwelcome smells and for some days makes life difficult for local people.The city seems to be fighting a loosing battle against times . An impression strengthened during our gondola rides where almost all the buildings needed re- plastering . The canal water dirty and stagnant.
But today we still have the Piazza San Marco and all the wonders . Have a look as long as they are there.

(you can see enlarged photos by clicking on them. Click "back" arrow to return to blog)

Hotel Daniele , haunt of the rich & the famous.

 On the Left.
Another view Daniele.

                     On the Right.

             View of Doges Palace

Doges Palace , San Marco Square , Venice.

St Marco Clock Tower .Must see Wiki page on this.

 On the Left.
Another view of St Marks Clock Tower.

                 On the Right .
Basilica of St Marks as you enter San Marco Square.

Basilica of St Marco, Piazza San Marco.

Column of San Marco or commonly known as Venetian Winged Lion.

Column Of San Teodoro at the entrance of Piazza San Marcos.

Our Group at Piazza San Marco.Basilica of San Marco in the background.

Basilica of San Marco in the background. 
Do not miss 
The Triumphal Quadriga or Horses of St Mark's above the arch.

 On the Left .
 Doges Palace & St Marks Bell Tower.
                                     

                                    On the Right .
Another view of St Marco Basilica.

General view of Piazza San Marco , Red Tower is St Mark's Campanile or St Marks Bell Tower.

 On the Left .
San Marco Square,

                             On the Right 
Canal bridge near San Marco Square . Sorry for the house with peeling plaster.

A restaurant at San Marco Square , Footpath restaurants are very common & popular .That part of the World.

Aftre this we return to Tronchetto terminal , Have dinner at Rangoli, Padova and Proceed to Innsburck.

Venice - Finally at last !!! Europe trip.

Generally all the tourist cruises from Terminal Tronchetto end at the jetty right in front of Hotel Danieli. As you get on to the footpath from the jetty you see large number of kiosks, stalls and small shops selling memorabilia gift items etc . What struck me most was that uptill then , all such shopsin other cities were selling megnetic stickers , miniature models relating to the city in clay , china,cast iron and "T"shirts with city motifs. Whwere as most of these shops in Venice were selling garishly painted very beautiful to ordinary looking male & female masks !Apparently "Venetian masks" have centuries old tradition and worn on manyoccassions but particularly during the carnival of venice.
When one was looking around the area our tour manager was busy herding the group to the Gandolas , which also start from the jetty at Hotel Danieli. So all of got in  gondolas , six to each gondola and went for the much talked and hyped gondola ride . I felt that it did not deserve all that hype . May be the  reason could be that the gondolier was not singing, it was middle of the day with bright sun shine and Priti and I were not alone for the ride :-)
Any way here are the photos :-

Getting in . Mark the horizontal stripe shirt of gondolier ,that  and a cap is must wear for them so was singing of ballads .Obviously times have changed.

Gondola ride . four copassangers , no moon , nither romantic ballads :-(

After leaving the jetty , entering the city water ways to follow ride route.

Bridge of sighs.

Walls of many many buildings are fighting a loosing battle against time !

Almost half way through the ride ..

Hotel old form outside , renovated from inside :-) 

Ride over.

 

Venice, (Part three) the cruise,Europe Trip .

From terminal Tronchetto to jetty near hotel Denieli where we were to go is about 5 Kms. It took about 45 minutes to cover the distance.It was a very memorable and enjoyable experience . I think during our cruise we saw the frontages of 12 to 13 islands on the right and 14 to 15 islands on the left side. The magnificent buildings we saw on them were mostly Churches, Cathedrals or Basilicas. If all the 117 islands offer such visual , artistic and academic delights one would need at least 15 to 16 days to see Venice City, If you doubt my word just see what we saw during our cruise :-

Ferry boat in operation.

What a sleek beauty.

Church of the most Holy Redeemer.

Le Zitelle (officially Santa Maria della Presentazione)

Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute ( English : The Basilica of St Mary of Health ).

Church of San Giorgio Maggiore.

Square of Besilica of St Marco, with Saint Mark's Campanile& Doge's Palace(on right) .Venice,Seen from the canal.

Mind you these we saw during the cruise are on the frontage so about 18 odd days to see Venice fully ?

Venice (part Two) Terminal Tronchetto, Europe Trip.

Having had a good nights sleep we got up bright and early. All ready to face whatever the city of Venice had to offer.Any way all good things have to wait . The city is well connected by rail and road however as the whole of the city is spread  across 117 small islands ,  water and canal routs form most vital link of communication & transport. And for this ,  there are plenty of harbors, marinas , jetties and sea side sidings. The tour hand-out had promised a cruise to and a Gondola ride in Venice  , so first we had to go to Terminal Tronchetto .It is almost a fair sized harbor and yacht marina.Along with extensive use by locals this is the point from where tourists are taken to Venice . A clean and well organised Terminal. 

View of Terminal Tronchetto from flyover approach road.

Luxury Liner berthed at Terminal.

"Q ing" up to board our cruise yacht. 

Boarding for cruise.

All set to face whatever is to come :-)

Venice, Italy, Europe Trip.

There are so many so many things to catch up with that I am just not finding sufficient time to do all of them . Our incomplete car trips, photos to be titled and mapped and also the travel blog of Europe trip .
Got too involved with our Mumbai -Pune trip of January 2011 so badly that did not do the blog. :-(
Any way at least one small little post.
From Florence were to go to Venice.The distances are such that we had to stay over night at some place . That place happened to be Padova.In its own right Padova or Padua as it is locally called is a city worth visiting , However we only had dinner in Hotel Rangoli and stayed over night at Hotel Mantagna , here are photos of these two places.

After having dinner here  we went to Hotel .

Checked in 22:30.Went to bed for well earned rest !!

Priti liked the car, but we had decided to restrict shopping ONLY to magnetic stickers :-)

Florence City, Italy, Europe Trip .

After the photo shoot at Michelangelo Square descended in the city .
Florence is considered "the cradle of Renaissance" because of its Monuments , Churches , Buildings and Squares. There are roughly,(only considered "major" given) :-
20  Religious architectures,
18 Museums,
14 Villas, mainly all over & outside city built by Medici s,
2 Arches,
11 Palaces,
8 Parks, and
19 Squares.
All considered tourist attractions .
We saw
one square of one palace (Piazza della Signoria, or Square of the Lordship),
one church( Florence Cathedral or Basilica of Santa Maria) and
one Baptistery ( San Giovanni).
plus what we saw in panoramic tour.
It was worth it.
If you have to see cover all of Europe & all of Scotland in all of18 days, may be that is all you have time for :-).
Now few photos of what we did see :-

North side facade , Florence Cathedral,Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore.

Main Portel Basilica de Santa Maria del Fiore.

Main Portel Basilica de Santa Maria del Fiore.

Bell Tower of the Basilica.

"Gates of Paradise"  of  Baptistry of St. John
or Florence Baptistry or Battistero di San Giovanni

The Palazzo Vecchio ("Old Palace") is the town hall of the city.

Fountain Of Neptune,
(the face resembles that of :Cosimo I de' Medici's )
Piazza della Signoria,Florence.

 In Piazza della Signoria or Square of the Lordship there are many more beautiful statues . I could not photograph them but click here if you want to have a look

Florence, Italy, Europe Trip.

Yesterday we had lunch at Ashoka restaurant and gone round and round the city before going to a hotel in Montecatini for night halt.
In the morning went and saw Pisa. The Pisa visit was over by about 11:30 . After which we set course for Florence .
First photo shoot and sightseeing  halt was Michelangelo Square. It is named so because of a statue of David by Michelangelo which dominates the square.  It is situated on a small hillock and offers most beautiful panoramic view of Florence City .So much so that it has been printed on numerous picture postcards. No wonder it is one of  the most popular tourist spot .Here have a look .

"David" Michelangelo Square , Florence.Sun position not good  :-(

Sun position good . Shot angle not so good :-(

View of Florence from Michelangelo Square.

View of Florence from Michelangelo Square.

View of Florence from Michelangelo Square.

Panoramic view of Priti  :-) , Michelangelo Square.

Panorama Photo Florence City stitched by me. 

Do not know how to increase size :-(