Saturday, August 4, 2012

Let the Matregrano Grand Italian Tour begin. First stop, Venice...


Venice, the city of amazing feats of architecture and hordes of tourists…

What can I say?  Every time I visit Italy, I seem to go back to Venice.  However, as the weather is warmer and the tourists are plentiful, I have to say that this may have been my last visit.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the city and it’s maze of walkways lined with water and working men scooting along in their motorboats, but the only area that seems to exist in anymore, is the small back alleyways where the few locals still live and the occasional bed and breakfast resides.  It was hot, stuffy, jam-packed with people from all over the world.  Unfortunately I did not bring the proper footwear, which has made a difference on this trip and it really was tough in Venice. 
On the lighter side though, my parents and I had the pleasure of spending our time with one of my friend’s, Kamaya.  She is a treat to travel with and I am glad she came over and put up with us for a few days.  Our second night there, Kamaya was exhausted from her travels, so my parents and I did a great pub/wine crawl through the back streets with a gentleman, Alessandro, who was recommended by Rick Steves.  The following day, we took a great tour of Doge’s Palace and the Basilica, which I have to say, was a pleasant surprise.  We also ate at a great ‘local’ seafood joint called, Osteria di Mascaron.  What a hidden jewel!  It was packed, the food was fantastic, we even managed to be served by either the owner or manager, and boy, did he like Kamaya, haha.  I had the black ink squid pasta, which was to die for.  While my parents and Kamaya dug into some mixed seafood.  I highly recommend this restaurant (near Campo Maria Formosa).
The following day, Kamaya stayed  and hit a mask-making workshop and a haunted tour (jealous) and we headed out to pick up our rental car and made our four-hour haul to the ever gorgeous ‘Cinque Terre’…

Murano

Burano


Doge's Palace

The drive to Cinque Terre


Etchings in Doge's Palace

Glass sculpture on Murano Island


Although it's hard to see, the small sign she is sitting next states that sitting is forbidden....

Looking out of the passage way called the Bridge of Sighs

Rialto Bridge


St. Mark's Basilica



Water Taxi

Murano alley ways


1 comment:

  1. I was very pleased to find this site.I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.
    http://www.italytouroperator.com/

    ReplyDelete