ahhh....Venice

We packed up from our fun hotel in Florence (which had a big family suite with two lofts) (with free laptop computers in every room) (and a PS2 – big hit!) and took the train to Venice. We were sad to leave Fabrazio, who was the owner of the hotel. He was so helpful and kind.

When we stepped off the train in Venice and saw the Grand Canal, it seemed like we were in Disneyland. There it was – the Venice that we had read about, seen in pictures and watched in movies! We took a taxi boat to our hotel, quickly got settled and then set off for St. Mark’s square.

I have become a fan of tall towers. I love when we climb a duomo or tower in a city and get a bird’s eye view of the city. It just puts into perspective all of the places that we tour in a city. It felt like we cheated when we actually took the elevator to the top of the bell tower and had a beautiful view of the entire city of Venice.

Andrew and Matthew loved playing with the pigeons. They were all over! They were also quite brave. They would fly right onto your hand if you were holding bread. Matthew thought that was pretty cool and tried to see how many times he could get a pigeon on his hand. There were some people there who had 8-10 pigeons all over their bodies…..I did not think that would be my favorite thing to do.

We ate dinner and then took a classic gondola ride through the canals. As it is quite pricey, it was a short gondola ride….just to have the experience. However, it was fun to see more of the canals and to learn about all the palaces. By the way, they don’t actually sing – they are not allowed to unless you pay extra for the “music tour.” I did wonder what would happen if you brought an ipod speaker and just played Italian opera during the ride…maybe next time.

We decided we wanted more of a tour of the Grand Canal, so we hopped on the vaporetto (water bus) and took a nice, long boat ride all around the city. It was beautiful to watch as the sun went down and the day turned into evening.

Believe it or not, this is the pared-down collections of pictures I took of the canals in Venice. It is just so unique and beautiful, I couldn't leave any more pictures out!

Underneath the palaces and homes (and businesses) is a boat garage. I just thought this was a cool picture of how someone would come home at night from work!

Lucca...

Approaching the city from the train station, you must enter through the enormous walls. They built these walls in the medieval times to protect the town from intruders. They are so wide that there is a big park and trail all around that people stroll and ride bikes on.

It was lightly raining at the time....little did we know that as the light rain turned into a downpour, our cheap umbrellas would all break!

A different variety of window boxes. Lovely streets...

A daily occurance for Andrew is his attempt to "punch a pigeon". Lucky for the pigeons, their instinct is to fly away as he gets near. He will be downright giddy in Venice, I'm sure!

I was happy to see the hometown of the composer, Puccini. We just missed the big anniversary party of his birth - with many concerts and operas to celebrate. I don't know that everyone else feels that is a bad thing...

This is the apartment where Puccini lived. There is a big dispute between his relative and the city concerning this place whether to renovate or leave it as it is. Unfortunately, as a result there is nothing more to see than the outside.

The highlight of Lucca for us was definitely riding bikes on top of the wall. It was a beautiful ride and the weather was perfect. In fact, the timing was perfect. Minutes after we returned our bikes, there was a huge rain storm which left us completely drenched as we ran for the train station. Luckily we had an hour train ride back to Florence to drip dry.

Pisa...

We were excited to see the amazing Leaning Tower of Pisa! We took the train from Florence to Pisa and then traveled to the Field of Miracles. It includes three matching buildings - the Duomo, the Baptistry and the Bell Tower (or Leaning Tower).


It really is worth seeing. They built the first four levels and knew immediately it was sinking because of the soggy ground. So they abandoned the project for a hundred years. The next three levels were built, purposely slanting the other way a bit. The project was then abandoned for another hundred years. Finally, someone built the top bell part - again, slanting the opposite direction to compensate for the lean. Years later, millions of dollars have been spent trying to fix the lean (and apparently it has done some good), but I think the lean is what gives it its charm (and tourism).

Of course we had to take the cheesy, tourist pictures....it is surprisingly difficult to get that just right!

A big bonus for us going to Pisa was to see Elder Mendel! We were able to visit for a minute and share some gelato with him. What a great place to serve a mission! We are happy to announce he looks great and is doing well!

museums...

Unfortunately, all the great places to take pictures in museums are camera free. I can't take one single picture inside. In addition to that sad fact, the outside of museums are rarely as wonderful as the inside. Such was the fact today. We went to the Uffizi museum (with masterpieces by Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Boticelli, Raphael, and Caravaggio) and saw beautiful paintings. All I got were these pictures of the outside:


Then later in the afternoon, we went to the Galleria dell'Accademia, where the famous David is. I loved seeing that scupture. It is huge and looks like a real person. Michelangelo was an expert at sculpting detail down to the veins in his arms. Did I mention I am a sculpture fan?

The only picture I got was the bike taxi the boys took to meet us there at the Galleria.

random Florence...

Here are some things we wanted to remember about Florence:

Next to the Duomo is the Baptistry. It has beautiful sculpted golden doors. I loved how the scultures just pop out of the doors.

This is Florence's answer to the Trevi Fountain in Rome. There is a pig that when you drop a coin from its mouth, it ensures your return visit to Florence. I don't know....I don't think it has as much charm as the Trevi fountain...

We loved these sidewalk chalk artists!

Again, we felt the heavy burden of finding the best gelato places in Florence.

We loved all the leather markets around town. Finding the best deal with the vendors was part of the fun!

sunsets...

I loved the sunset from the Ponte Vecchio. The Ponte (bridge) Vecchio (old) is the only medieval bridge remaining in Florence. All other bridges were destroyed in World War II, but the Ponte Vecchio was spared. It is lined with jewelry shops selling gold.

Here it is in the daytime:

And here is the view from the bridge in the evening: