Kendra's weekend in Italy - 2nd half

Sunday morning was another late one...aaahhh... I don't think that I've slept that many hours in a row in about 2 years. Was blissful. Breakfast at the hotel, another amazing shower, and then we checked out and stowed our bags behind the desk to pick up later. We went in a different direction and found another neighborhood square with a co-op grocery store, a cafe, and lots of families. There were kids playing on bikes and scooters and roller skates, there were adults of all ages drinking cappuccino, wine, and beer (Yep, at 10:30 am anything goes in Italy! Why is it that we are so uptight about alcohol in the U.S.?), and just general contentment. We sat for a while soaking it in (along with more caffeine) before heading to some sights.

Next, we headed back down to St. Mark's Square to another part of our Doge's Palace ticket on the Corer Museum. What an amazing museum - SO much there that it was a bit overwhelming. Oh, and what is it with all of the naked babies breast-feeding? Can some art historian explain that to me? Doesn't logistically seem like a good idea to me... After the museum, we took the elevator up to the top of the St. Mark's bell tower - such an amazing view from up there! Pix below. 

This is what we took the elevator up in.
Pix below taken from the windows near the top!

When I visited Venice 10 years ago during the summer, this same square was
completely full of people - no room to manuever at all. Yeah for March!

Next, we followed the boat tour guide's recommendations and went for pizza at OKE (previously called Ae Oche, http://www.aeoche.com/index_flash.htm) - it was a bit of a walk and then we had to wait for a bit, but it was all worth it. Amazing pizza sitting out in the sun overlooking the water. Can't beat it! Afterwards, we went for gelati down the street at GelatiNico, which was also recommended by the tour guide. Yum! Here's a map showing the places we went to in Venice that day: http://goo.gl/maps/bAkCE. 

Unfortunately, it was now time to pack it up...We walked back to our hotel, stopping at the co-op for train refreshments and at a gift shop for Merino glass birds for Watson, and then made our way to the train station to catch our train back to Milan. 

A couple of hours later, and we had another 'little bit lost getting from the train to the hotel' experience! But, we found it, dropped off our stuff and headed out for dinner just down the street (I can't remember the name of the place). Another good meal - I definitely ate well that weekend! And, Cheryl treated me to a lovely b-day dessert. :) 

The next morning didn't find us quite as well-rested as we were in Venice. The hotel was very noisy and we were woken up multiple times in the middle of the night...so, we went back to sleep and didn't get out of the hotel until late morning. We took the metro down into City Centre, grabbed a cappuccino and croissant and then viewed the inside of the Milan Duomo (Cathedral). Here is a map that shows the train station, our hotel, and the Duomo area: http://goo.gl/maps/e7Oqp.

The view coming out of the Metro - nice, huh?

Milan is the banking and shopping capital of Italy - pretty fancy.
Not really my cup of tea so-to-speak, but the Duomo area was neat and worth a day!

Yep, it's spring!

The Duomo

We also and hoofed it up ~175 steps to the top of the Duomo. What an amazing view - you can walk all around the top of the building... Too bad it was hazy that day, hiding the Alps! But, still gorgeous. 

A quick lunch at a roof-top restaurant (another good meal!) and then back to the hotel for me to grab my bag. I was off to the airport and heading back home to Belfast. It was so great to see Cheryl and have a chance to catch up with her. Thank, Jubin, for being so supportive of this weekend away.

Bye, bye Alps! Italy, I'll be back!

Kendra's weekend in Italy - 1st half

My friend Cheryl from MSU was in Milan, Italy for a workshop the week before my birthday. She invited me to take a city-hopper and join her for a long weekend in Venice. How could I refuse?

Cheryl Murphy - she and I both have joint appointments in FW and LBC at MSU.

I flew on Flybe from Belfast City to Milan on Friday afternoon, where Cheryl met me and we took a bus to downtown Milan where the train station is, so that we could hop on a train to Venice. Map here: http://goo.gl/maps/MjhOn

The Alps were sooo amazing to fly over! I hadn't realized how close they are to Milan.

We arrived in Venice ~9pm to the smell of the Sea, the lights over the water, and pleasant temperatures. Ah...We got a bit lost getting to our hotel, passing a young couple snogging multiple times as we tried different little passages in hopes of finding Locanda Sant'Agostin (http://www.locandasantagostin.com/). I decided that an entrepreneur should start a business meeting tourists at the train station to walk them to their hotel - seems like they would do well! We did, eventually, find the hotel and were pleasantly surprised. Up a steep flight of stairs, and we entered into a clean and airy reception room with tables set out for breakfast. Our room was large, beds were comfy, there was very good noise-proofing (seriously, we thought that we were the only ones there until breakfast was full) and the shutters blocked out ALL light, which led to great sleeping into the morning daylight hours. Oh, and the shower was lovely...such hot water...such strong water pressure...I think that I am a little starved for good showers after living in Belfast for 7 months!

Anyway, we dropped our bags, washed our faces, and headed out in search of a late dinner. The man at the front desk didn't have any ideas, so we went wandering. We found a bunch of young people and followed them -- they led us to a club, but just around the corner from the club was a really great restaurant! Impronpta Cafe and Restaurant was just what we were looking for (http://www.improntacafevenice.com/venice/restaurant/lounge/bar/impronta/cafe). We shared a nice bottle of wine, I had some amazing gnocchi, and we shared a great tiramasu. Tired, we returned to our hotel and hit the sack.

Saturday morning, after sleeping in, and partaking in the breakfast included with the room (continental - brie and croissant and caffeine for me!), we went out to a square where locals and tourists were milling about. We sat at a cafe, had cappuccino (it is SOOOO good there - step change from the US to the UK and then another large step up to Italy), listened to musicians play, and enjoyed the sun and warmth. Really nice. We next wandered down to St. Mark's Square, wandering (sometimes on purpose and other times accidentally) through squares and checking out monuments and views along the way. Here's a map that shows most of the places we visited on this day as well as our hotel, Impronta: http://goo.gl/maps/X6fLh, the Jewish Ghetto (Cannaregio) and here are a bunch of pix:

The fish market

Check out that swordfish (above) and those octopi (below)!

Oh, the artichokes (above) and sun-dried tomatoes (below)...

Eventually we found the Rialto Bridge...at the very right of the upper pic and below.

One thing that was really, really great about this visit to Venice was the timing - March seems the perfect time of year for Venice! It was 17 degrees and sunny, but very few crowds, no lines at the major sights, and the residents were still there. We were able to actually feel like a part of the real Venice! About 10 years ago when Jubin and I went there, I was not enthralled...and, I think that it was because we went during the tourist season! It was so hot and there were so many tourists and such long lines...

A random, neighborhood square

Eventually, we made it to St. Mark's Square. We did the free walk inside St. Mark's Basilica and then went through Doge's Palace. We shared an audio guide of the Palace that was well worth it. Lots of info! Pix below.

St. Mark's Basilica (above and below)

St. Mark's Square (above) and Doge's Palace (below)

not too shabby inside, either!

The bridge of sighs - prisoners would be tried in Doge's Palace
and, if guilty, walked across the bridge to the jail. 

Cheryl in jail! Stark contrast to the Palace next door...

After leaving the Palace, I grabbed my first gelati of the visit (yum!) and then we went on a motor boat tour of the City. So awesome! The woman narrating the tour was really informative and nice. It was so weird, though - the other people on the tour didn't interact with her at all, not even nodding or smiling at her! Cheryl and I were asking questions and laughing at her jokes, and in return, she gave us some really great recommendations for food that we very much appreciated the next day (next blog post).

The Rialto Bridge from the water, with gondolas a plenty!

A different view of St. Mark's Square

That night, we tried to go to a restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto that Doug Luckie had recommended. However, it had changed ownership and was completely empty... so, we kept walking, found a really cool wine bar where we had some tapas and wine, and then made our way back toward the hotel looking for dinner places. Eventually, we stopped at a random restaurant that had lots of people inside but no pictures of food and wasn't near any of the major tourist spots. The pasta was fresh, the food good, and we shared an amazing bottle of wine (oh, and another tiramasu)!

Off to bed! Looking forward to another LLLOONNNGGG sleep!