*Bridge of Sighs *Burano *Verona *Nicola in Piazza San Marco * Gondola Ride
Venezia
At the time Venice was my favourite place I had visited. These days I'm not so sure. I was fascinated by the idea behind the city. It shocked me that most people did not even know that it was built on a series of islands, right up to the point when they were deposited ON said islands.
On the way up to Venice we stopped in Verona where I was berated for my "cynicism" as to what I would actually dub a cynical marketing scheme - "Juliet's House". In recent years this place has got much worse, with no less than three tacky gift shops. At the time it was pretty as a medieval house, a nice testamony to the play, and of course a statue where we could all grab at Juliet's boob. I was perplexed by the large star emanting from Verona's amphitheatre. Some of my associates *cough* thought it was a fantastic idea to dig a cobblestone out of the ground as a souvenir. Ah Australians... rolling in the snow like hyperactive children and digging cobblestones out of the main square.
At the time that I was in Venice the snow, proximity to water, and blistering winds made it the coldest I had ever been in my life. Layers of thermal underwear felt like nothing. We took in all the main sights, hunted for gloves and cheap glass souvenirs, were taken on a trip to Murano (glass) and Burano (lace) islands. I preferred those islands for their cute and colourful houses.
We had an exciting day trip to Padova. We were waiting to view Giotto's Chapel. The chapel was apparently so precious and sensitive that it was kept permanently dim and climate-controlled. Visitors had to wait in a glass box outside the chapel to maintain certain numbers. As we were waiting what appeared to be a group of Italian male students filed out of the chapel... as they went by, almost like an assembly line, each and every one of them gave us all a look up and down, a flirty smile and a head nod. It could not have been choreographed better if you tried.
After all our traipsing up north, it was time for a daylong trip back down south to Rome, where we would begin our almost 2-week homestay with an Italian family.
