Canals...what can I say and other Venice, Italy Things to Do Tips

Everywhere you turn, Venice provides an interesting back drop for photos of your loved ones. This is a photo I took of Ma Kettle on the bridge, just as she bent over to tie up her laces...

Leave a Comment

Ma Kettle and I have been trying to locate this casino for awhile, and we finally found it. There is a bus that takes you from the Marco Polo airport every twenty minutes, and is just a three minute ride away. The cost... under a euro. Look for the sign in front of the terminal where all the other buses stop. However, you have to buy tickets from a vendor, the drivers don't sell them.

We didn't know this, and, after taking a bus from Padova to the airport (an hour), we decided just to take a taxi there (just missed it). It was hot, muggy, and we were ***y. Big mistake, the taxi cost us just under 14 euro.... (for three minutes). Do I have a big 'M' on my forehead?

Guys, you are not allowed entry if you are wearing shorts. I was.

Fortunately, a combination of my whining, Ma Kettle's good reasoning, and the pitiful look on my mother-in-laws face, the guards relented.

It costs 10 euro for entry, you must present your passport, they take your photo, and give you an admission ticket. You must place this ticket in the automatic reader prior to entering the casino. The plus side, they also give you a 10 euro chip to play with.

The casino has a reasonably good snack bar, very clean washrooms, and a good assortment of slots (half euro minimum). The tables are set apart from the slots, and we didn't visit them. Sorry.

Slots have good payouts, and we felt much like we do when playing in Vegas. Payouts of more than three hundred coins are paid by hand. You don't have to do anything except push 'Payout' and an attendant comes. (eventually). You have to show your admission ticket, they record the number, and you sign for your winnings. We were fortunate that day to require his services twice. Great fun.

Upon departure, we were required to place our ticket back into the 'reader', and I admit, I expected the tax man to hold his hand out.

No bells, no alarms, no man in a suit. We were safe.

Leave a Comment

Phone: 390415415373
Directions: Take a bus to Mestre airport, switch buses at the main entrance, look for the 'Casino' bus stop, and catch the shuttle. Only Three minutes away (not within easy walking distance however). Cost under one euro. **Need to buy ticket from vendor first**

Bridge of Sighs, named for the simple fact that as prisoners were led across the bridge to the prison cells on the other side, their last sight of freedom brought forth involuntary sighs and moans, knowing that they might never see their loved ones again.

Leave a Comment

I am not one for art work, and don't pretend to know very much, so when I say I was impressed, accept it as gospel.

Impressed is hardly important enough of a word. We have seen so much art throughout Italy, that it has become a blur, and sadly, I have become immune to the sights.

This place was wonderful. Forget the main floor, just a bunch of cracked pottery, however the walls of the assembly hall are adorned with a series on the life of the Virgin Mary.

The second floor is amazing, beginning with the sweeping stairway designed by Antonio Scarpagnino, with floor to ceiling artwork...huge in scope.

The sala Grande Superiore has over 50 paintings all done by Tintoretto, a brash artist scorned by masters in his earlier days, and considered to be too 'quick' to pick up his brush and begin creating. His speed and ability to format his paintings in his minds eye was incomprehendible to other artists of his day. It is mind boggling to think one man created these master pieces.

Mind you, it took him twenty three years to do it. Probably a government job. What, two paintings a year...whooppee!! The other guys must have been real slugs.

Seriously though, his paintings are incredible. He uses a wonderful technique of creating light above specific areas within the work that he wants attention drawn towards. His detail, fantastic, especially on his largest work Crucifixion. My eyes were immediately drawn to a whip which appeared to me to be in 3D.

The walls, as well as the ceilings are filled with artwork, and many pieces sit on easels cordorned off by rope. What really caught my eye however were the fantastic wood carvings adorning the walls circling the great rooms.

Price for admission was 5.50 euro, which included a portable audioguide which described each piece in great detail.

Worth a visit, trust me...

Leave a Comment

Carnival time...what can I say. There is so much going on, that the narrow walkways are always crowded.

This is a picture of the crowd heading on to the Rialto Bridge Feb 2005. This was one of the slower periods in past years. Judge for yourself.

Leave a Comment

Directions: Rialto Bridge

This picture shows the participants heading to the Grand Parade in St. Marks Square. They board gondolas and drift along the Grand Canal, dressed in their finery, playing the part to the utmost, and mugging for the crowd.

Ma Kettle and I held onto this prized location, by sitting along the steps leading from the canals edge. Suggest you lay a newspaper down first, to prevent green algae from soiling your back side. We didn't...

Fortunately, Carnaval time is so crowded, no one noticed our furry green bottoms.

Leave a Comment

Address: Grand Canal

Ma Kettle and I love wandering about Venice, finding picturesque canals, and simply exploring. We often have no plan of attack, and end up wherever we end up.

I usually lose my significant other along the way, since I have my eye attached to the viewfinder of my camera, and Ma is too busy reading about the churches of Venice to pay attention to either me or where she is.

Today, she ended up on the other side of the canal.

Leave a Comment

Venice, like St. Marks Square after high tide, is over flowing with art galleries and artists. The greatest concentration of galleries are on the streets that lie between The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, and the Gallerie dell' Accademia.

Other galleries may be found on Calle del Bastion, east of the Guggenheim, and Calle delle Carrozze, located in close proximity to Palazzo Grassi.

For simple water colours, stop to admire the works of the artists who are in abundance in the various squares and Campos. Prices vary, but so does the talent. Be sure you get what you pay for though.

Leave a Comment

Ma Kettle and I were amazed to find exhibits by this artist with a sign saying 'TOUCH ME'. Artists normally want the exact opposite.

Being Canadian, Ma and I were compliant with the request, and reached down to floor level in order to squeeze and fondle a large display of heavy rubber membrane baloons, piled one on top of the other. Much to our surprise, instead of our fingers sinking into a rubbery mass, we encountered the hard surface of blown glass, coated with a flat black paint.

The artist Hiromi, creates the glass balls, by blowing each piece seperately, and while still red hot, fitting each sphere to sit perfectly on top of one another.

The picture is of the same type of glass sphere, except as you can see, these look much like balls of mercury spilled from a thermometer.

.

Leave a Comment

You can't walk through Venice without seeing this sight...unless of course the wine bars got you first.

This picture I took from the Rialto bridge, after I threw coins onto the walkway in order to encourage all the kids who were standing with their backs against the rail, playing those stupid hand held games, to give others a chance to look.

I bet this view has been photographed over a hundred times. LOL. Hey, I'm still a tourist...

Leave a Comment

Address: Rialto Bridge
Directions: be patient, people will eventually move away from the rail.