Mat returned from work on Wednesday and that night we found our way to Gatwick airport, where we spent the night sleeping on comfy padded benches awaiting our 7am flight to Milan (I highly recommend Gatwick for early flights as it does provide a nice sleep)
Mat, impressed as always =)
Milan
The fashion capital of Italy has some wonderful architecture. This is the central train station.
Milan's Duomo (Cathedral) is perhaps it's best known attraction
The inside of the Duomo is also quite impressive.
This arch beside the Duomo houses the Galleria de Victor Emmanuelle II. A Galleria is a shopping area under a nice arched roof. It's basically all they have in the way of a mall.
Another famous attraction is the La Scala Opera House.
I've never been inside one, so this was really cool.
This is the Castello Sforzesco
This is a statue of Leonardo (da Vinci) whose Last Supper is on display here. Since you need to book reservations well in advance we weren't able to see the original, so we took ourselves to the Museum of Science and Technology to see the reproductions of some of da Vinci's other works.
a flying contraptionVerona
After a night in Milan we took a train to Verona, the city where Shakespeare set Romeo and Juliet. The city does claim that families named Capulet and Montague did once live there.
The Roman Arena of Verona
The city walls now hold a gateway.
The old town square.
This is Feb 13th...so everything is preped for Valentine's Day.
The sign marking the House of Juliet with lots of love grafitti
Mat in front of Juliet's balcony!
Me!
The lines said by Romeo when he first sees Juliet on her balcony (the beginning parts of the scene better known by 'Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore art thou Rome' --which means why are you Romeo, not where are you Romeo. )
Apparently it's good luck to touch Juliet's breast
Verona is a wonderful city, very cute...and has an excellent view across the river.Venice
Venice is a short train ride from Verona, and the island of Lido (Venice is actually several islands) is a short 'bus' ride (meaning boat that goes on the water and collects people like a bus) from the main train station where we arrived.
This hotel (not ours) is a great example (according to the write-up) of Art Nouveau style in Venice.
This is the bus map. You can see the routes. Note that these are not streets, but the river. There are no cars on Venice. You travel by boat/bus. The buses are very convenient and at £6.50 one way ($13) are still cheaper than the $240 you would spend for a 45 minute ride on a gondolla.
This is the view we had from our hotel room. River and mountains. Amazing. And...it was Valentine's Day, so romantic as well.
The Camponile of St. Marco and the Doges Palace, as seen from the river.
One of the many canals that link Venice
and one of the many bridges that cross the canals.
To understand what we're saying note that this boat is the method of transportation for the post man.
the famous gondola and its gondolier (and 2 very rich/silly people)
We were lucky enough to be in Venice for the opening day of the annual Carival. Here are just a few of the gorgeous Venetian masks that were parading the city.
Some people get into full Venetian garb, complete with period clothing and masks.
Children wear costumes
Even the dogs get into the mood (this one's for you Jess)
I got into it too, with my sparkly pink mask. Mat was too cool!
St. Marco. This was the chapel to the Doges. The Doges was the elected ruler (think Prime Minister/President)
Piazza (meaning Square) St. Marco
the Camponille (clock tower)
St. Marco
the gold mosaics inside St. Marco
This is the stairway in the courtyard of the Doges Palace (we can't remember the name of it)
This mouth has a wooden box behind it, where a person can put an anonomous tip/complaint. You might want to tell about the man down the street planing to overthrow the government. Just for example.
Unfortunately we were to miss the descent of the angel and the parade, which happen on Sunday (this is Saturday), but we did get to see a bunch of dinosaurs walking the piazza
We also got to see one of Mat's favourite bars (so I say). It's known for the bras hanging from the ceiling that get 'donated' by female customers.
Our day in Venice was great, just as the last 3 days have been. Northern Italy has a lot of wonderful sights. Unfortunately Italy is getting some lovely Arctic weather (so it's not as warm as we'd like), but it is Italy afterall, and there is no complaining about that.We're now in Pisa and on our way to Siena, Naples and then the island of Sicily. The internet has been very hard to come by, and we haven't been able to check our emails, but I hope you get some satisfaction from the blog. Know that we are safe, we are in love, we are having the time of the lives, and we will talk to you when we can.
XOXOX
Mat and Sabrina
