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Travel Uncategorized

Italy 2024: Venice

I enjoyed Venice for the most part. It was small and quaint and the crowds weren’t as intense as many places we visited. We could actually get a glimpse and feel of local life rather than just a blast of tourist kitch.

Our rental was on the second and third story above a shop. The second floor was the tiny kitchen and one bedroom and the third floor the bathroom and another bedroom. Then there was a steep narrow ladder that led up to a tiny roof top deck. Our travel companion was not very trusting of the construction and refused to sit up there with us. I figured if it had clung to the roof for this long, it was likely to continue doing so.

These are some of the pictures I took from that vantage point.

One of my best photos is of this lone accordion player. He sat in that spot for a couple of hours every afternoon/evening and really put the final touches to the Italian ambiance.

This was a great spot to watch the life of Venice. We were off the main route to the tourist hotspots, so we saw a more casual group of people.

There was a small restaurant just a few doors down and the crowd was lively until almost 2am every night. Lively but enough to keep me awake. It was more like atmosphere. I know for a fact that I fell asleep with a smile on my face

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Travel Writing

Home Again…

We are back from our world travels and have recovered for the most part. It takes three or four days to really get back into your normal sleep pattern and home routine. I’m 95% back to normal and ready to get some work done.

I have yet to crack open my novel but am working up to it. I have some great ideas for later and will get to it eventually. For now, I need to get back into the day-job routine and make sure the I still have a income.

I have a total of 3302 pictures and videos to sort and edit from the trip and have barely scraped the surface. I will add a few here as a teaser. Keep in mind these are just taken with my cellphone. I haven’t posted any pics from the big camera and have high expectations.

More later.

Categories
Travel

ON HOLIDAY – ITALY

Thoughts about Italy:

  • Venice does not smell like a ditch – pleasantly surprised
  • I have failed to find ANY bad Italian food!
  • There are millions of steps here! My legs are tired.
  • The traffic is INSANE!! But I think every single Italian is a better driver than every American. I saw no accidents.
  • There are no malls. But there are little shops and restaurants on every corner.
  • I never saw a straight road.
  • The seafood here is amazing.
  • We found an Irish pub in every town we stopped in. I don’t need a Guiness every day, but I want to know where to get one when the need arises.
Venice by gondola
Spanish steps in Rome
Roman Coloseum
Stolen Egyptian artifacts at the Vatican Museums
Dome of Vatican Museums
Exit of Vatican Museums
Colosseum and Forum
Solerno
Categories
Travel

Packing for Italy

Our trip to Italy is a mere thirty days away and my wife is fit to burst! This weekend it really got to her and every once in a while she would reach over to poke me and squeal. She is SO excited!

Yeah, she is still a giddy schoolgirl at times and I appreciate it.

Our big task this weekend was to pre-pack our suitcases to finalize our wardrobe and accessory plans. Two pairs of pants, two shorts, swimsuit, three pairs of shoes, etc. along with all the expert travel accessories we’ve accumulated: vacuum pack bags for pillows, foldable spare suitcase for souvenirs, ponchos, adapters, etc.

We’ve done this a few times and we end up packing less and less each time.

We will check-in our large bag (only ¾ full) and our scuba gear bag. My carry-on will be a backpack with camera gear, guidebooks, and one change of clothes. Sheri will carry her backpack with travel details, laptop, all wires and adapters, and one change of clothes.  

As I said, it is a month out from our trip. We do this so that we have time to order things we will need or, as in my case, time to break in the new shoes I just bought.

The basic fact is that I can buy almost anything I need on my trip at my destination. Why pack it all there only to pack it all back? Because, as Americans, we are trained to do it that way. We see our parents pack three suitcases for a week in the Ozarks. Movies display this kind of packing all the time, where the wife needs an entire bellhop cart for her luggage. It is ingrained in our images of VACATION! That is training is really hard to get over. But experience is starting win out.

In reality, I could go through the entirety of Europe with two pairs of shorts and a couple shirts. And as I get older and more experienced, I get closer to that ideal. Even now, as I write this, I feel the need to trim my packing a bit. I mean, how many pairs of underwear does a guy really need? Honestly?