Italy Day 4 - 24 Nov 08

Venice

We woke up really early to catch our train to Venice. The weather report already informed us that temperature will hover between -2 degrees to 8 degrees. Not a good piece of news for me ;(

Luckily it rained in Florence before we left the hostel. We prayed that it would not rain in Venice.

On the train ride there, we were pleasantly surprised by the snow that had blanketed the outskirts.

These must have taken while Xiaowen was on her way to the washroom.

Venice. We took a water taxi and proceeded to Piazza San Marco.

During the taxi ride, I was in the shelter while Xiaowen was at the opened deck snapping pictures! Crazy. It was just too cold for me even though I was in many layers! Grrrr....

Ponte Rialto along the Grand Canal.

Yep, if u you stay in Venice, then you have to get help to transport the luggage to your hotel.

Piazza San Marco

Basilica Di San Marco- everything is gold here. The gold mosaics can't be missed. We also noticed the floor sinking. So Venice is really sinking!

Hah. I turned sulky. Coldness and hunger are not a good combination.

The bar here is out to cheat my $$. Not a good day.

I needed to be wrapped up! As you can tell, my friend is rejuvenated by the chilling wind!

Her target was to find a ponte - a nice one in a narrow alley.

Murano Glass

According to a friend whom I met recently, she mentioned that this ponte is a renowned one. I think she said it's Ponte del Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs). It led to the prison cells.

Instead of bus ticket or metro ticket, we bought a water taxi ticket that will allow us to take the water taxis to any part of of the town in Venice. The taxis are very much like a bus with clear distinct routes and taxi stands.

The glass museum. The only item that I like was the glass chandelier. I had initially wanted to come to this island of Murano to see glas-blowing but it was getting dark when we reached there and most shops were about to close.

Candid camera?

The pizza was actually quite decent.

Well, I am a lucky gal. Venice was snowing and flooding recently. I am so glad I missed all of that!