….this week the challenge for the WPC is to find a photo that depicts something that is rare
It didn’t take me long to remember the photo I had taken of the world’s largest truffle that I found in the market in Florence, Italy. Check out the price of this rarity.
…..the most famous being the gondola
There are about 10 different types of watercraft in Venice but the most commonly seen are the gondola, the vaporetto and the top0. The vaporetto is a water bus that transports people from one end of the island to the other and is way more economical than hiring a gondola. The topo is a barge that transports goods to the businesses and residences of Venice.
There are also specialty boats for garbage collection, construction barges, police and ambulance boats, fire boats and car ferries.
Although beautiful and romantic, the gondola is strictly for rich tourists. At 200 euros for a 45 minute trip I consider it a luxury expense.
Service Boats and Personal Watercrafts
Ciao!
….for more Thursday Doors check out Norm 2.0
The first door is one I saw in Lucca. I was particularly drawn to the door knocker on this lovely entrance. The second door was near the university in Bologna.
….where to begin with this great topic, FUN?
The first photo, although not the best quality, brings a smile to my face because of how gullible people can be. While watching this guy, my husband sarcastically commented on how this trick or optical illusion is done with magnets and he said it loud enough for a few people to hear. Soon after I hear the same people, who had been standing close by, proclaiming that magnets are the explanation for this feat.
I can laugh now but at the time I didn’t think it was so funny when this guy wanted to charge me 10 euro for posing with me. He accosted me and we used my camera for the pictures. Boy did I feel duped. In the end I gave him 5 euro and learned a big lesson.
….Italy is known for wine and olives
In Assisi we were told by our cab driver that the wine in the region of Umbria was good but the olive oil was great. Every farm had olive trees.
For more Sunday Trees check out Becca Givens’ blog
…..I love travelling by train but I’m not so sure I would buy a rail pass again
Travelling by train can be very relaxing and is less stressful than driving a car throughout Italy. Our travel agent booked first class rail passes for six days for us ahead of time. Our first trip from Venice to Florence in first class was wonderful but half of our trips didn’t even have first class compartments. We probably could have saved a lot of money buying tickets as we needed them.
One of the things we learned about travelling by train is that you have to have your tickets validated at the station and you must fill in the dates you travel on the passes. My husband had been filling in the wrong portion of our passes and one kind conductor handed him a pen and instructed him to fill it in properly. He could have fined us each a 100 euro. On our last trip to Rome our son, his new bride and her parents didn’t know that the tickets that they purchased from a machine in Assisi had to be validated in another machine. Unfortunately the conductor on this train was not so forgiving and charged them. They tried to explain that they didn’t read Italian and no one told them about this extra step when purchasing tickets. He thought he was being generous when he reduced the fine to 33 euro but when my daughter-in-law was not happy with the compromise he became quite angry. In the end they paid the fine but we couldn’t help but think that the money was being pocketed by the conductor.
….I love these Cyprus trees
It’s a tree that I’ve only ever seen in paintings and photos but in Italy and certainly in the outskirts of Florence and in the hills of Assisi they are everywhere. Thanks to Becca Givens for hosting Sunday Trees.
….Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge can be any photo that doesn’t seem to fit into any other category
I have no idea what possessed my sister to kneel on the ground like this. I’m pretty sure she’s not praying. Her husband took this shot somewhere in Italy.
This smiling face greeted people in front of the store in the town of Lucca.
….featuring different aspects of architecture from around the world
One of the must see venues in Venice for my family on our recent trip was to take in some of the Venice Biennale exhibits, mainly the the Victoria and Albert contribution curated by our son.
For those who have never heard of biennales let me explain. A biennale takes place every two years. They are large international art exhibitions dealing with contemporary issues around art, music and architecture and take place all over the world. The Venice Biennale was founded in 1895 and highlighted city marketing, urban regeneration and cultural tourism. This year’s theme is titled REPORTING FROM THE FRONT, and is curated by Alejandro Aravena. The show runs from May to September and the exhibits can be found at the Giardini and the Arsenale.
The exhibit our son curated in agreement with la Biennale di Venizia and the Victoria and Albert Museum out of London, England is titled A World of Fragile Parts and focuses on how the production of copies throughout history and today has aided in the preservation of cultural artefacts.
This exhibit highlights the new technologies that make it possible to fabricate copies of historical artefacts that are ravaged by war, tourism and environmental factors. For more information about the exhibit go here.
Unfortunately while we were there our son was not so to prove that we actually went and saw the exhibit we posed in front of the sign for A World of Fragile Parts. Even the baby got involved by pointing out her uncle’s name on the list of credits. A week later Brendan did go back to Venice to give a talk and teach a class on the exhibit.
My only regret is that we didn’t get to see more of the Biennale. Two days in Venice is not enough time.
…Italy has an abundance of beautiful doors
The first is an opening leading to our son’s show at the Venice Biennale and the second is a door we passed on the Grand Canal.
For more interesting doors check out Norm 2.0
Mama Cormier 