Gondola ride in Venice.
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Venice still magical - Day 2
I fel like I've died and gone to heaven! Venice is so magical and unbelievable. It is exactly like in the movies. Venice was built of mud flats. The buildings sit on wooden poles. It seens one of the churches sits on 12,000 tree trunks. It is amazing to see that the buildings end in a canal. All the streets are criscrossed by canals. Last year, there were 22 miliion tourists to Venice. The symbol of Venice is the winged lion. Everywhere you see statues of the winged lion.
Today we went to a glass blowing factory called Vecchia Murano. The guy doing the demo literally took 5 minutes to create a horse from a blob of glass. Beautiful beautiful works of coloured glass. The glass comes from one of the local islands called Murano. In the centre of the square was St Marks Cathedral. Angela and I queued for 20 minutes to go inside the cathedral. Even though the signs said no photos, everyone was taking them so we did. Magnificent marble columns and mosaic paintings on the domed ceilings and walls. You have to see the photos to believe it. Next to the cathedral is the Ducal Palace, that dates back to the time of Constantinople. The prison is connected to the Palace by the Bridge of Sighs. It seems that after prisoners were tried in the Palace, they would have to walk across the bridge to prison and probably to their death. Venice is a city of masks. Every year in February, there is a carnival of masks. The masks look like the one that Uncle Hee and Aunty Siow Fong bought Emily for Christmas. Some are even more elaborate. Wait till you see the photos.
For lunch, we took a boat out to an island called Burano. It is a pretty island. All the houses are painted in different colours. We had a huge seafood lunch. The island is also known for its lace. I bought a pretty lace scarf. I was so tempted to buy a lace top but decided against it in the end. Now I wish I bought it! Handmade lace - absolutely beautiful.
Tomorrow we have a lot of driving ahead of us. From Venice, we are driving south past Florence to Rome. We have 2 nights in Rome. We will be visiting the Coloseum and Vatican city. No dinners included - I think everything is expensive in Rome.
Have you guys got any of the postcards I've been sending? It is so hard to find stamps around. You'll probably get them all at once. I hope they don't get lost.
Ha, I've just worked out how to upload photos. My room mate is Karen and she lives in the Gold Coast. She was sleeping last night so I could not work on the computer for long.
I'll try and copy the photos from the camera and upload the photos from Rome tomorrow. Till then, Ciao, good night and love you all.
Love
Mummy & Poi Keng
Today we went to a glass blowing factory called Vecchia Murano. The guy doing the demo literally took 5 minutes to create a horse from a blob of glass. Beautiful beautiful works of coloured glass. The glass comes from one of the local islands called Murano. In the centre of the square was St Marks Cathedral. Angela and I queued for 20 minutes to go inside the cathedral. Even though the signs said no photos, everyone was taking them so we did. Magnificent marble columns and mosaic paintings on the domed ceilings and walls. You have to see the photos to believe it. Next to the cathedral is the Ducal Palace, that dates back to the time of Constantinople. The prison is connected to the Palace by the Bridge of Sighs. It seems that after prisoners were tried in the Palace, they would have to walk across the bridge to prison and probably to their death. Venice is a city of masks. Every year in February, there is a carnival of masks. The masks look like the one that Uncle Hee and Aunty Siow Fong bought Emily for Christmas. Some are even more elaborate. Wait till you see the photos.
For lunch, we took a boat out to an island called Burano. It is a pretty island. All the houses are painted in different colours. We had a huge seafood lunch. The island is also known for its lace. I bought a pretty lace scarf. I was so tempted to buy a lace top but decided against it in the end. Now I wish I bought it! Handmade lace - absolutely beautiful.
Tomorrow we have a lot of driving ahead of us. From Venice, we are driving south past Florence to Rome. We have 2 nights in Rome. We will be visiting the Coloseum and Vatican city. No dinners included - I think everything is expensive in Rome.
Have you guys got any of the postcards I've been sending? It is so hard to find stamps around. You'll probably get them all at once. I hope they don't get lost.
Ha, I've just worked out how to upload photos. My room mate is Karen and she lives in the Gold Coast. She was sleeping last night so I could not work on the computer for long.
I'll try and copy the photos from the camera and upload the photos from Rome tomorrow. Till then, Ciao, good night and love you all.
Love
Mummy & Poi Keng
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Magical Venice!
Hi all
Today we left Austria and travelled to our 8th country - Italy! What magic. We stopped in Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet. I saw the famous balcony. There was a statue of Juliet. For good luck, women were supposed to touch her right wrist and men - her right breast! There was a market in the square where fresh fruit and veges were sold. I had a nice pizza bread for lunch. And to think that I never eat that at home! We then travelled for another hour and a half and arrived in Venice. My word, it is like in the movies. We went on a canal cruise on a gondola. It was so romantic. Venice is incredible. The buildings came right up to the water. We then had a drink at a cafe and a band played for us in St Marks Square. We will have more time to have a look inside the church tomorrow. We are having lunch at a fishermans island tomorrow. More updates then as internet is free in this hotel too. This hotel is by far the best we've been to.
Hope everyone is well and looking after each other.
Love
Mummy
Today we left Austria and travelled to our 8th country - Italy! What magic. We stopped in Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet. I saw the famous balcony. There was a statue of Juliet. For good luck, women were supposed to touch her right wrist and men - her right breast! There was a market in the square where fresh fruit and veges were sold. I had a nice pizza bread for lunch. And to think that I never eat that at home! We then travelled for another hour and a half and arrived in Venice. My word, it is like in the movies. We went on a canal cruise on a gondola. It was so romantic. Venice is incredible. The buildings came right up to the water. We then had a drink at a cafe and a band played for us in St Marks Square. We will have more time to have a look inside the church tomorrow. We are having lunch at a fishermans island tomorrow. More updates then as internet is free in this hotel too. This hotel is by far the best we've been to.
Hope everyone is well and looking after each other.
Love
Mummy
Monday, 2 May 2011
Inssbruck, Austria!
Hi all,
Not used to this and I posted the new blog as a comment. So go read the full commentary. We've got a 6am start tomorrow so I really should be in bed.
My gosh, London was so amazing! I wish I had more time. I didn't think I would enjoy London but I did. I guess it is because all the Monopoly names are so familar. But I never made Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square. But I did get to see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and The Tower of London. Do you know the Tower was built in 1066? So many towers, Victoria, you will absolutely love it. And all the beautiful German castles. Today, in Austria, we passed through tunnel after tunnel. Off to Venice and gondola ride on canals. Looking forward to Dad coming so I can offload some stuff into his suitcase! Remember to bring the red hand luggage. And don't bring too many clothes. It will be hot during the day.
I'll see if I can manage to post some photos. Otherwise it is Ciao from me. Love you all.
Mummy & PKeng
Not used to this and I posted the new blog as a comment. So go read the full commentary. We've got a 6am start tomorrow so I really should be in bed.
My gosh, London was so amazing! I wish I had more time. I didn't think I would enjoy London but I did. I guess it is because all the Monopoly names are so familar. But I never made Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square. But I did get to see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and The Tower of London. Do you know the Tower was built in 1066? So many towers, Victoria, you will absolutely love it. And all the beautiful German castles. Today, in Austria, we passed through tunnel after tunnel. Off to Venice and gondola ride on canals. Looking forward to Dad coming so I can offload some stuff into his suitcase! Remember to bring the red hand luggage. And don't bring too many clothes. It will be hot during the day.
I'll see if I can manage to post some photos. Otherwise it is Ciao from me. Love you all.
Mummy & PKeng
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)