Venice, Italy

Buone Feste

Whilst Carla was here, we took a trippy-dippy to Venice - we left on Wednesday, December 12 and stayed until late Friday the 14th. WOO HOO! It was AWESOME! We did TONS of walking and walking and walking ... there are no vehicles in Venice (bikes, motor scooters, cars, etc.) and the only transportation is by gondola, water boat or walking.
WEDNESDAY - after arriving in the mid-afternoon, we took a bus to Venice. We eventually found our hotel, the Hotel Abbazia, and checked in. In the picture with Melissa and Austin, our hotel is on the other side of the big church you see, which is called the Chiesa degli Scalzi). We didn't sit still for long because I wanted to go to the Piazza San Marco and see it at night. We walked over the Rialto Bridge on our way and we took a look at a lot of the shops along the way ... there was a lot of food and carnivale masks. The masks were amazingly beautiful and sometimes very expensive! We did stop for a bite to eat - Austin had pizza and Melissa had fettuccine alfredo.


We finally arrived at Piazza San Marco (or St. Mark's) and saw the Dodges Palace (the home and offices of the Dodges of Venice). It was nice and dark and you could see the lights all around. It was really beautiful! Oh, symbol for the city of Veniceis a winged lion of St. Mark.


We then walked back to the hotel so Austin and Melissa could take their bathy-poo's. Fun was ensued by Austin whose mother put in a little too much bubble bath! OOPSIE!


THURSDAY - the children were ever so thrilled to hear that we were walking back to San Marco's square (not really) so we started off early and enjoyed the local talent and shopkeepers. There was a stand with seafood ... alive and flopping around! EW! Shrimp, crabs, fish ... all flippy-floppy and breathing air, not water.


One of the places I really wanted to look at and walk through was the Jewish Ghetto. I amaze myself, sometimes ... I saw the scroll cases on the doors and said "Hey, I thinks some Jews must live there!" duh - it's the Jewish Ghetto! This is where thousands of persecuted Jews were driven before the 17th-century fall of Venice. The neglected cement and brick tenements still line the streets where 5,000 people used to live. Today, the community is almost empty - only about 650 people live in the area. We went to a pet store and bought Gabby a toy - a candy cane squeaky toy. There is a new ghetto (Ghetto Nuovo) and an old ghetto (Ghetto Vecchio), fyi.

Well, as we walked (with a purpose - we were following a walking tour I found online), we came across the statues of the three Moors on the building walls by the Campo dei Mori. Near the moors was the Casa di Tintoretto where the painter lived and had his workshop until his death in 1594. Throughout the day, we did see many paintings by Tintoretto - they were amazing!



Next stop - the Madonna dell'Orto which happens to be where Tintoretto is buried and displays many of his works. The church was erected in the mid-14th century!


Well, all of this walking made us hungry, so off to an authentic Italian restaurant ... McDonald's, of course! Oh, and check out the pic with Melissa in it ... our friends, the purse sellers, are in the background! :)

Okay, so on to San Marco! Now, the thing you must remember is that the basilica at San Marco square is free - yes FREE - to get in. Did we know that? No. Did we even ask? No. I found out two weeks ago, for crying out loud! On the way to the square, we saw shops and shops and more shops! And then we saw (and ate) gelato ... yum! The street system in Venice can be confusing - very around-and-around and through this alleyway. Again, may I state that the graffiti was ridiculous and an eyesore? Judge for yourself ...

Arrival at the square! woo hoo! It looks lovely during the day, by the way. Okay, I guess I should call it by it's Italian name ... Basiliac di San Marco a Venezia. Well, the basilica (or cathedral) is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture. It likes on St. Mark's Square adjacent and connected to the Doge's Palace. Originally, it was the "chapel" of the Venetian rulers, and not the city's cathedral. Since 1807, it has been the seat of the Patriarch of Venice, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice. (whew, that was a mouthful!)


So, as we are clicking the pictures, the pigeons decide to start landing on people. Geesh! Such vermin! Austin and Melissa freaked out (there was screaming from both) but Austin soon got into the thick of it - we couldn't get Melissa to even have one fly on here ... we'll get her next time! I'm surprised that noone was pooped on.

Much feeding of the birds ensued. After, what seemed like an hour, we decided it was time for a gondola ride. We spent some moolah (90 euro for all four of us) - we just couldn't get them lower! - but it was worth it.
We toured the Grand Canal. Bad news, though. The gondolier didn't sing and really didn't tell us much about what we were seeing (he got a lousy tip, thank you very much). Oh, under Venetian law, gondoliers must be born in Venice in order to practice this profession.




Our little gondola tour went under the Bridge of Sighs. Of course, the gondolier mentioned nothing of this - a quick fyi on the importance of it ...
- it connects the old prisons to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace.
- it was built between 1600 and 1603
- it was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment
- Lord Byron gave the bridge it's name (due to the sighing prisoners)
- legend has it that lovers will be assured eternal love if they kiss on a gondola at sunset under the bridge

By the time the ride was over, it was getting dark and a bit on the chilly side - someone (mentioning no names) convinced the children to forgo bringing their winter coats ("It doesn't get that cold there!") so they were shivering by the time we got to the restaurant.

After supper (pizzeria), we headed very wearily to our room. Guess what!? The door wouldn't open! So, we had to cop a squat and wait for someone to unjam the jam. That was some fun and I wouldn't want to repeat that!

FRIDAY - our hotel arranged for us to take a water taxi (gratis, of course) to the island of Murano, which is famous for it's glass and was a port as early as the 7th century. (the history in this area is amazing) The glass chandeliers were amazing (so were the prices) and we watched glassblowers making beautiful challises.


I ended up buy a little blue glass gondola (we needed change to go to the loo) and within 2 minutes, it was broken. Smashed to bits. Poor me. No glassy for Krissy. :(

On our way back to Venice, we passed an island that had a brick wall all around. Turns out it is the Isola di San Michele, or Island of the Dead. It's where the people of Venice are buried. Igor Stravinsky, the famous Russian composer, is buried there. I would have loved to have gone there and looked around, but alas, more churches and famous paintings to look at!

Interesting Fact: Due to shortage of space, after a few years the dead are exhumed and stored in compact concrete ossuary boxes in another part of the cemetery.

Okay, another church to go to ... next we saw the Santa Maria dei Miracoli, also known as the marble church. Marbles, anyone? Holy moley, there was marble! Lots of different colors - green, white, black, red ... it was beautiful. Some of the churches asked for no photographs while others did. I have no idea what the difference is and so I may have snuck (sp?) in a photo or two (with the flash off) to remind us all of the beautiful paintings and sculptures. I'm so naughty! :)
One of the more memorable churches was the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. WOW! In this basilica, we were allowed to take photos without flash so I did just that! You'll have to excuse the fuzzy photos indoors - I just purchased this camera and was still figuring out how to work it (I still am).

Oh, I forgot to mention (or did I?) about the Rialto Bridge or the Ponte di Rialto. How could I forget the most famous bridge in Venice? I'm losing it, I guess. It's the oldest bridge and spans over the Grand Canal. This picture of the bridge is one of my favorite!
The rest of the day consisted of (and not in this order) McDonald's, shopping, a protest (which we did not join), relaxing and my winning another free trip from RyanAir! I guess that's the only thing I'm lucky in ... ha! just kidding!

Anyhoo, that was our wonderful trip to Venice. Boy howdy I would love to go there again! Looking at all the pictures again brings back many fond memories! Ciao!

11 December 2007

Great Yarmouth

Well, our beloved friend, Carla, came to visit again and this time we hadand we went to Great Yarmouth - I thought it was about time Carla went seaside!

We checked out the Nelson Monument, which is located in a really odd spot (to me) - it's in a weird little industrial estate. Anyhoo, the monument was paid for by the citizens of Norfolk county and Great Yarmouth was the place selected. It is just a little shorter than the Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square, London. The lovely lady on top is "Britannia", or the spirit of Britain (fyi).

The next place we went to was the Sea Life Centre and fortunately it was open! There was some speculation, being so near Christmas break and the construction taking place. The picture with Austin and his light sabre has the Sea Life Centre on the left (another fyi).

Our first trip to the centre actually was an awesome one! There were many animals and creatures to view and (for the money, especially) was a great time! The first order of the day was to eat some lunch - Carla had fish and chips (how English!), Chipper had the chicken nuggets and I had a chicken sandwich. It was good! Because it was a bit cold and windy, we partook of some hot chocolate, too. Yum yum! Seeing as there was no one there, Chipper got to play in the play area (he normally would have been too tall) and was eaten by a shark ... aaahh!

We saw some eels (slimy), some sharks (toothy), a lion fish (mane-y), some puffer fish (puffy), a humongous crab (crabby), and some sting rays (stingy) The centre was interesting because they breed sea horses. Seeing them was the favorite part of the day!

A storm was a-brewing and we hurried out to the beach to check out the water. It was getting dark (it was only 3:30pm) but that is what it's like in the winter here!
limited time to fool around. Austin was graciously taken out of school

Giving Thanks

Turkey Day!

Well, Thanksgiving came to us a little sad this year because our lovie is serving in Iraq. We miss him a whole bunch! This year for Turkey Day, we were here, there and everywhere!

Our day started at 8:45am with a call from our buddies, the Pontius family. They were wondering what our plans were that day ... they were watching movies and eating popcorn and wondered if we would care to join them. OF COURSE WE WOULD!

Off to the Pontius' we went. We ended up having a "potato peeling party" - I think we must have peeled 40 pounds of potatoes (at least!). It was good fun! Annamarie found a potato almost the size of her head! Now that's a potato!

After the Pontius home, we traveled to our good friends, the Segura's, home. There we had the most wonderful Thanksgiving meal! YUMMY! The turkey was superb and everything turned out wonderful! We had a rousing game of Phase 10 (I won 'cuz I had the most points, right?! WRONG - Mr. Freddy won) and then rolled ourselves out the door to go to the chapel for another Thanksgiving meal.

We arrived a tad bit late (no surprise there) and dined on a little of the fare - our tummies were pretty much full still) but we HAD to have some of Jane's fabulous bread! :)

It was a busy day filled with good friends and good food!

Remember, Remember the 5th of November

Guy Fawkes Day

"Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot."

HISTORY: Guy Fawkes, as you may or may not know, was a member of a Roman Catholic revolutionary group who planned to carryout the "gunpowder plot"- in 1605. They attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament which would displace the Protestant King James 1. Of course, they did not succeed.

Guy stood trial in Westminster Hall and him and his colleagues were found guilty and were to be hung, drawn and quartered (ouch!). Guy managed to avoid the worst of his execution by jumping from the scaffold where he was to be hanged, breaking his neck before he could be drawn and quartered. It is said his head was put on a spike as a warning for others who would dare plot against the King.

Every year on "Bonfire Night", the English have fireworks and bonfires to remember (or celebrate, depending on how you look at it) that fateful night over 400 years ago. Guy Fawkes was ranked 30th in the 2002 "100 Greatest Britons".

FESTIVITIES: We went to a local bonfire in Beck Row, right across the street from our friends, the Smith's, house - parking was free there! (muah ha ha) The festivities only lasted an hour, which was good because the kids were either too cold or too hot. We did have a choice spot right near the bonfire and a perfect view of the fireworks. There was a ton of people there and hot chocolate and goodies were sold - the queue was SO LONG that we said "so long" to that and I made Austin some hot chocolate when we arrived home - I had to soothe the wild hot chocolate beast inside him! A fun time and the last time we will be celebrating Bonfire Night in England!

How Frightening!

Halloween 2007


Halloween came and went and I'm out of chronological order on my "spot", do forgive!

Anyhoo, this year for Halloween, Austin had a "Harvet Party" (I know, no Halloween stuff in his class this year).

His party was on Friday the 26th and being so close to the "big day" (Austin has been counting down for 2 weeks), I made some 'creepy crawlers' (meatballs in a biscuit). I wanted to have some kind of spooky theme going. Oh, well! He had a fun time!

Then on Monday the 29th, there was a bowling party for the spouses and families of those military members who are deployed. We strapped on those wonderful bowling shoes and bowled a game. Austin loved it! Melissa pitched in with a few frames - she wasn't too much in the bowling mood, but had a good time eating her favorite 'cheese sticks'.

Halloween came and I spent a good part of the day over at Jane's house making over 190 donuts! I was the "glazer" and she was the "cooker" ... don't you love my verbiage?

For the "big day", Melissa went as a "teenager", Austin was the grim reaper (he has this really cool scythe) and I was a Mormon gangster! I believe my "friend" Jane said the CTR stood for Corrupt the Righteous ... rude! (but not really)

We went Trunk-or-Treating up at the chapel and by the time we came home, it was shower and beddie bye time!

Guess who's 79?

November 2, 2007

Well, today is Peter's 79th birthday! WOO HOO! I made him a special batch of brownies (and the pan with "bite me" on it) and some other culinary goodies to celebrate his special day! Oh, check out his new wheels! He can go up to 8mph on it! He's such a Mr. Speedy!

Seeing as he lives in Diss and it was a Friday, Jane and I went on over to the auction house, just in case there was anything noteworthy ... which there was! :) We actually had Samuel along and he is the proud owner of "his inheritance", which ended up being a table Jane bought for him for 3 pounds!

Good 'ole Peter let us store it at his house (seeing as I drove my car and not Jane's Volvo station wagon) so guess what!? We'll have to go back to the auction, I MEAN back to Peter's to pick up said "inheritance"!

I know, it's tough being me, isn't it?