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While in Florence we had a lovely dinner with wonderful views of the Ponte Vecchio and the Arno River. I was sporting a Venetian haircut. The lady who cut my hair a few days prior in Venice couldn’t speak a word of English, but she sang to me in Italian through the entire experience. It was very memorable, and I had a smile on my face the whole time.
After dinner we went for a stroll over some of the other bridges going over the Arno to watch the sunset.
After a few days in Venice we headed, by train, to Florence. The above photograph is of Palazzo Vecchio, Florence’s town hall. In the lower, right-hand corner you can see a replica of Michelangelo’s David which has been there since 1910. The original was there for over 300 years until the 19th Century.
This David is the real deal, unlike the countless copies throughout the world. Michelangelo completed this original in 1504. I took this picture in the Galleria dell’Accademia (even though pictures aren’t allowed). It seemed a shame not to take a picture so I crept back into a corner to take this when the guards weren’t looking. I’m not sure why photography isn’t allowed. Perhaps they want to increase postcard sales in the gift shop.
The first picture for today is from our gondola. This is the Rialto Bridge from which yesterday’s photo was taken. The people on the far right are riding the vaporetto water “bus” which is far less expensive than a gondola. Gondolas are way overpriced and not worth it. Even though the vaporetto isn’t cheap either you should ride it at least once during the day and then again at night while in Venice.
Our last shot of Venice before we continue our tour of Italy in another town tomorrow… More gondolas and canals for your viewing pleasure… This photograph includes an Italian restaurant too. The guys in the lower left corner are the gondola “drivers” (pilots?, captains? I’m not sure what they are called.)
I’m heading out of town for a while for the holidays. You won’t be left in the lurch however. I have pre-blogged the next couple weeks with pictures from our trip to Italy in the summer of 2005. I had a pretty lousy camera at the time, but hopefully the sights won’t be too painful on your eyes.
We’ll start things off in Venice. Today’s photograph is from the Rialto Bridge, one of the main landmarks in Venice over the Grand Canal.
I was jet lagged in Venice, which was the first place we visited. We missed a flight and spent several hours in a plane on a runway in Dallas on the way so it wasn’t a pleasant journey (taking well over 24 hours). So my memories of Venice are rather foggy in my head, sort of like this picture.
As I mentioned a few days back, I have too many decent photos of Mexico to cram into just one week so I will revisit Mexico again at a later date. There is even talk of another trip down there for Spring Break of 2009 so maybe I’ll toss in another Mexico week on this blog then (even if we don’t go again).
We stayed at the Presidente InterContinental Puerto Vallarta. The hotel isn’t in the main part of town which is a bit inconvenient but well worth the trouble of a taxi or bus when you do want to head into the city center. The picture I took, above, was my first impression as I walked out onto our balcony. It doesn’t get much better than a view like that.
I remember two of the meals we had in Puerto Vallarta as being among the best I’ve ever had.
That does it for Mexican week. We’ll return to things Japanese tomorrow. I think I’ll do some other week-long travel blogs in the future though as I quite enjoyed it (even if those of you only interested in Japan didn’t ;)). Be on the lookout for future weeks dedicated to Canada, Hawaii, and Italy.
Each of the three times I’ve stayed in Guanajuato has been at the El Meson de los Poetas. The place is walking distance to all of the good stuff in town. The Diego Rivera House and Museum is practically next door.
There are lots of stairs in this place as it’s built into a hill side. One of the rooms I stayed in was something like 100 stairs from the entrance.
The above picture is of the breakfast eating place. The food is really good. The only downside of this hotel is the noise. While it is nice and quiet in the afternoons things can get noisy at night. I doubt you will find a place in downtown Guanajuato that isn’t loud at night though as the town is really hopping after dark. If you need to sleep before 2 or 3 in the morning I suggest earplugs. You may hear dogs in the morning too so wear earplugs if you want to sleep in late.