From Venice to Rome

My "Wordless Venice Week" is over and I hope you all liked it! I have not received many comments but there is still time for that. So if you have a favorite photo from this Venice series I would love to hear about it. Also, if you think there is some unexploited potential in those photos, some constructive criticism is always appreciated.

In the meanwhile I did not spend much time at home. As those of you who follow me on Instagram know already, I just came back from a trip to the eternal city of Rome. It was great - M. and I both enjoyed it a lot.

I have a bunch of posts ready for you. They will be packed with useful travel information and great photos. It might take a while for me to actually write them and make a selection of photos that actually deserve to be published but I am sure I will get it done. I hope you enjoy the ride!

Oh, and if you are wondering what those letters on the above shield are all about, let me shed some light on the subject. SPQR is an acronym from a Latin phrase, Senātus Populusque Rōmānus - "The Senate and People of Rome". It is widely used even today on numerous emblems (e.g. Coat of arms of the modern day municipality of Rome).

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Venice in photos - Before and after sunset

If you like these two photos, you are welcome to click on the Venice label to see some more. Photos look better in higher resolution - by clicking on any of them you will let them shine in all their glory.

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Venice in photos - Beautiful bridges

If you like these two photos, you are welcome to click on the Venice label to see some more. Photos look better in higher resolution - by clicking on any of them you will let them shine in all their glory.

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Venice in photos - Coffee break

If you like these two photos, you are welcome to click on the Venice label to see some more. Photos look better in higher resolution - by clicking on any of them you will let them shine in all their glory.

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Venice in photos - San Giorgio Maggiore in the distance

If you like these two photos, you are welcome to click on the Venice label to see some more. Photos look better in higher resolution - by clicking on any of them you will let them shine in all their glory.

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Venice in photos: Statues

If you like these two photos, you are welcome to click on the Venice label to see some more. Photos look better in higher resolution - by clicking on any of them you will let them shine in all their glory.

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Venice in photos - View from Ponte Accademia

If you like these two photos, you are welcome to click on the Venice label to see some more.
Photos look better in higher resolution - by clicking on any of them you will let them shine in all their glory.

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Venice in photos - An expensive activity

If you like these two photos, you are welcome to click on the Venice label to see some more. Photos look better in higher resolution - by clicking on any of them you will let them shine in all their glory.

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Venice in photos - Introduction

Since I have recently returned from Venice, Italy with a photo camera full of beautiful memories, I thought it would only be fair if I shared them with you.

I was pretty happy with how some of them turned out. I still believe in what I said some time ago:

It really is hard to take a bad photo in Venice!

Rather than publishing all of them at once, I will publish a series of more or less wordless posts about Venice in the next few days. Those of you who do not posses enough patience to wait that long, are welcome to browse among my previous posts about Venice. If that is still not enough, there are also some recent posts about the nearby town of Chioggia - also known as Little Venice.

After some consideration I decided to post two photos a day for the next week. So let the Venice in photos week officially begin!

I hope you like the first couple with Gondoliers waiting for customers in early morning hours.

If you like these two photos, you are welcome to click on the Venice label to see some more. Photos look better in higher resolution - by clicking on any of them you will let them shine in all their glory.

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Wordless Wednesday: Venetian lion in Chioggia

This Lion of Saint Mark (also known as the winged lion of Venice) - a symbol of the Republic of Venice is guarding one of the entrances into the town of Chioggia. Even today the lion can still be seen all over the Mediterranean.

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Venetian pizza in Italian Dolomites

Once you see some places they are simply impossible to forget. Venice is definitely one of them.

It is strange how a small thing can trigger memories of such places. The last time this happened to me was just a few weeks ago in a skiing resort deep in Italian Dolomites.
In my case it was a "Tronchetto Pizza" listed in a menu at a cute local trattoria/pizzeria. For those of you who don't know Venice all that well - Tronchetto is an artificial island in the Venetian lagoon and often a starting point for visitors to the city.


The pizza was actually shaped like a gondola and as delicious as it should be. Unfortunately I am not sure this is evident from the above photo. I guess you will just have to take my word for it.

The pizza brought back a lot of memories also because now is the most popular time to visit the city of Venice. It is Carnival time!
It actually officially started just a few days ago. This year (2012) it is scheduled to last from 11th to 21st of February so you can still make it if you hurry up.


I have published some useful advice for first time visitors on this blog before. If you are not interested in a good advice there are also some great photos (like the one above) worth checking out.
You can take a look at When to visit Venice, a post about Traditional Venetian masks, tips on how to do a cheap photo trip to Venice or simply click on the Venice label in the right column to check out everything I posted on this topic before.

Comments are more then welcome!

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The cheapest way to get to Greece

As I have already mentioned in one of my previous posts, I was lucky enough to take part in a prize trip to Corfu.
Since transport to the location was not a part of the deal and this was a more or less a last minute trip, I had to do some research to find the most affordable mean of transport from Slovenia to the Greek island of Corfu.


Flights from nearby airports (e.g. Ljubljana, Venice) were either full or too expensive, so I had to search for alternatives. I found out literary the only alternative was a ferry. There were a few options, but Venice seemed the most reasonable - it is the closest to Slovenia. You can expect a lower price if you book way ahead of time and if you can afford adapting your schedule for a day or two. We had to settle for the prices on the date of our scheduled departure.
Generally there are two ferry companies you should check out when traveling from Italy to Greece: Minoan Lines and Anek Lines.

For a moment we were even thinking of taking a car with us on the ferry. We saw many German and Italian cars on Corfu so I guess this is also a thing to consider. We decided to rent a vehicle when we get there.
We opted to travel as deck passengers, which is the cheapest option. If you are thinking of renting a cabin you can get a really good offer (substantially lower, compared to web prices) when the ferry is already on the way. Use your haggling skills to your advantage. However there is a risk involved when traveling in high season - there might be no room left by the time ship sets sail.
Usually there are also "Airtype Economy Seats" available, but in my opinion those are much more uncomfortable compared to simply sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor.
In the end we were happy with our choice - we really enjoyed sleeping under the stars with a light sea breeze in our hair.


There is also a free bonus when taking a ferry from Venice. Even if you don't get to stroll through the streets of this charming Italian city, you get a great view from the deck of your ferry. To my surprise the ferry passed right by the famous Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square). We got another chance to take beautiful photos on our way back.


Even though this may be the cheapest way to get to Greece from northern Italy, one should be aware this type of transport takes quite some time. It took us 26 hours to get from Venice to Corfu. Since Corfu is the northernmost Greek island, you can expect the travel to other Greek islands to last even longer (e.g. it takes more then a day and a half to get from Venice to Crete and it also includes switching ferries).

We did not mind the long journey. We simply tried to have fun from the first minute on the road and I think we did a great job. When you are travelling with the right group of people, you can always count on having a great time.

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Wordless Wednesday: Venice from the Sea

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Visiting Venice Carnival this year?

If you want to see The Venice Carnival in full glory, you might still just make it in time this year. However, you should make a quick last minute reservation. Since most of the accommodations (at least the really good and affordable ones) might be already taken, I suggest you book something in a city nearby. Then you can take as many day trips you want into the Floating city.

Official dates for this year's carnival activities are from the 19th until the 20th of February and from the 26th of February till the 8th of March 2011. For all additional information (in case you don't find it on my blog) visit the official website of the Venice Carnival 2011.

Despite the fact a week ago I was driving practically by the city, this year I decided to skip this event altogether. I wrote about the cities main turn-offs this time of year in this post.
If you didn't click on the suggested link let me just sum it all up in a six letter word: CROWDS.

If for any reason you also won't make it to Venice this year, you might at least scroll through some nice photos I took in this photogenic little city - they may just make you change your mind in the last moment. To open my other posts related to Venice, simply click on the Venice label on the right.

Venice Vacations

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When to visit Venice?

I have decided not to visit Venice this year. At least not in this time of year when everything there goes crazy with the annual Carnival (Italians call it Carnevale di Venezia).


The best time to visit Venice depends on the purpose of visit. If you want to see the Venice Carnival with all the famous Venetian costumes, you obviously have to plan your visit when the event takes place. It starts around two weeks before Ash Wednesday and ends on Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras), the day before Ash Wednesday.
That means in 2010 it takes place between February 6th and February 16th. If you decide to go these days, you have to be prepared to face hordes of other tourists from all over the world. Walking the streets of Venice during this period of time is limited to being carried along by a river of people. Obviously seeing most of the popular attractions during this time is literary impossible.
Also taking good photos is quite a challenge with all those crowds around.


If you choose some other time of year (for instance October or November), you will probably be able to avoid the large scale tourist pollution and have an opportunity to wander the narrow streets and enjoy the (at times smelly) canals almost by yourself. Actually you will never be all alone in Venice, but it can be quite nice even with some tourists around.
The drawback is that except inside many shops you won't be able to see any traditional Venetian costumes.

However there is a short period when you can taste a little bit of both. Just before the official Carneval starts, you can avoid the large crowds and also see some early costumes parading the streets. I am pretty sure they will be more than happy to pose for your camera. I would say the best time to do it is about two weeks before the official beginning.


That is roughly the period we chose last year. I shot loads of really nice photos and also had a great time. I strongly recommend it.
You can check out my photo results and read more about the trip by clicking on the Venice link under Labels somewhere in the right frame of this blog.
On the same link you will also find info on how the famous Venetian masks are made, how much such a day trip actually costed me, where to buy or rent a genuine Venetian costume and much, much more.

Also don't hesitate to ask any question on this topic. I'll be more then happy to help you out.

Venice Vacations

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Traditional Venetian masks

Venetian masks come in many variations, shapes and colors. A visitor to Venice can buy one from a bunch of shops and stalls.



For someone who is not an expert, it is quite difficult to distinguish good, quality ones from many cheap reproductions. Masks are made from different materials and by using various techniques. Some (the expensive ones obviously) are hand-crafted using a traditional papier mache technique and traditionally decorated. Most of others are made out of gypsum base, which is then painted and decorated.



Some come with a certificate of authenticity and others don't. If you care about those things, be careful where you buy.

On the other hand if you are only interested in what a mask looks like, you will be able to get one for a much more reasonable price. If you just want to hang it on a wall and do not intend to actually wear it, I guess all those things I mentioned above don't really matter.



I leave the decision which kind (if any) to buy totally in your hands.

On the photos you can see the details of some of the most popular Venetian mask designs. Pretty neat, aren't they?

If you liked this post you should probably click on the Venice link under labels to check out more of the similar content.

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Venetian costumes

Locals like to show off in their carefully made, rich costumes. They are not the only ones. In fact when in Venice you can rent a costume yourself!
They say Venice looks even better from inside of a costume.

There are many shops and ateliers where you can get your dream costume.
You can take a look at one of them on this link.

Some of the costumes are really nice replicas of old clothes. There are replicas available even from 1600.

It is not cheap, but I guess it's one of those things one would do once in a lifetime, so I guess price should not be such an issue.

I didn't buy nor rent a costume, but as you can see, I took some nice photos of the ones in action this year.

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Lamp post detail from Venice

A few posts back I mentioned how difficult it is to take a bad photo in Venice. Here is a proof of that.

Even a detail of a lamp post on St Mark's Square can make a nice motive.

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Photo trip to Venice

When we decided to visit Venice during the Carneval (Italians call it Carnevale di Venezia) there was six of us. However one of our companions had to cancel at the last minute.

We all agreed to make a photo trip out of it, so we scheduled an early start on Saturday morning. After some delay (one of the participants overslept), we were on the highway heading for Venice. It was a three hour ride from Ljubljana, Slovenia to Venice, Italy. You can check a suggested itinerary here (provided by ViaMichelin).



When we parked our cars on the island of Tronchetto it was already past 11 AM (we were well behind our schedule). From there we caught a Vaporetto (a water bus) to St. Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco). This is the famous square just across the island of Murano.



There were quite a few locals in costumes showing off. Many tourists and also many professional photographers (judging by their equipment) gladly took the chance. We also joined in and got trigger happy.

We spent quite some time on the square, before venturing into the maze of narrow streets and stinky canals.



We continued wandering the streets until a way too early sunset. After sunset we soon headed back to our parking area. We went on foot and took a chance to see a bit less glamorous side of the city. Piles of garbage by the road were just one of the highlights of our walk.

I personally think Venice is overrated as a tourist location. It is expensive and overrun by tourists all year round. Nonetheless I wouldn't dare to argue about its picturesqueness. It is almost impossible to take a bad photo while there.

I hope you enjoy my selection.



This trip was an excellent idea. And it was relatively cheap too. For two persons it costed under 80 EUR in total. If all five of us went by one car, it would be even cheaper.
If I break it down to separate items it looks like this:

road tools ......... 10 EUR
parking ............ 20 EUR
gasoline ........... 25 EUR
vaporetto ......... 12 EUR
pizza & drinks .... 10 EUR
----------------------------
2 persons total ... 77 EUR

I guess it is necessary to point out that we successfully resisted the temptation to buy any souvenirs or enjoy a coffee on the main square.
This stuff can get really expensive. For instance if you sit at a table closer to a canal, they usually charge you more for whatever you order!

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Venice Carnival 2008

Carnival of Venice or Carnevale di Venezia - as Italians call it, is the place to be these days. This year I went there too!

A couple of days ago me and M. were going through our options on how to spend this last Saturday. One of our options was skiing. We were invited to join a group of friends on a skiing day-trip to Austria.

We almost agreed to go for it, when another option came up.

Four of our other friends were planning a photo trip to Venice. We were interested the moment we heard about it. After a short discussion we opted for this one.

We have both been to Venice before, so we kind of knew what to expect. However we (me especially) were a bit worried this time of year the city might be overrun with tourists from allover the world.



Some years ago, when we were there during the Carnival the streets were literally flooded with people. The human river just swallowed us and it was almost impossible to take a turn. If the crowd was going left, so were we.
You can imagine the nightmare when we tried to take photos. Taking a photo without at least some people in it was science fiction. That really is not my kind of thing.
Unfortunately that wasn't the end of it. It was a very cold day and the strong wind wasn't so nice either. As hours passed, the wind grew stronger and we were freezing.
It was definitely not something to hope for this year.

Luckily this year was nothing like that. All main events were scheduled for the next weekend, so I guess the majority of American and Japanese tourists are still waiting to catch a plain for Venice.
Even the weather was nice and sunny this year. The temperatures were somewhere around 11 degrees Celsius. Altogether it was a nice day in Venice. We were glad we went there again.



This will have to do for now. I will post again on this subject when I make it through a pile of photo material. And it's quite a pile!
Stay tuned for some more old canals and sparkling costumes.

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