Venice, Italy - Day 4

The Peggy Guggenheim Museum

Peggy Guggenheim was part of the famous and very wealthy Guggenheim family but when her father died on the Titanic she and her mother were not accepted by the Guggenheim family and she  left with her mother to go to Europe.  During her life she had numerous failed marriage and didn't think she was a good daughter, wife or mother so she dedicated her whole life to art.  During her life she created a very famous art collection.  In her later years she moved to Venice.  When she died her house was turned into a museum where her vast art collection is displayed.  She is also buried there with her many dogs.  

A Picasso

Kandinsky

Modigliani

Jackson Polloch

Piazza San Marco

The Piazza San Marco is the main square in Venice and it is very large compared to any other area in Venice.  There are lots of restaurants and art galleries around the sides and many of the restaurants have singers with violins and pianos playing traditional Italian music.  There are also TONS of pigeons and if you hold out your hand with bread crumbs they will fly on your arm to eat.  We tried it but it was too scary when they came flying at you!

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Venice, Italy - Day 3

Food

I only have three words to say about what you eat in Venice - pizza, pasta and gelato!  All delicious and about all we ate for 4 days! 

Gelato!!

a typical gelato store

Mask Making 

Just about everywhere in Venice you can find mask shops and vendors selling masks.  Some are very simple and some are really, really fancy.  We went to the shop of one of the mask-makers and she taught us how to paint a traditional mask.  It was really fun.  

Before, our blank mask

our finished masks!

Other Masks:

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Venice, Italy - Day 2

Bridges

Because everything in Venice is connected by water, there are hundreds of bridges so that people can walk from place to place.  Many are famous and some are even special for people in love to go - if they put a lock around one of teh bridge bars it is said that they will have good luck.

This bridge had a lot of locks on it.

Here we are on one of the bridges

Murono Glass

Murano is an island inside the Venician Lagoon.  It is famous for it's glass making, especially lights (especially chandeliers) and jewelry and just about anything else that can be made out of glass.  Many famous glass artists either started or studied in Murano.  We went to one glass factory and they told us that it can take 20-30 years to become a glass "master" and kids sometimes start working with their fathers when they are around 10 - many factories have been in a family for many, many years.  

I got to try blowing some glass

A HUGE chandelier in traditional Venetian style

More modern glass lights

Fun Chandeliers

one of hundreds of glass shops

Murano glass art

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Venice, Italy - Day 1

Water

Venice is a city in Italy which is really cool because everything is done by water - there are no roads for cars (there are narrow streets for walking) but all travel and deliveries etc has to be done by boat.  Rather than car taxis there are water taxis.  Food and construction materials are delivered by boat, even the ambulances and police go by boat.  

 

 

On the way from the airport to the hotel, they dropped us at the hotel's own dock!



 

arriving at the first canal

Painters have to paint from the boats!

A policeman patrolling the Grand Canal

Travelling though the canals.

Even construction trucks need to be moved by boat.

Venice is having a really big problem with the rising water level. Many homes on the water have had to block off their first level and only use the upper stories in their houses.

Gondolas

Venice is famous for their gondolas.  The gondola is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. For centuries gondolas were the chief means of transportation and most common watercraft within Venice.  Today though they are mostly used by tourists to go along the canals.  If you are lucky (or you pay more money), your gondola driver will sing Italian songs to you.  

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Nice, France

Location:

Nice is located in southern France and is considered part of the French Riviera.  Nice is now a major transportation hub in Europe, low-cost airlines now offer frequent flights to the Nice Cote d’Azur Airport from London, Paris and other cities.

Food

We expected to find lots of French food but actually most of the restaurants there serve Italian food because Nice used to be part of Italy. Nice has only been part of France since 1860, when Italy reluctantly gave it up to repay France for helping defend itself from the Austrians.

Panna Cotta, a traditional Italian dessert made with cheese and caramel was really good.

We thought this looked disgusting but mixed two very popular foods - gelato and focaccia bread!

The Beach

Nice's natural occurring beaches are pebbled unlike sandy beaches. We found one beach that they have brought sand to, it was the only one we went to because sitting and wanting on sharp stones is not fun!

Catching our breath before hurling back into the waves

figuring out how to do handstands in the waves

Noon Cannon

Another cool fact is at that at noon a cannon is fired everyday that can be heard all over the city. The history of this dates back to the 1800's when a British General was living in Nice and was upset that his wife didn't made on time so he got the military to fire a cannon to remind her to make his lunch. It is a tradition that stuck and they still do it every day!

The Daily Market

In the old city they have a daily market with lots of flowers, food, bread, artists etc.

An artist painting and selling her works 



French soaps

teas and spices

Our marzipan fruit  selections

marzipan fruit (almond paste) selection!

Fresh Tomatoes

Venice Triathalon:

The Venice Triathalon took place on our last day in Venice. It was awesome, we could watch the whole thing from our hotel balcony!

The Seven Statues of The Massena Square

In one of the main squares called Messena Square there are seven resin sculptures of men in different positions on very, very tall posts.  During the day they are white, at night they are lit up all different colors that change every few minutes.  They were created by Jaume Plensa, a Spanish artist.  These seven characters represent seven continents and the communication between the different communities of today’s society. The name of this creation is “conversation à Nice”.

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