honey, can you stop singing "o sole mio"? you are giving me a

honey, can you stop singing "o sole mio"? you are giving me a headache....
Originally uploaded by Doc Tony

this shot just made me wonder if the tip of the gondola hit the bottom of the bridge and if the gondolero actually stooped or sat as it passed under it. lol!!!

i feel these things can be a bit overrated and overpriced but if i had the time and the moolah i would have gone for it. ha ha! call me a tourist milking cow but venice is venice! the water looksed a bit murky at that time and had a not so appealing scent, but i would have done it anytime than can catch the ones in las vegas or macau...well, maybe next time.

back to venice: just off the train and what do you see?

back to venice: just off the train and what do you see?
Originally uploaded by Doc Tony

coming from milan and just alighting from the train you are greeted by this canal. docked are gondolas and speedboats and this the first bridge that you will see spanning the busy waterway. i remember getting quite giddy with excitement at what the day has in store, having visited venice only once ages before, hardly remembering how it looked then.

all in all the day was fruitful and fun, i just imbibed all of venice that i could in the short span of time we were there. i am so grateful i have these pictures to go back to again and again until the time i get to go back. and i hope, soon!

i remember the day was hot, but we had a blast!

i remember the day was hot, but we had a blast!
Originally uploaded by Doc Tony

there are several of these mini docks for individual gondolas lined along the grand canal of venice. each one is different, perhaps as a way to attract the tourists. i love how this one added hanging flower pots to give it a rustic look.

where to take a taxi in venice

where to take a taxi in venice
Originally uploaded by Doc Tony

along the grand canal are lined these gondolas. this is also where you go to take a taxi boat back to the train station. i would have wanted to just walk back, but we had to get back faster to catch our train to milan. unfortunately, despite that we missed the train! lol!

Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri)

Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri)
Originally uploaded by Doc Tony

The view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment. The bridge name, given by Lord Byron in the 19th century, comes from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice out the window before being taken down to their cells. In reality, the days of inquisitions and summary executions were over by the time the bridge was built, and the cells under the palace roof were occupied mostly by small-time criminals.

A local legend says that lovers will be assured eternal love if they kiss on a gondola at sunset under the bridge. This legend played a key part in the 1979 film A Little Romance.

(from Wikipedia)