Europe Trip (Venice, Italy)

8th April 2011
The night before, we boarded the OBB Euronight train [link] from Salzburg to Venice. The whole journey costs €47.21 (RM210.50) per person and it took us 7 hours to reach.

It was morning when we arrived Venice. Brief introduction on Venice. Venice is known as the City of Water. It does not have land vehicles but only water transport except in one small island nearby called Lido. It is one of the cities I have been wanting to visit in my life.

After coming out from Venezia Santa Lucia railway station, we bought the two-days pass for water bus. My brother and I got a 50% discount as we are both 26 years old and below. We took the water bus to our hotel called Hotel Pantalon near S. Toma Station. Actually, most of the time, in order to go from one place to another, you need to sit the water bus. Unless the places you want to go are linked at the same area. All the information on the prices and timetable can be viewed here [link].

Water Bus Routes

Water Bus Station

As usual, after putting our luggage in our hotel which was quite home-like, we explored the places nearby. We saw San Zaccaria, a church where the body of John the Baptist's father is supposedly contained!

San Zaccaria

I had my first Italian pizza in Italy! The pizzas were quite cheap compared to Malaysia and they were delicious! Simply delicious! After that, we passed by the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. It is one of the greatest churches in the city.



Italian Pizzas in Italy!

A picture on a bridge in Venice. Significant!

The Venetian carnival mask. There were a few shops selling these.

Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari is the maroon building behind.

Since our hotel has a kitchen, we went to a supermarket to buy pastas and sauce. Cooking in Venice!

The pasta we made!

After that, we sat the water bus to San Marco. To go there, we went through along the Grand Canal which is one of the major canals in the city. In San Marco, we went to St. Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco). It is the principal public square of Venice.

The water bus station, the one floating on the water.

The Grand Canal

At San Marco, walking towards the Square.

St. Mark's Square

There were many other significant landmarks around the Square. For instance, Saint Mark's Basilica, the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic. It is the most famous church in the city. It has a museum which opens from 9:45am to 4:45pm.

Saint Mark's Basilica

Beside of the Basilica, you can see a tall tower that can be seen from far. It is called St. Mark's Campanile. It is actually the bell tower of the Saint Mark's Basilica and its 98.6m tall.

St. Mark's Campanile on the left!

The Doge's Palace [link] was also nearby. It is built in Venetian Gothic style. Now it is turned into a museum. Next is San Moisè, a church that is dedicated to Moses in the Bible.

Doge's Palace

On the way back, we saw the Saint Mary of Health (Santa Maria della Salute) which is another Catholic church. We did not go down to the church though but to view it as we passed by. The Rialto Bridge was up ahead us after that. It is one of the four bridges across the Grand Canal.

Saint Mary of Health

Rialto Bridge

It was dark when we reached hotel. The night was a little quiet and there was not that much night life in Venice.


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