ITALY WEEK: VENEZIA

In keeping with our Italian voyage this week on The Thumbnail Traveler's web and social media sites, and as is perhaps appropriate for Halloween - where the tradition of Carnavale is at its height - today's destination is the beautiful jewel of the Adriatic, Venice.

Shop window with Carnavale-themed gifts and collectibles

Piazza San Marco

Dining alfresco on the Grand Canal

Venice is a city of love 

EXPLORING ALLEYS - VENICE

Of all cities in the world, Venice is commonly listed as among the most beautiful and unique. Both are fitting descriptions.

One of the primary charms is that the vast majority of thoroughfares in Venice are alleys. This makes the city imminently walkable, and the virtue of being entirely surrounded by water means you can only get so lost before you encounter the sea. (You can get very, very lost, but there's ultimately going to be a line of water you cannot cross.)

But the magic of Venice is readily found down just about any interesting corridor you chose to take.

To finish our weeklong exploration of alleys we visit Venice, the grandest Alley lady of them all.

VENICE, ITALY - DUSK IN PIAZZA SAN MARCO

Just before dusk in the Piazza San Marco, Venice. It's a gigantic architectural spectacle which will overwhelm the casual eye. Where to look? What to see? Should I stop and stare or move on?

Your choice.

VENICE, ITALY - PICTURES AT SUNSET

End of the day. 

A lone shopper getting a few last pictures in before presumably heading back to the hotel to get ready for the evening's plans. It's sunset in Venice.

VENICE, ITALY - BACK ALLEYS, MAIN STREETS

Venice is famously known for its waterways. The lagoon and the myriad of canals
which carve their way through the city.

But equally fascinating are the narrow alleys and walkways which wind "behind the scenes". If ever there was a city designed for exploring on foot it may surprise you that Venice is one of the very best. It's easy to get lost, and equally easy to get found again.

TRAVELING BY RAIL

"As a child I found railroad stations exciting, mysterious, and even beautiful, as indeed they often were."
                       
                                                                               - Paul Johnson





There is an allure to trains and train travel which is almost mystical. We've all been raised with the images and sounds of rail systems around the world, from the lonely high-pitched whistle of steam locomotives chugging through the European countryside to the deep-throated honk of Disney's monorails.

L.A.'s Union Station

New York's Grand Central

Yesterday's DAILY ESCAPE featured this photograph of the central train station in Rome, Stazione Termini. Subsequently that image got me to thinking about the variety of train stations around the world, particularly those I have visited and photographed over the years. Like many other of my Travel images, train stations weren't really a focus -- pun unavoidable -- they were interesting sidebars.

Being an American, I was raised with the romance of rail. It's an image highly ingrained into each of us, but one which is only dimly reflected in modern day reality. Unlike Europeans, Americans largely dispensed with rail service with the growth of the auto industry. We embraced our cars, and left the trains behind.

Euro-Speedsters!

However with the 21st century came a tightening of resources, making a returned glance at rail a necessary part of regional and urban planning. Too many cars, not enough oil, overcrowded airports and the relative cost of railroad services have brought about a renaissance of sorts to the industry. Light rail is all the rage in American cities. And even inter-city service is showing renewed possibilities for the weary traveler.

California, usually at the forefront of trends in the States, is building the first true high speed rail service across the state. (It continues to be controversial, primarily to those people who see only outgoing dollars instead of an investment in the state's future.)

The author transiting The Chunnel

For myself, I am convinced in both the viability as well as the desirability of rail service as a major mode of transportation. And not without some experience in the area: as a small boy I (apparently) rode the Japanese bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto and back. Later, in adulthood, were rides on Europe's premier high speed rail systems -- Eurostar, TGV, Thalys and Le Frecce -- as well as trips up  and down the Eastern seaboard aboard Amtrak.

None of this includes the uncounted trips on a variety of subways and light rail systems in cities around the world.

BART, San Francisco

Some day my plan is to take rail trips from Chicago to Portland, from Perth to Sydney, and something -- as yet unfound -- in South America. Each of these promise to be an adventure, and that's what traveling is all about. It's often not about racing to a destination, but the stages and viewscapes in-between.

It's often what you see on your way TO something else that makes an adventure worth having.

And that...is where rail excels.

Train station, Monaco grandeur

Tren Italia

Rain, in Genova

Pic of the Day: Rush Hour

Rush hour in Venice.

Pic of the Day: Bell Tower St Marks

The iconic bell tower at St Mark's Square, Venice.

Pic of the Day: Dinner in Venice

So much more than just excellent food goes into creating a memorable meal. Environment can sometimes play as significant a role. Dining alongside the Grand Canal is itself an adventure.

Pic of the Day: Venetian Overload

You may have heard the news, a couple of years ago, that Italy was going to limit the numbers and sizes of cruise ships allowed in the Venetian Lagoon. That limit has now gone into effect.

This shot, I think goes a long way to explain the need. Circa 2012.

More from the BBC

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-24831679

ROAD TRIP: Verona

"But since thou lovest, love still and thrive therein, Even as I would when I tol love begin."  - William Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen from Verona

The Piazza del Erbes

Few places in this world are as deeply embedded in our collective romantic psyche as is Verona, the city made famous by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The simple mention of the name Verona immediately conjures intimate feelings, a sense of tragedy and of another, far more romantic age.

In truth, you are able to find those things in the Verona of today, but if that's all you're looking for -- and there is a balcony labeled as being the true Juliet's that the visitor may photograph or even, for a moderate sum, stand upon and get yourself serenaded for a moment or two -- then you will miss quite a lot of what the modern city has to offer.

Torre dei Lamberti

For our visit we focused on activities in and around the Piazza delle Erbe (Plaza of Herbs, indicating its history as a shopping district). The Piazza is an elongated street, doubly wide with a central section of booths and stands loaded with herbs, oils, trinkets and a variety of foodstuffs. The buildings surrounding the Piazza convey a sense of ancient modernism, with trendy boutiques and their window displays often standing in stark contrast to the classical facade of the building they inhabit.

We arrived for a day trip at Verona's Porto Nuova rail station after an hour long ride from Venice. It's a short enough haul that the transit isn't so taxing you're exhausted by the time you arrive, and yet far enough that you get a chance to see some of the Veneto's beautiful countryside and classic towns. 

A taxi was readily hailed and we made the five minute ride to to piazza without incident. In planning this trip we had orientied in on this particular location versus the Veronese Colosseo a few blocks south due to the more intense history associated with the piazza -- it once served as the primary marketplace in Verona -- in addition to the range of activities available.

"Romeo, oh Romeo..."

One of the most beautiful features that will immediately grab your attention in the plaza is the Palazzo del Comune's ornate clock tower, the Torre dei Lamberti, which tops out at 83 meters above the piazza. The tall, thin column immediately draws your attention and establishes the mood of the surroundings. Constructed of bricks and marble, with the clock itself completed in the late 1700s. The original tower dates from nearly 300 years earlier.

After a casual stroll through the marketplace, and a de rigeur visit to Juliet's balcony -- pretty much a crowded courtyard just off the main street within an easy walk of the piazza -- we wandered through the Arco della Costa to a second, equally fascinating piazza, the Piazza dei Signori, where we paused for an excellent lunch at one of the omnipresent sidewalk cafes.

Following lunch, and a brief stop at the restrooms available in the far back edge of the Castello's interior courtyard, we wandered back to the main plaza and started down the very fashionable Via Giuseppe Massini, which seems to attract quite a few trendy boutiques. Certainly worth a walk, particularly if you're in the company of people who love window shopping. 

Going in virtually any direction would be rewarding, but we turned right on the Via Quattro Spade and then right again on Via Pellicciai to make a complete loop of the neighborhood -- though if you're interested in a longer walk the area is ideal for simply wandering for hours.


Verona really is set up as a meandering city. It's a place the casual pedestrian and the hard-core city hiker alike will find something of interest, as well as a decent workout. There are numerous nooks and alleys to be explored, as well as enough food and shopping to occupy those who are more into those things. And, as noted, it's ideal as both an end destination, or as a day trip from Venice.  I will note that Verona is on our "return for a longer stay" list, simply because the taste was enough to invite us back at some point in the future.

Whether you're hiking your way across Europe or simply looking for a few hours before your cruise ship departs from Venice, consider Verona as a potential target. History, food and shopping, all wrapped into one very accessible bow.

Fair Verona, Piazza del Erbes