Gondolas, Colours and a whole lot of Water!

Yes this time we found ourselves in Italy... but a different kind of Italy than the one we know. Unlike before, we were outside the airport this time!
We spent the first night in Treviso, in a beautiful family run guest house and from there we got the train to Venice the net day.
Venice, Venezia, Bella Venezia! The train station lies directly on the Canal Grande and so you can already get a very good idea of how a stay in this city will offer. Wherever you look you’ll find people, boats and water. Then we walked and walked to find the hostel room we rented (Locanda Casa del Melograno)... one advice: in Venice don’t trust Google Maps! In Venice addresses are marked in numbers and districts (eg. Cannareggio 4021)... Google Maps follows streets and numbers (so it takes the district name as a street name)... and yes we ended in a very different place than where we wanted to go. Thank God, we found a very helpful postman (who we met twice) and there was definitely nobody better than him to ask for directions. After at least an hour of taking bumps in the bag, we heard someone saying ‘overbooking’ and had to walk more again. In the end at least we heard that we got a discount of €50 on the whole bill... but we also heard that the room was quite small in half an apartment.
Not much this time... and we were put in another bag and headed straight to the centre of town. There were plenty of people selling masks, many others wearing them, others with huge and elaborate costumes (some of them looked really expensive) posing in front of cameras. Some of them even took photos with us... others didn’t let us take a photo with them.
In the mean time, we also played tourists a little... and visited Piazza San Marco, Palazzo Ducale, Basilica of San Marco, Basilica della Salute, the Bell Tower in Piazza San Marco with wonderful views, and of course, the Ponte Rialto too. Getting lost in the streets of Venice is also something you should do as you end up seeing places which are not so mainstream, yet nice just the same. Well, once we got lost and somehow got to the Arsenale which is quite a highlight in Venice... but otherwise, we did get lost sometimes and was really nice too... some streets are just wide enough for one person to walk through and sometimes you come across wonderful canals with no annoying tourists around.
A ride in the Gondola wasn’t quite an option for us... as this was too much for our liking... but instead we opted to take the waterbus number 1 which sails through the Canal Grande and practically takes the same route most Gondolas take... an option which is waaaay cheaper.
We didn’t miss the famous aqua alta (high water) neither.  On our second morning we couldn’t reach Piazza San Marco other than by water bus. People without boots were trying all sorts of things to walk through, climbing barricades, wearing plastic bags, buying useless waterproof make-shift boots... we took the bus and visited places around the water... including the Basilica of San Marco which is never spared of the water.
The water receded before midday in a matter of minutes... and in the evening while enjoying the costume parade... it started coming up again... yep it just seems to come  up from the same ducts from where rainwater drains into the canals...
Carnival in Venice... is something we recommend for anyone to live at least once in a lifetime. Going out in the streets, doing nothing and just absorb the atmosphere is practically enough. The weekend gets busy, very busy... so try to go there a couple of days before Carnival Friday... the atmosphere starts kicking in, and you can manage  playing tourist without having to suffer long queues. And if you’re into photography... this is the place to be... a combination of colours, posers and history, all at once.

Cosy Utrecht

We found ourselves on the Dutch road again, and apparently it wasn’t one of those long stays this time as we only saw the light of day once, but must admit we were in a comfortable bag this time too.
Well, the day we saw some light we were on board a train for something like an hour or so and when we heard ‘Utrecht’ we were shaken a bit and looks like we left the train.
This Utrecht was a very cosy city... neat canals lined with bars and restaurants down by the canal banks, plenty of shopping possibilities and better still, very nice old buildings too. Amongst them, the main church which locals call the Dom, which was very nice to see too, and the tower opposite as well. From the narrow streets of Utrecht, a bridge and archway lead to the Dom and some metres to the left of it, a very nice building which looked, and actually was the town hall.
And of course, it couldn’t be a Dutch city without plenty of bicycles, flowers (especially tulips) and that occasional coffee shop wouldn’t it? And Utrecht is no exception to that.
Recommend it? Most certainly, but perhaps a day would be enough to get a good idea of what this town has to offer.

Familiar Sounds... Canals... Snow... and Trains!

We’ve been on a long sleep... the weather outside was apparently quite cold... as we heard as well, unless we were dreaming, that there was a Big Freeze all over Europe... little we knew that we were going to end up right in the middle of it, or rather its aftermath.

We were again in a comfy hand luggage... not tight, enough air for both of us to breathe... when we landed we had a feeling of déjà-vu... at least the people were talking a language we once heard long time ago... even though it hasn’t been long since we came out in public.

Well well well... to cut a long story short... we heard the sounds of unwrapping of gifts as well... people singing Christmas carols... playing mini-golf too... we were confused... it was cosy inside... at least... and that’s where we were left for a long time. But... it’s been also nice although cold whenever we peaked outside, from one bag to another, or simply to pose for a photo or two.

No wonder it felt familiar... when we gazed outside... we were back in Holland... the Netherlands... for a while we were scared that they’ll take us back to be hung in that lousy souvenir shop... but it wasn’t anything like that.

While inside, in a lovely warm and welcoming house we discovered was in a small village surrounded by greenhouses that goes by the name of De Lier, we had the time to take some photos under a real Christmas tree... and also Santa Claus too... he seemed quite a shorty compared to the rest of the world outside there... maybe he comes from our same birthplace? Or maybe the same souvenir shop we were picked up from?

Being Sunday, it was cheap to travel today as with one ticket costing not much more than €20, both of us could travel to any destination within the Netherlands... and that’s what we did! We went to Breda... did some shopping there... but before we had a look around... saw a castle surrounded by a canal, as well as the so called Grote Kerk. A student city with plenty of bars and nice shopping streets too, Breda proved to be a very cosy city with plenty to offer especially, although we didn’t stay there till late, later on in the evening and night.

From Breda we took another train that will have us change trains in Eindhoven... and off to Maastricht. A very very nice city... furthest south into the Netherlands where one can probably imagine... a bridge between Germany and Belgium... with nice cafes and restaurants, and a wonderful Christmas village... Winterland Maastricht.  People were ice-skating there. We didn’t. We just looked at them as they swooshed past us. The old town in Maastricht looked pretty historical... but unfortunately the weather and the time of the day didn’t help much in exploring much of the city. But of course, it must not be the last time that we got there.

At any restaurant though, whether Maastricht or not, make sure not to sit next to enthusiastic tourists, especially when they are old, adorning proudly some Guide to Maastricht... or even worse, a second guide book “100% Maastricht”. Yes... she was in her 50s or even early 60s... and her not-so-enthusiastic partner was pretending to listen in between a couple of doze-offs all that she had to read about Maastricht... it was... TERRIBLE. Like her pitiful partner, or husband whatever he was... we were forced to hear her talk, with this strange accent of what sounded like Dutch...

That was more or less all of this trip for us this time... but we hear we might be coming to the Netherlands again pretty soon... don’t know... maybe we just dreamt it... maybe not... we’ll just wait... and see :D 

We went elegant and rural…

   

We went elegant and rural… and we were equally amazed with what we saw and the people we met. 
It wasn’t a long journey this time… no long waits at airport… we heard announcements in Maltese… so must have been the Malta International Airport… and then people talking in what sounded like a twisted dialect of German. It was a comfortable journey… this time we travelled in a smaller but more spacious bag… we guessed right eventually that this won’t be a long journey… but we had more time to take pictures… more time to explore the cities, meet people, travel by train… it was really nice. 

  

On our first night... we met some locals... went around...  went down to an Irish Pub (Charlie P’s)... but unfortunately in Austria it’s still allowed to smoke in clubs... so it was a big mess of smoke engulfing our lungs... then we went to the University... there was some protest... so many students, drunk, stoned, smoking in lecture rooms, protesting against whatever... something they think it’s a reason good enough to voice their opinions against...

The next morning we started off in the centre of... ah yes... forgot to tell you... Vienna … stylish, elegant, neat… the streets, the buildings… big palaces, decorated facades, simply nice. We took a walk by Stephansplatz, but although the scaffolding ruined the scene it didn’t take anything away from the majesty of this very building. The roof of this place of worship, we went in… and the place is huge… slightly dark… but huge. We had a short walk into Kaerntner Strasse… chique (had it not been for a construction site in the middle of it)… and in to the Malteserkirche… not the most special church we saw… in fact it’s very small… but might be special for some… dunno!
Then we walked a bit more… through Graben… a wide pedestrian street… with a big gold-coloured, net covered monument... we heard some 75,000 people died a long time ago because of something called Black Plague... and so they put up a monument here... interesting. What else did we see... ah yes... then we walked more... a very lush street with even more lush shops... Gucci, Luis Vuitton, BVLGARI, Armani... all guarded by big chunky men in black suits... this was Koehlmarkt... hard to believe that once charcoal used to be sold here!

A couple of minutes later... we were enchanted by this building behind some Roman ruins... THAT was the Hofburg... wonderful... then Heldenplatz... it was pretty busy there... with military personnel showing off their weapons, tanks and helicopters... it was like a soldier party... but apparently it was in preparation of a national day or something.
Then we walked further up... crossed the road... and there we were in between two identical buildings... Natural History Museum... and Museum of Art... nice... and walked further then... stopped to buy a very very tasty sausage called Kaesekrainer... with mustard and a piece of brown soft bread... that was really good.... and passed by the Parliament.

   

After a coffee and a toast near the Votivkirche we headed to Schloss Schoenbrunn... an amazing, massive area of land... once habited by one Kaiser after the other. We took things easy here... went for a walk in the gardens, imagined all was ours... it was a bit cloudy but still very impressive.

Later we went shopping at one of the nicest shopping streets we’ve seen... called... erm... Mariahilferstrasse... quite busy though!

  

The next day we headed to Linz... just one train... one and a half hour. Then we got picked up by a very friendly woman... took us to some place half an hour’s drive away... very quiet... very remote village called Kleinzell im Muehlkreis. Very friendly people lived here. We had lunch prepared... homemade Schnitzel... mhmm that was indeed tasty! We then went for a short walk... and the panorama was very nice... probably the most special thing in this village after its people!

Being close to Linz... the European Capital of Culture 2009... we couldn’t not stop by... and there we had a short walk from the centre which lies over the River Danube... to the very modern train station. On the way we thought we’re seeing double... as the figure of a dwarf from Snow White... was even bigger than the tallest and biggest human being we’ve ever seen... the God of Akwaaba must have had his hands in this!

      

Back to Vienna... we sat in a cabin neighbouring what sounded like a kindergarten cabin. But it was nice. We could talk, laugh, talk, laugh... talk a bit more all along the return journey. As this was meant to be our last night in Vienna... we went to eat in a very nice restaurant... and that was Boheme... in a side-street by the Burggasse and very close to the U2/U3 station ‘Volkstheater’... only the music was a bit weird at times... since they only play opera music inside... which sometimes the lady singing was screaming too much in our ears. But otherwise... the food was... yummie!

The next day we woke up very early... visited the oldest zoo in the world... Schoenbrunn Tiergarten... part of the palace we visited two days before... it was nice... but we don’t suggest you go earlier than 10am... all animals were well asleep... and the highlight of the zoo... the Giant Panda was apparently having a very giant sleep as we didn’t get to see much of it, if we did see it! Otherwise... we saw a black jaguar sharing the cage with a spotted jaguar... it was nice to see. We saw a koala... sleeping of course. An hour later... we went to check if Mr Koala was awake now... but he was sleeping... this time on another branch... we had serious doubts if it was the tree that turned around or the koala actually made a move. Well... all in all it wasn’t the luckiest day to go to the zoo... the elephants were being transported and they were renovating some other places. It was nice though to see the three polar bears in the zoo... two of which were playing... or at least so we hope, because they were really wild at playing!
Well... Kwame and I definitely recommend Vienna and other Austrian cities for sure. Take time to visit some locals. They are really friendly and can spend a great time with them. You need a good week though to enjoy Vienna and other places to the full... a weekend might be too short... unless of course you just want to sit down at cafes sipping on coffee and munching on the famous Sachertorte.

Beautifully Massive Istanbul

Yep! We embarked on yet another trip… short but as you will read it offered many unexpected surprises in a good way. Travelling again in the usual comfy hand luggage, we seemed have another long wait in Italy, something that sounded like a passport check, rubber stamping and a driver who picked us up if we understood correctly by the name of Hamdi.

Hamdi turned out to be from Istanbul… where’s that? Europe? Asia? In fact, it is in both… let’s call it Eurasia!

Think about the biggest thing you can imagine… think hard… did you come up with something? Well nevermind, because this city will make whatever you thought about look like, not only a drop in te ocean, but even maybe a speck of sand in the desert. It’s… MASSIVE! 

It took us over an hour to drive from the hotel to the city centre… and yes the hotel was also in Istanbul. It took us roughly another hour from the Ataturk Airport… and guess what? The airport is in Istanbul too!

A massive city, home to many millions of people, young and old, friendly and fond of their country and colourful culture. Beautiful mosques adorn each prominent and less prominent street, alley, square and place. The sounds of ‘Allahu akbar’ at sunrise could be heard from minarets not so far.

Down in the city, traffic was quite annoying and speaking English is not the daily piece of cake for any Turk in the street. 
But down in Taksim Square and the whereabouts, on Friday night the streets are kept alive by the countless number of people on the streets, bars with live ethnic music, street sellers selling from corn-on-the-cob to roasted chestnuts, to spices and fruit, fresh or dries, to fish and mussels, to needless say, kebabs of any shape and taste.

We fell in love with this city. Akua and I managed to find a table in Nevizade Street… very beautiful… yet very busy … and shared a local dark beer… Efes Dark… tasty and really worth the try!

At the hotel we dipped in the Jacuzzi bath, slid down the water slides in the pool, swam in the fresh Marmara Sea by the hotel, and dried ourselves in the sauna. We didn’t quite get the point of the Hammam but, we will chec about that when we come back. Yes we will return! 
And that’s not all yet. We went to the city again, this time in broad daylight. Lovely. Never saw something like it. Hagia Sophia… once a Catholic sanctuary… turned Muslim mosque… now a big museum of an inter-religious nature without any showcases. A masterpiece where in one corner you see scriptures from the Holy Quran… while in another the Holy Mother holding Baby Jesus.

  

Just across the road… the Sultan Ahmed Mosque... better known as the Blue Mosque. Here we had to take off our shoes… must be a very holy place! We saw people standing, then kneeling, then crouching down head to the floor, facing one beautifully adorned wall. We were told it’s the direction of Mecca… wherever that is, it must have a special meaning at least for those people there. The inside of the mosque is all carefully decorated in blue tiny tiles, someone was calling it mosaic… and a bit of smelly yet nice soft carpet with blue tulips. It was our first time in a mosque… but quite a special mosque indeed!

 

From there we walked across the Hypodrome where apparently once stood a place for horse-cart racing. Today, only two columns stand there in the middle… and people sitting and chillaxin’.

Then we got ourselves on a big bus and off to a boat… a very nice and exclusive boat actually. That boat would sail us up and down on the Bosphorus where West meets East… where Europe lies on one side, and Asia on the other… still in Istanbul! Bridges connect the two banks, mosques, luxury houses and other important buildings decorate the magnificent skyline.

 

Sadly it was already time to go back to the airport… but we’ll be back… for sure… cos this city has left us both fascinated and yet had not enough time to see and truly experience all…