gapvic

Slowly getting through the photo editing! Here is the second email for those interested: Dear friends, family and loved ones, Attached should hopefully be a few photos and, if I've worked out how to do it, a short video of us crossing the Grand Canal in a gondola. Not one of the crazy expensive tourist gondola, but one the locals use to pop across the water. Great value at 2euro a ride and so much fun! Observation no. 8 - at exactly seven each morning, our local church bells in Venice toll 60 times. No rolling over and pushing the snooze button on that alarm clock! Our days in Venice fall into an easy routine. We rise with the bells and after breakfast, explore a new part of the city. We pick up pastries along the way and around mid-day head back to the apartment for lunch. After a rest we head out again, this time in a different direction, until it is time to return for dinner. Observation no. 9 - each morning, and again in the evening, the Italian nonna in the building opposite leans out her window and spends time surveying her world below. No peaking from behind curtains here; she takes an open interest in the activities of her neighbourhood. One morning we got up early and made our way back to St Marks Square for me to get some photos of the gondolas in the blue light before dawn. It is wonderful walking the streets at this time of day and we were able to experience another Venice, one completely different to the city it becomes once all the other tourists are out and about. After the photos we walked across town, over the Rialto bridge and down to the fish and vegetable markets. Still too early to begin our food shopping we stopped at a cafe for coffee and croissants. The market workers had the same idea except instead of coffee they were throwing down beer and wine. Observation no. 10 - the rule about not drinking alcohol before 12 does not apply in Italy. Soon after I saw a girl eating gellato. It seems that the rules about not eating ice-cream for breakfast thankfully don't apply here either. No wonder the Italians are always so happy! All the seafood at the market looked so amazingly fresh and there were all kinds of fish we'd never seen before. We bought some tuna so dark it was almost black, and some beautiful prawns. The morning was overcast and the light, as the sun came up over the Grand Canal, was very soft, almost surreal. Dad said it was very Turneresque. As we walked home we watched the workers going about their morning activities - food being delivered on trolleys, laundry being offloaded from a barge, the men sweeping the streets with their brooms made of twigs. Even a man vacuuming the stone paving out the front of a museum. Dinner that night was lemon risotto with prawns cooked by our personal chef (aka dad) followed by a stroll down the lane for gellato (coconut for mum, tiramisu and cherry for dad, blood orange and peach for me). Observation no. 11 - Some young men like to cruise around the canals with doof doof music blaring from their boats. It was remarkably reminiscent of Chapel Street. Thursday, our final day in Venice, was museum day for dad (Museo Storical Naval, Museo Archeologico Nazionale and the Biblioteca Marciana) and palace day for mum and I (Palazzo Ducale). In the afternoon, as we wandered into the Church of Santa Maria, we found we were just in time for an organ recital. We spent a quiet and pleasant half hour sitting in the cool of the beautiful old church listening to the music. That evening we said goodbye to the wonderful city by drinking the last of our Bellini and sitting on a bridge over a canal eating slices of pizza. Observation no. 12 - pizza always tastes better when eaten while sitting on a bridge over a canal. As we ate we chatted about our impressions of Venice. The conversation went something like this: Dad: I've grown to like itme: For me it was love at first sight!Dad: I hate that there is dog piss on every second corner me: I love that there are dogs everywhere! Dad: Everything is falling apart me: It's so wonderfully old! Dad: It's shabby me: It's charming! What we did agree on is that we would all like to come back. And so, to Florence. The romantic, renaissance city that the travel writers swoon over is hard to find. In the centre, where we are staying, we could be anywhere. I walk past Starbucks, McDonalds, Subway. The shops are blaring English music. The river of tourists flows relentlessly from the Ponte Vecchio to the Duomo and back again. But the food market, just a minute away from our apartment, makes up a little for the lack of charm in this area. It is fabulous (although not as good as the one in Barcelona). And the peaceful garden, centred with an orange tree and surrounded by cloisters, in the Basilica di San Lorenzo almost opposite our front door helps a little more. We force our way through the tourists and go in search of the real Florence. A day full of walking and it still isn't to be found. Observation no. 13 - As there were doof doof boats in part of Venice, here in Florence there are doof doof push bikes. As much of the centre of the city is closed to traffic, locals get around on bikes. Some young Italian men like to strap stereos to their backs and the music pulsates through you as they hurtle past. Our second day, Sunday, we crossed the city and the Arno river and visited the Giardino Bardini. Mum and I went independently to dad and managed to get just a week bit lost when I insisted we had found a secret back entrance to the gardens. We climbed up terraces of wilderness, our feet and legs soaked by the dew covered grass. It was very lovely but in the end we arrived at a tall stone wall and were unable to go any further. After retracing our steps we found the correct entrance to the gardens and dad was already there waiting for us at the very top. The gardens were very beautiful and the climb to the top of them very steep, but the view over Florence and the Tuscan hills beyond was gorgeous - the best side of the city we've seen so far and it made it a bit easier to see what people love about it here. It was relaxing and peaceful in the gardens; very few others had come to enjoy them on this sunny morning and it was a welcome relief to get away from the crowds in the city below. Later we visited the Museo del Bargello (Sculpture Gallery) which holds Italy's best collection of Tuscan Renaissance sculpture. The building itself was built in the late 1200's and is magnificent. Combine that with some amazing art and for me, it was the highlight of Florence so far. Gellato flavours for the day: mum - lemon and strawberry; me - pink grapefruit and strawberry. Observation no. 14 - dogs are allowed everywhere in Italy. It is still strange to see them in department stores. A short note about the food in Italy: it is great! Every pizza we've had (and I'm not ashamed to say there have been a few now) has been fabulous. They are very thin with minimal toppings (my favourite so far is tomato, cheese, anchovies and capers). They are not at all oily like Australian pizzas. Lunch every day is thick slices of crusty bread spread with pesto and topped with tomato and brie or goats cheese. Absolutely delicious! The pastry shops are often elaborate affairs and the cakes are scrumptious. We bought some fruit jellies at one and mum says they are the best fruit jellies she has ever had. I'd never eaten fruit jellies before so I'll take her word for it. Today, Monday (and a very happy birthday to my fabulous husband who always says YES, no matter how crazy my ideas), we tracked down the No.7 bus, hopped on board, and went up into the hills above Florence to a pretty little town called Fiesole. Our first stop there was a visit to the Roman ruins. So beautiful and it was amazing to sit on the stone steps of the theatre and know that people had been sitting in the exact same spot over 2000 years ago. The view out over the hills was exactly as I had imagined Tuscany to be - olive groves, pencil pines, stone villas and sunshine. Picture postcard perfect. We spent a happy few hours walking the narrow and steep streets around the town. We stopped to write a post card and began chatting to a couple. Amazingly, they were from Maldon. What a small world it is now! Observation no. 15 - Dad can no longer do up the top button on his pants. Love to everyone, Larissa, Christine & Michaelxoxo ps - thank you to everyone who emailed, it was great to hear from you and get the news from back home! pps - Catriona you're right, I'm very fortunate indeed to be able to experience a trip like this with my parents. Dad commented a few nights ago that "you learn a lot about one's family when you travel with them". What dad has learned about me: being touched by feet evokes a violent response completely disproportionate to the action that caused it. What I've learned about mum: that it's important to pay for everything with the Exact Money. What mum has learned about dad: that he can work out how to open foreign washing machines where both she and I failed. ppps - Sarah, thank you for the books. They were both lovely. Mum has also read them and now Dad has started on Lost and Found. pppps - In answer to your question Ross no, the canals don't smell. Florence is in fact far smellier than Venice was. ppppps - Richard, I can understand how very easy it would be to gain that much weight in so few days. I'm hoping that the huge amount of walking we are doing, as well as the Stairway Of Hell leading up to our apartment, will help negate the large amounts of cheese we are consuming. pppppps - Cait, there is licorice flavoured toothpaste here - want some???

Lovely!

Thanks guys. Here you go Danois - I used airbnb for all of the accommodation (except for lake como) and found it great. LOVED the apartment in Venice - location is perfect. My link

LOL thanks Kirislin! It was my first time there and god I fell in love with Venice. I saw the news item last night about George Clooney getting married and the footage of the city brought tears to my eyes I so badly wanted to be back there. When did you visit?

As most of the regulars here know, I've spent the last month in Italy. I thought rather than just putting up some photos, I'd also include the emails we sent home to friends and family as it gives the pics more context. The emails are long and most probably boring so if you just want to skip reading and look at the photos I understand completely . I took just the D800 and the sigma 50mm art lens. A heavy combination and at times I really missed having a zoom, but that was all I had room for. Absolutely love the Sigma lens! Anyway, this is the first email. I've got a billion cards still to edit so it might be a while before the second email and photos are posted lol. Greetings friends, family and loved ones! I am sitting typing this email in an Internet cafe in amazing Venice. Next to me is a (very attractive and beautifully dressed) Italian guy who sings quietly to himself as he types away at his computer. Everywhere here in Venice is music - the call of the numerous church bells across the city, the men in the gondolas with their lovely opera songs, the singers in bars that we hear snatches of as we walk past at night, the workman on his barge that drifts beneath our balcony, the little boy sitting behind me in the vaporetto who sung loudly and cheerfully as we crossed the water. Our flight to Italy was great as (a) we made it here alive and (b) I remember very little of it. We had a slight and unexpected delay in Hong Kong which meant that mum and I, who had timed our drug use carefully (her - sleeping pills, me - xanax), were almost comatose by the time we eventually got back on the plane. Any longer and Dad may have had a little problem on his hands! As it was, we were both fast asleep prior to take off. We arrived in Italy early Tuesday morning and were met at Milan airport by our driver, Romano, who was to take us to our accommodation on Lake Como. As mum gets car sick Dad and I were relegated to the back seat of his car. This gave me the perfect view of the tachometer. I watched it reach 110, then 120, then 130 before we settled on 140kmph which Romano felt was the perfect cruising speed. Thank god for the xanax still in my system. Despite the drugs, I still felt a surge of joy when we rounded a corner and had our first glimpse of beautiful Lake Como. The lake is long and narrow and surrounded by steep mountains that run down into the water. Old towns are dotted here and there along the waters edge. Our accommodation was a lovely small villa (Villa Mirabella) built in 1860. It is located in the town of Cadenabbia which is made up of a small cluster of shops and a couple of old hotels. The villa is right on the lake and our rooms opened onto a private terrace overlooking the water and mountains beyond. It is quite lovely. Our first day here was spent wandering the streets and steep, cobbled lanes around Cadenabbia. Clear blue skies and glorious sunshine.... just wonderful. There is a small sign in our rooms that very politely asks guests to please refrain from "bringing outside food inside the hotel premises (pizza, ice-creams, or chunk food)". Chunk food. It makes me laugh every time I see it. Day two at Lake Como found us spending a wonderful morning wandering the amazing house and grounds of Villa Carlotta (built at the end of the 17th century). The gardens cover 70,000 square metres on the side of a very steep hill and, as we got there early, we had several hours to explore them before the hoards of other tourists arrived late morning. Observation 1 - bumble bees are fat and fuzzy and utterly enchanting! Almost directly opposite from our villa, on the other side of the lake, the town of Bellagio glows invitingly in the sunshine. The Lonely Planet guide advises that "it's impossible not to be charmed by Bellagio's waterfront of bobbing boats, or it's maze of steep stone staircases, dark cypress groves and showy rhodedendron-filled gardens.... if you turn up on a week day you'll have the little village almost to yourself". I'm not sure what Lonely Planet the author was on, but it's sadly not this one. Bellagio was very beautiful when viewed from afar but up close, it lost a lot of it's magic. We caught a ferry across the lake and disembarked at Bellagio amongst an absolute mass of tourists. They crammed the streets of the town, especially along the waterfront, and the beautiful old buildings had mostly been converted to horrible little souvenir shops designed to cater for them. We found a tiny grocery store and bought bread rolls, cheese and ham and sat and ate our sandwiches with the ducks in a quiet spot on the waters edge. Observation 2 - Italian ducks sound exactly the same as Australian ducks. Italian seagulls, unlike their Australian cousins, have remarkably little to say. The highlight of Bellagio was watching a suave Italian gentleman and his beautiful wife park a tiny Lancia into an even tinier car parking space. It took many attempts, much patience and a whole lot of luck but he succeeded in the end and was rewarded with a round of applause from the audience gathered to watch the feat. Returning to Villa Mirabella late afternoon, a pleasant couple of hours was spent on our terrace with a contraband supply of chunk food (potato chips and white wine) to stave off hunger pains until it was time to go in search of dinner. Observation 3 - there is a monster, a relative of the one in Loch Ness, living in Lake Como. It may be that I saw it. It may also be that I was hallucinating due to sleep deprivation at the time. On thursday, our last full day at Lake Como, we caught the ferry to Lenno and then a water taxi to the spectacularly beautiful gardens of Villa Balbianello (built 1787). Perched dramatically on a cliff top, the carefully framed views of the lake through the garden were just so so beautiful. Observation 4 - the air everywhere at the Lake smells sweet, like boronia flowers. The afternoon was spent exploring lovely Griante. The landscape was mostly rural with fields full of wildflowers, olive groves, tiny churches, pretty laneways and ancient villas with rambling gardens. And not another tourist to be seen. Even though summer has just ended everything was so green. High above Griante, nestled on what appears to be the side of an almost verticle mountain, was a little old church accessible only be foot. Dad plans on being fit enough to make the climb up to it when they return to the lake in six weeks. Observation 5 - pedestrian crossings are nothing more to Italian drivers than some pretty lines painted on the road. To use one is to place yourself at probable likelihood of being mown down by a cheerful driver. Friday we said goodbye to Lake Como and caught the train from Milan down to Venice. It was a long and arduous journey that we were all glad to see the end of. But what a reward for the pain - it was love at first sight. Venice is simply magical. Observation 6 - a trip on the 5.1 vaporetto with luggage is to be avoided at all costs. Dad is of the firm belief that there are people on it that have been trapped there for weeks, unable to get off due to the sardine like way people are packed on. Our tiny apartment is on a tiny street on a tiny canal in a quiet part of the island. It is on the second floor of an ancient building. For mum, it is perhaps a little more shabby than chic. For me, it is charmingly perfect. A nearby church bell sings out constantly throughout the day and is echoed by many others across the town. All I can hear, sitting on our tiny balcony, is the gentle slap of water, the quiet hum of boats, and the church bells. We arose in the wee hours of Saturday morning (4.30am to be precise) to get ready to meet Arved, a photo journalist and our private photo tour guide, in St Marks Square at 5.45am. It proved somewhat challenging to find our way to the square through the labyrinthine streets in the dark but we made it there without getting too lost. For the next five hours Arved took us to unique and interesting places in the far corners of Venice for us to photograph, explaining both Venetian history and photography techniques along the way. It was a fantastic morning and we were all exhausted by the end of it. We dragged ourselves back to the apartment where I promptly fell asleep on the couch. Observation 7 - the tomatoes really do taste better in Italy! Much of our time in Venice so far has been taken up with walking, walking, eating gelato, walking, eating pastries, walking, walking, drinking coffee and people watching, walking, and then some more walking! Everywhere you turn here there is another inviting lane way, pretty stone bridge or interesting canal to admire and explore. It is the most wonderful city. Even though the gigantic tour boats disgorge what seems to be billions of tourists each morning, you only have to take a turn down a side alley, turn left and then right, and you are on your own - lost somewhere in the maze of Venetian streets. Today we navigated the (very confusing) vaporetto system and caught a water bus out to the island of Murano where all the Venetian glass is produced. My back was complaining fiercely about all the walking so I left mum and dad and returned to Venice and went in search of an Internet cafe from which to send this. Mum and dad went on to another island, Burano, where all the houses are brightly painted in all colours of the rainbow. It was another glorious day full of sunshine - the weather has been around 28c each day. We've another few days left here to explore before moving on to Florence. We hope everyone is well back home and will send another update when we can :). Love, Larissa, Christine & Michael For anyone interested, the rest of the Como photos are here (not all are taken by me - some are my parents photos): My link and the first of the Venice edits here: My link

Trifecta, it was love at first sight for me. We stayed in a little apartment with a little balcony on a little street on a little canal. Woke to church bells every morning and spent the day wandering the labyrinthine streets. You only had to take a turn left and a turn right to get away from the tourists and lost. So so beautiful. It was by far my favourite too of the cities we visited over there and I badly wish to return :)

Thanks guys. I'll put up some of the other Italy pics in another thread when I can. Huga, here is another of the cats for you. I saw a billion dogs in Venice but only these four cats.

38/52 - pondering

37/52 - venetian cats

Got back Sunday night. Couldn't sleep at all last night so started editing pics. Italy is gorgeous! Fist one 36/52 - self portrait

Thanks guys! I've never been so I'm really looking forward to it :). Just hope I've got enough memory cards for all the photos I'm sure to take :laugh: . Will certainly pop some up here when I return. I hope we don't lose any more contributors to this group while I'm away. It's almost Spring, so a great time for getting out with our cameras! :D

thanks guys! That is my last photo on here for four weeks as I'm off to Italy on Monday. I'll take my weekly portrait pics while away but won't be able to upload them till I return :)

35/52 - bejeweled

Yes, you are probably right grumpette. I did take some earlier shots in very short grass but the skull was crooked in all of them. I wish I could have found someone willing to wear it for me - would have been much easier.

BlueyLove, I met a guy last week who is a hunter . I found it quite confronting seeing all his skulls - they are so beautiful, but it goes against what I believe in. He lent me the impala skull in the photo. I'm photographing him and some more of his skulls on Tuesday.

34/52 - she impala (and that was way way harder than I anticipated lol! The skull is heavy! and it hurts! :laugh: )

Thanks everyone, glad no-one will be too worried by it. Hope to try to get the shot tomorrow, assuming I can figure out some way to make it work :laugh:

Very pretty Teekay! Would anyone here be offended by an animal skull in a photo?

There is a Tibbie female advertised in the breeders section of DOL: My link

An update on Deefa :). He took a while to settle into his foster home (he was the same when he first came to our kennels) but is now doing well. Fingers crossed they will keep him :)

I've noticed we've lost a few people too Teekay... it's certainly hard to keep finding motivation through winter, but having this project forces me to pick up the camera and try to do something creative when I'd usually not as I'm too cold, too tired etc.

She looks so comfy there HW!

33/52 - the letter

I don't think he'll care too much what he is called :laugh:

The home for Deefa fell through - he's still looking....