Monday, October 16, 2006

Venice, Italy - August 6-8, 2006

Ah, Venice. One look at the photos brings back the unrealness of this city. Maybe it was the beautiful day - which had been somewhat scarce in Germany as of late - that really brought this city to life. Reminscing, I remember not really liking Venice that much. It was packed with tourists and pigeons. Everything was expensive (and understandably so I suppose since everything has to be gondala'ed to the stores and what not). It was also quite hot and humid - the famous mediterranean climate. Also I was busing calling or trying to call home and York about my class registration which is a pain in the ass now when I live within spitting distance of the campus nevermind when I'm trying to figure out a foreign telephone system which only has instructions in Italian (I missed Germany's anglo-centric efficiency).

Still, what remains now is only the photos and they tell a story of a city of stunning beauty. I can understand if people stop reading the blog after this entry because I can guarantee you nothing will beat Venice, in terms of photos at least. Sure some will come close, sure I had a better time in Paris among other places... but dear Venice, as Sinead O'Connor sings, "nothing compares to you".


The city just shines - it certainly helps that they used a lot of white stone or paint. It provides the perfect medium to reflect the green waters and the blue sky.


A Venetzian household. Today the prices in Venice are so high that most of the original dwellers are being driven out to be replaced by the rich and / or businesses to serve the tourists.


I was always on the lookout for something that reminded me of the Indiana Jones Last Crusade movie. My memory being the way it is I couldn't recall what the buildings looked like in the show so anything that remotely reminded me of Indiana Jones was photographed. Its' a nice shot regardless.


A powerboat navigates one of the more narrow canals. Perhaps its more of an 'alleyway'?


Masks seemed to be the Venetzian speciality. There were plenty of stores selling expensive and intricate masks. Not sure what the story behind it is. I considered getting one to bring back home but I didn't think it would survive 2 weeks in my backpack.


If you have a $100 or so to spare you can get a ride in a gondola for half-an-hour. Needless to say, just watching from the sidelines was good enough for me.


Looking down the Grand Canal of Venice - wide enough for a nice speed boat race away from nazi foes but probably won't fit the massive cruise ships that routinely visit the outskirts of Venice.


There are only three bridges that cross the Grand Canal - due to its size. This one, the Accademia, crosses it at is southern-most point.


Classic Venetzian architecture and the candy-cone pillars of the docks.


Just liked this photo. No story.


Same story as above. Thought it is neat to think that the Med (technically the Asiatic) runs right up to the sidewalk. Global warming has seen the water rising dramatically here and flooding - an annual occurence anyway - is worsening. Venice was a must-see city that I made sure on hitting early on by buying my ticket from Germany here. I sacraficed Rome to make sure I saw Venice before it disappears.


Venice is made up of 117 islands, with the central ones forming a semi-continuous land-mass spanned by little and big bridges. Parts of Venice, however, lie too far off the central mass to be bridged. Here the island-cluster of Giudecca lies to the south, separated by the Canale della Giudecca. Only powered boats navigate the larger crossing.


Probably the Chiesa del Redentore but I can't be sure. The beautiful whites and reds of Venice are exemplified in it.


The deteroriating brick facade of Venice, worn from facing the sea for generations, make for a great textured look.


The second of the two photos I posted about Venice while in Italy. This great photo deserves another look. The Chiesa di Santa Maria dell Salute 'guards' the entrance to the Grand Canal.


A gondoleer (no idea what they're called) in traditional hat and shirt takes a break above his docked gondola.


A happy family will subsitute for mine - now I can frame this on my wall and tell people I'm the kid taking the picture with the hat on.


The famous San Marco square and its byzantine-styled Basillica of San Marco. St. Mark of bible-study fame is (partly) buried in here (his body/ashes/dirt being stolen and traded over the centuries one can only guess what the Basillica claims to have).


The really annoying true citizens of Venice. These pesky lil'bastards have the run of the house here in Venice where dumb tourists feed them at every opportunity.


Sitting in the shade on the Piazza will cost you - and there's not much space for sitting to be had in Venice, which translates into sore feet for some. Still, a great view of the Basillica and the campanile (bell tower).


A full view of the plaza itself - cluttered with a stage and scaffolding from a past concert.


Another dumb tourist suckered into the idea of letting the birds land and eat seeds off his body. I got my laugh when the inevitable eventually happened later in the day to another dumb tourist that obviously had a visit from a pigeon to whom the saying "don't shit where you eat" didn't apply.


The arcade of the Venetzian Palace.


Eyeing one of the two columns that stand between the Piazza and the sea.


These four crusadic knights were getting a lot of attention, although I didn't know what the story was behind them. The left foot of the right-most knight was the centre of the most of the attention, as you cna see from the picture. I could only wonder if these were the Knights of the Holy Grail, but again, maybe that's too much Indiana Jones (and there were 3 brothers according to the movie and here there are 4 so... :( )


The Piazza de San Marco is shaped in an L, taking a sharp right turn at the Basillica it looks south and out to sea. Two columns, one with a griffen-like flying lion, and the second of a man with a spear or staff.


A close-up of the side of the Basillica, with the spire of the campanile, in the background.


Another idyllic gondola scene. I could sell these to the tourist board I'm sure :)


The second of three bridges that span the Grand Canal of Venice. This one, the Rialto, is probably the most famous and busiest. It's large enough to house shops in the middle of the walkways.


A view of the S-curving Grand Canal from atop the Rialto bridge. The canal weaves south-west before making an abrupt u-turn and heading almost straight east, under the Accademia and out into the Asiatic just before it reach the Piazza de San Marco.


Opposite View: Looking north from the Rialto.



A tranquil Venetzian scene with nothing important or historical (that I know of) in the photo.


A close-up of the specifically Venetzian window styling.


My first taste of true Italian gelato. Yummy.


My 15 second gondola ride. For only a few cents you can take a gondola to get across the larger canals. These are used in lieu of bridges in those spans where bridges are few and far between. They don't ahve the romantic touch but are just as historical if not more so - in fact, my boat seemed to be full of Italians (perhaps residents). No tourists here.



I'm not really sure what this is anymore beside a cool photo.


A pretty novel door-step. One's very own bridge.



Venice is not without a fortress of some kind or other. The Italian military does have a naval yard on the northern edge which looks like its built into a old fortress.


The entrance to the fortress-style military complex.


The Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs) connecting the duchal palace to the dungeons. Likely named for its connection to Casanova or the last sighs of prisoners on their way to execution... Either or really.


Standing in the north-western distric of the Venice called Cannaregio. Only the northwestern tip of Venice is connected to mainland Italy. Train tracks encompass the majority of that connection and there is a major trainstation right on the island. A narrow highway also brings cars, although once they reach the island(s) there isn't much room to maneuvre.


Last view of Venice as it recedes into the Asiatic. I've activated my eurorail pass and I'm off to Verona on board a rickety regional train (nothing like the fancy ones I took in Germany).


Saturday, October 07, 2006

Munich, Germany - August 5, 2006

So far on my trip I'd experienced plenty of last days. My first day in Austria was my last, same as my first (and last) day in Switzerland. Leaving Prague was a little harder, arriving on the 3rd and departing the morning of the 5th really allowed me to make, in that short time, a real connection with that darling heart of the Czech nation. But today, August 5th, ten days after my arrival in the very same city, I would be leaving Munich and Germany behind indefinitely. This also meant saying goodbye to my host Patricia, who was my primary reason for visiting Germany and going to Europe, since her invitation three years prior in Mexico City (and re-invitation last year when she visited me in Vancouver) made the trip feasible. She lent me her entire apartment to use during my days in and out of Munich, cooked for me, acted as tour guide and drinking buddy - basically was an all-around great friend. So this post is dedicated to Patricia Lang, who's just finishing up the last of the beers at Octoberfest. May we meet again sometime soon - my door here is always open (come visit lovely Toronto)!




A lovely Roman Catholic church on the side of the Isar. I had figured when I came to Germany that, as the homeland of Martin Luther, it would be full of protestants. Yet, as Bavaria proves, it really ain't that German and it does things a little bit differently. So here in the south its quite common to find Catholicism as the majority religion. Which is fine with me, Catholics may be a lot of things but poor church-builders is not one of them. All of the best churches are generally Catholic and this one here, a favourite from the first day I walked along the Isar with Patricia, makes a good photo - especially flanked with the green foliage of the river banks leading toward the English Garden.


The Isar calmly flows through the city centre. From this picture one would think we were at a nature reserve and not in one of the biggest cities in Germany. But, Bavarians are serious on parks and the English Garden (the name of their 'central park') is the largest central park in the world for a city this size. Even dwarfing Vancouver's Stanley Park and Central Park in New York I'm told - and, whereas Stanley Park is not really in the city but rather an offshoot of the downtown peninsula, all of the English Garden is surrounded by Munich city or suburbs. It really is smackdab in the middle of town, and just a short walk down the Isar from Patricia's apartment (subway stop isator, named after the massive tor or guard tower that stood near the banks of the Isar to defend the city centre from drunken octoberfestians).


Twenty-shades of green. For an overcast day it was intensely bright, which means the old buildings I was shooting through the green foliage are completely obscured. However, the greens really came out in so many vibrant colours it makes this photo blog-worthy.


Into the centre of the English Garden, local Muncheneers are gathering on this cloudy and drizzling Sunday for a brew with the family. I can't imagine how this could aid some social and community cohesion in Canada if people could unite in the park for some beers on the weekend. Instead we have draconian anti-drinking-in-public laws, I guess drunkenness should be something that we take out on our families and loved ones in private rather than in public where it can be dealt with. Good thinking!


A massive pagoda-style temple in the middle of the beer garden provides room for the Bavarian "oompah" or "umpapa" band to blast out some tunes to patrons snacking on their picnic lunches and cool beers.


Yep, this place has it all, including its own lake - and you still can't tell there is a city buzzing behind all this. Remarkable - at least to me. Quite a serene place to sit and feed the ducks. In fact I did sit here for a while and read something, I can't remember what though, maybe my Jared Diamond book or the Lonely Planet - they're full of such useful trivial tidbits.


Another unfortunately overexposed picture due to the intense refraction brought on by an intense sun and a light overcast sky. This is the monopteros, with such a cool name how could I not take a picture of just so I could say I shot a monopteros. And "No", I did not remember that off the top of my head. I looked it up on Wikipedia as my memory is just good enough to know I went somewhere this past summer, never mind where and what the names of the little temples were. Here's a blurb on this mysteriously titled artifact: "Designed by Leo von Klenze, this small, round, Greek style temple was erected in 1836. It was built on a hill which, in 1832, was raised from the leftover building material of the Münchner Residenz (Munich Royal Residence)" (Wikipedia).


A stream, perhaps flowing from the lake, winds is way through the park. Nude sunbathing is common in the English Garden as well as along the Isar (I know, I saw) but perhaps today is not the day for it. Otherwise, this might make an excellent and idyllic location.


The Bavarian version of the Arc du Triomphe - on a much smaller scale. Still, it makes a powerful statement to those entering the city.




The entrance to Munich's largest university and the second largest in the country. Unlike Freiburg, I can't tell you of anyone whose come out of this university except Pope Benedict, which does no credit to this university or town in my opinion.


As I had some time to kill before returning to see Patricia for our last supper - and drink - together, I decided to take some less touristic shots (of buildings, fountains, churches, all my standard fare really) and play with some of the settings of the camera with an easy subject. So this photo and the ones following are just some examples of playing around trying to take some nice pictures. You can skim over them if you like, there may be one or two that you like. In this photo, the well-known Munich munster or cathedral with its double-domed towers is visible in the unfocused background.


Probably my favourite - since its a perfect still of my favourite insect going about its daily routine making honey for my tummy.






Reddish / Orange Flower Series






Yellow Flower Series (with blurry monolith)


Out of the flowers and back to the bustle of Munich. The double-domed munster mentioned above is more clearly visible (and in focus) in this overcrowded photo.






Pink Flower Series




White Flower Series




Flowers & Blurry Statue Series


Oh! Yes, my thought exactly.

Patricia's Apartment

So in telling the end of my story in Munich - and Germany - I should start at the beginning. The apartment where I spent most of my evenings while in Munich.


The kitchen and dining area. Patricia's hard at work making dinner with Christian's help while I bugger off taking pictures.


Her / my bedroom. I must note the equisite Pearl Jam poster she has adorning her wall (right).


Her newest addition - the orange couch - adds a definite flare to the place. I liked it.


The other end of the kitchen / dining room. The front door and another example of her father's handily crafted woodwork. It definitely isn't a large apartment, but for downtown Munich, directly across the street from a subway station and a few minutes walk to the Marienplatz (the city centre).


What tour would be complete without a look at the lou.


Patricia's voyages and photographic victories. I hope to have a wall in similar style one day. Only the more skilled observer will be able to name all the places shown here besides the most obvious. But who can tell me which photo is "Vancouver's"?


My last drink at a Munich beerhall. The Augustiner Braustuben, where they quarter the horses that pull in the wagons of ale to mark the beginning of Octoberfest. After a long day (I'd arrived in Munich that morning after leaving my Czech hostel at 5am) I could barely finish my litre of beer before beginning to nod off.


A real German beer hall, for Germans, not tourists!




Thanks again Patricia (& Christian) for making my stay in Munich and Germany such a great one.