• Fotograff
  • Kayla Kowalski
  • Kayla Kowalski
  • Fotograff
  • Kayla Kowalski
  • Kayla Kowalski

Italy 2018

July - August 2018 Leggi altro
  • Fontana Trevi

    4 agosto 2018, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

    And here we are at the Fontana Trevi. Throw a coin in and you are bound to return!

    - We learned on our crypt tour that there were 7 water streams that came down from the mountains to make the aqua ducts throughout Rome. One of last (and oldest) streams that currently supplies water is to this fountain.
    - When the fountain is open roughly €3,000 is thrown into it every day as people follow the tradition of throwing coins over their shoulders. The legend holds that a coin thrown into the fountain will ensure a return to Rome. This tradition also dates back to the ancient Romans who often threw coins in water to make the gods of water favor their journey or help them get back home safely. (Throw in a second coin if you’re seeking love – even a third for wedding bells!) All money is give to charity.
    - It’s made from the same material as the Colosseum.
    - It was black and also red at one time.
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  • Just keep walking... just keep walking.

    5 agosto 2018, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 86 °F

    No surprise, lots of walking. 😜 Many wonderful places to hide and get lost but kayla actually did a great job of remembering where our hotel was, very impressed!

    (Photo 5) It is the only covered limestone bridge in Venice. The baroque style arched bridge was designed by Antonio Contino. Taking 2 years to complete, it began construction in 1600. Criminals and traitors were sentenced in the Doge’s Palace (court room) before crossing to the prigioni nuovi (jail) where their lives would typically end in misery, illness and death. And prisoners would sigh as they crossed to the prison because they were seeing their beloved city for the last time.
    (Photo 9) look over Kayla's right shoulder. The doge (chief magistrate) used to stand here to announce the death sentences. The pink colour symbolizes blood. The executions then took place between the 2 columns. From between the columns, the condemned could watch the clock tower to see the exact hour of their death.

    We found our restaurant for tomorrow hidden in a back ally, bought some souvenirs and ran across some street performers.

    I LOVE VENICE! ❤️❤️❤️
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  • Sing... even if everyone is listening!

    5 agosto 2018, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

    So we sat to enjoy one of the canals when a gondolier went by singing a beautiful song. (totally beats the Las Vegas Venetian ride) Next thing I knew I hear kayla humming. Thinking she would stop if she knew I was recording her I tried to be sneaky but lo and behold she knew and fooled me. 😎Leggi altro

  • Cemetery Isola di San Michele

    6 agosto 2018, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

    First stop of the day was a trip to the island cemetery. Because this is not a tourist attraction, one rule was to not take pictures inside and Kayla took this very seriously... but I caved. 🤫 (One of these is mine)

    Notes:
    - This island has been the city's cemetery since 1797, when Napoleon decreed that all burial places had to be located outside the cities
    - San Michele was the first Renaissance church in Venice.
    - In 1212 the Bishop of Torcello donated the island of San Michele to a Camaldolese order of Benedictine hermit monks, who established a church and monastery there. In 1469 Mauro Codussi rebuilt the existing church in a bold new style that effectively brought a Renaissance style to Venetian architecture.
    - The burial ground is used by different religions such as the catholic and the Greek Orthodox churches. The Jewish community has its own cemetery at Lido since the 14th century, whereas Muslims have a separate section at the Marghera cemetery.
    - When the capacity of the cemetery reached its limits, a new regulation was put in place in 1995. People can now only rest on the island for 10 or 20 years depending on the location of their grave, or for 99 years if they are buried in a family tomb. Afterwards, the remains are either moved to another cemetery or cremated.
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  • Murano - glass island

    6 agosto 2018, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 90 °F

    Lots of shopping done here. Enjoyed the water taxi to Murano- the glass island. Stopped in to see the museum but not really impressed so here is my researches notes. 🤓

    Notes:
    - Murano glass is made exclusively on the Island of Murano.
    - In 1291, the government of Venice banned the furnaces from central Venice, moving them instead to the island of Murano. This was due to the fear of fire in the wooden structures of a crowded Venice and also to isolate the master glassblowers to prevent their sharing valuable glassmaking secrets. The glassblowers became virtual prisoners on Murano, where the penalties for divulging glassblowing secrets could include death
    - In 1450 there was a technological revolution in Venetian glass that was so important that it marked the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance. Angelo Barovier discovered how to remove the impurities from the soda ash that caused discoloration in glass. This invention of Cristallo allowed for the creation of clear crystal objects.
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  • Date night!

    6 agosto 2018, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

    We got dolled up and decided to go out for a nice dinner. Kayla is wearing her new skirt she got in Rome. At the end of dinner the restaurant treats you to some Grappa (A traditional shot of Alcohol to settle a full stomach) and brought out 2.... thinking I may allow her to have some. Hahaha! So we asked how old do they start drinking and they said at 18 they can buy on their own but if a parent is with them it’s the parents discretion. Kayla thought that was to funny!

    We finished eating our dinner about 10:30pm and took a stroll through San Marco Sq at night.
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  • Reminiscing - The Drive

    7 agosto 2018, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    So we get our car and realize it’s a stick! I have not driven stick in 20 year and panicked that they did not have an automatic. Luckily they did! 😍

    On our drive to Barcis we may have found the military radio station. I forgot how hilarious commercials were.

    We did a quick drive-by of my old house in Vajont on the way to the lake.
    * Interesting (but sad facts) about the Vajont dam about 15-20 miles north of my home: One of the worst man-made environmental disasters of all time. When built in 1959 it was the tallest dam of its kind in the world. Late on the evening of 9 October 1963, a vast chunk of the mountainside, the size of a small town and 400m (1,312ft) deep, sheared off. The wall of water pushed an air pocket before it. It was more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. The dam survived but 80% of the inhabitants of Longarone and its satellite villages did not. In all, almost 2,000 people are known to have died. Just 30 of Longarone's children survived.

    I totally forgot how much fun it is to drive through the small town roads in Italy! 🇮🇹 ❤️
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  • Barcis - 1

    7 agosto 2018, Italia ⋅ 🌧 84 °F

    Barcis was a place where my friends and I would come in the early 2,000’s to camp (which you can’t in this area any more), bridge jump, swim and just get away. Still to this day it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

    - Located at the base of the Alps.
    - This is an artificial lake but naturally colored from the sediment carried by the river.
    - This town has been rebuilt many time but the most recent was during World War II when it was last destroyed.

    Water was defiantly to cold to fully swim but we still had a great time!
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  • Relaxing lunch

    8 agosto 2018, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

    Slept in after getting in from the train station so late last night. Ran out for lunch and a treat. I can handle the heat but combined with the mass amounts of people we decided to come back to room for a nap and go back out for dinner.Leggi altro

  • Final night in Venice -Pt. 1

    8 agosto 2018, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

    So our evening ended up very relaxed with walking around Marco Square. We really hoped to feed the birds but looks like it’s illegal now. 😞

    * Venice is built on the water and is supported by millions of wooden piles, each about 14 cm thick and up to 3 metre long. Of these, 100,000 are used to support the campanile on the San Marco square.

    - Originally, this was a very small area constructed back in 900 A.D. Two hundred years later, after they dug the famous Grand Canal Venice landmark, workers filled in the area and surrounded it with a dock.
    -A bell tower, which has an incredible height of 323 feet. But in 1902 (after surviving a couple earthquakes) it fell... but was rebuilt exactly the same. (But stronger)
    - The Piazza San Marco is the only square in Venice which is called a Piazza.
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  • Last night in Venice - Pt. 2

    8 agosto 2018, Italia ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F

    Just taking our time coming back through the back ally’s.

    Kayla was playing around. Not sure if it was because of the exhausting amounts of walking or because she is excited to come home!

    I’d decided to find Peter the pigeon because I was snot allowed to feed them...😂

    Facts:
    * Venetian Arsenal - The Venetian Arsenal (Italian: Arsenale di Venezia) is a complex of former shipyards and armories clustered together in the city of Venice in northern Italy. Owned by the state, the Arsenal was responsible for the bulk of the Venetian republic's naval power during the middle part of the second millennium AD. It was "one of the earliest large-scale industrial enterprises in history"

    *
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  • Travel back - made the bus!

    9 agosto 2018, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

    So now my nerves kick in...lol. Part one, make it to the bus. ✔️

    Just need to find the Venice international part of the airport, print our tickets and PRAY our flight into France is not delayed. I looked ahead, it’s a bit stormy there.😖Leggi altro

  • Finished

    9 agosto 2018, Stati Uniti ⋅ 🌙 99 °F

    Well all good things must come to an end. We are extremely tired but made it home safe and sound.

    She did come home with a new doll. She hopes to collect a doll from every county she visits. 🤑

    On the Lyft ride home Kayla mentioned her favorite food was the lasagna and she love Murano Glass island. For me it was the pasta and clams and taking the drive back though Aviano.

    Al in all it was a good trip! ❤️
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    Fine del viaggio
    16 luglio 2018