Venezia (13th July 2014)

Getting to Venezia (Venice) from Bled was no easy task. Just as it was a detour to get to Bled form Innsbruck, this was another detour, which required us to route past Ljubljana first. But, after almost 4 hours on the road, we finally made it to Venice.

While it remains one of the loveliest places in the world, Venice is much unlike itself in the past. Despite being swarmed full of tourists (which is rumoured to outnumber the residents), the city made up of 118 small islands is still a fascinating place to visit. The fact that it was also the day of the 2014 World Cup Final meant that you could easily spot many people either wearing the Sky Blue of Argentina or the White of Germany!

Featured here is Canal Grande (Grand Canal) with the San Simeone Piccolo standing out while the small little bridge (Ponte degli Scalzi) seems to quietly concealing itself. It's easy to spot the gondola along the canal too.

Chose this as the cover because this is probably the first thing you'll spot when you arrive onto the island of Venice itself. With most of the time spent on the waters, Burano was picked as the village we headed for. Unfortunately, there was no time for Murano or San Marco Square. Guess that just means I'll have to come back again... soon.

Ponte della Costituzione (Constitution Bridge) over the Grand Canal just as we headed out into the Venetian Lagoon.

It connects Stazione di Santa Lucia and Piazzale Roma and was opened in 2008 amidst much protests. It adopted its official name in 2008 for the 60th anniversary of the Italian constitution.

It is also known as the Calatrava Bridge to locals and tourists alike. Wanted to know why people were protesting against it and found out that it's the simple and obvious reason that it is "too modern" and doesn't match with Venetian Gothic architecture.

Heading off from the Grand Canal and into the Venetian Lagoon. It's here where the breeze is and you'll get to immerse yourself in the beauty of it all. Here's where we entered what's known as Canale della Giudecca (Giudecca Canal).

More commonly known as I Gesuati, Santa Maria del Rosario is an 18th Century Dominican church along the Giudecca Canal. Built in a classical style, the facade facing the Giudecca canal is supported by 270 piles.

Santa Maria della Salute, not to be confused with Le Zitelle from just across the Lagoon. This minor basilica was designed with a Baroque style and built after Venice endured the Italian Plague between 1629-1631. Known in English as the Saint Mary of Health, this is actually the back of the basilica where its front faces the Grand Canal.

Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore (Church of the Most Holy Redeemer) stands out among everything else on the island of Giudecca. Also known as the Il Redentore, it was built as a thanksgiving for deliverance from the plague between 1575 and 1576, so it's different from the Salute just before.

Give a wave and there'll sure to be people who wave back. Presumably, fellow tourists who were taking a ride on the gondola under the scorching hot sun. On the left in the background, it's Venice International University, which is located on the island of San Servolo.

After going past the Chruch of Sant'Elena on the island of Sant'Elena, this is the San Pietro stop... where you'll see the back of Basilica di San Pietro di Castello facing the lagoon. It was replaced by St Mark's Basilica as Venice's official cathedral due to it being "not very accessible" and was sadly firebombed during WWI, although it was restored to its original state eventually.

So onward towards Burano then. This is the view from Mazzorbo where you can already see the brightly coloured houses and the Campanile of San Martino church. Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you, it's leaning... like the one in Pisa.

So here we are in Burano, finally! A pretty good job at being multi-coloured too I must say.

Did it in Bled, so I had to do it in Burano too. Go Deutschland! Die Nationalmannschaft!

My interpretation of the iconic photo of Burano! It's located 7km away from Venice itself and well-known for their multi-coloured houses and for lacework. 

Interestingly, the colouring of the houses follows a system, so you won't see 2 houses with the same colours side by side. Each home has a specific number of colours to choose from and will have to apply to the government if they wish to repaint it in another colour.

One with my Dad in the morning in Bled, so one with my Mum in the afternoon in Burano, under the blazing hot sun!

And, one with the family!

The Campanile of San Martino church behind 2 Burano houses. I would say this one comes close to being an iconic photo as well.

Canale di Cannaregio, en route back to Venice to head home.

No doubt it's been a blazing hot day, but it was still nice to get to see Venice especially since I promised my parents that I'll take them here.

Given that I missed quite a bit because of the tight schedule, I might return again soon. That said, there's the consideration of the human traffic, which I'm never a big fan of. I still prefer quiet little cities with less people and more calmness. Or maybe I've been too used to Graz...

So, anyway, from Venice, we headed back to Ljubljana in Slovenia, in time for the 2014 World Cup Final between Deutschland and Argentina!