Gondola Ride in Venice and Shopping at Milan

After Pisa and Florence, I went to Venice, the beautiful romantic city. I had my first gondola ride in my lifetime. St. Marks Square, Casanovas Bridge of sights, the Doges Palace and St. Mark's Catheral are all in Venice. I was also able to see the world's best artisans demonstrating the age-old art of glass-blowing at a Venetian factory.

The gondola is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian Lagoon. For centuries gondolas were once the chief means of transportation and the most common watercraft within Venice. Nowadays, the iconic boats still have a role in public transport in the city, serving as traghetti (ferries) over the Grand Canal. They also used in special regattas (rowing races) held amongst gondoliers. Their primary role, however, is to carry tourists on rides with a quite high prices. The gondola is propelled by a person called gondolier, who stands facing the bow and rows with a forward stroke, followed by a compensating backward stroke. Contrary to popular belief, the gondola is never poled like a punt as the waters of Venice are too deep. The gondoliers are wearing uniform, in black and white stripes shirts. They are very skillful and they can sing very well too. They sing to the tourists while rowing the gondola.

It was a new experience for me while I was riding on the gondola. I saw the buildings/shops near the canal, the gondola go through the tight spaces of the canals easily. The gondolas would never bump to each other as the gondoliers are so professional. I took many shots during my gondola ride. It took 30 minutes for the ride.

After the gondola ride, I bought some souvenirs and also saw a married couple in front of the church. I took some snapshots around the Venetian Canal. I took my lunch in a restaurant in the Venice. It was black spaghetti, the color of spaghetti is black due to it made from the calamari ink. After we eaten it, the teeth became black and my tour mates and I were laughing at each other. It was a happy lunch meal of the day.

After Venice, I went to another city, Milan. Milan is a beautiful modern city that combines the best of Italy's yesterday and today. It is the country's business, design, fashion and music capital, as well as rich in art, history and culture.

Italy's most important fashion designers have concentrated their shops, boutiques and showrooms in Milan's famous 'quadrangle of fashion' district near the city center. Milan also has nation's most important design schools, world-class music conservatories, the top companies and financial institutions, and Italy's leading Stock Exchange. Overall, Milan is the gurus of Italian fashion.

There are many branded fashion boutiques here, e.g. LV, Celine, Gucci, etc.. The prices of the products are cheaper as compared to Malaysia. But I did not buy as I had to control my spending.

Besides shopping in Milan, there is also Duomo Catheral, one of the biggest Gothic Cathedrals in the world. There are 3 museums inside, and can even take an elevator up (or stairs if you are in good shape) to walk outside on the roof. It is a beautiful building.

After done with the shopping, it was time for the meal. It was another enjoying meal for me during the dinner. I had wine for my dinner. I had been served with white wine. Well, it tasted good, but I got drunk at that evening. Back in Malaysia, I tried for red wine before but I did not get drunk. However, when I took white wine in Italy, I got drunk. Well, maybe I was too high for my holidays there!

Well, these are my holidays in Venice and Milan. I will continue next time with my other destinations. See ya!