Departing Venice for London...

Note: To see this trip from the beginning in chronological order, press the "End" key on your keyboard to begin at the beginning of our Italy (Milan, Lake Como, and Venice) trip.

Utilizing yet another Low Cost Carrier (LCC), we were afforded the opportunity to travel. The LCC's have proven more time efficient, more cost efficient, and more reliable in every way than the larger airlines we have experienced in the past. When traveling Europe, consider using Ryanair, easyJet, Vueling, WizzAir, SkyEurope and similar carriers.



This is the equivalent of curb side baggage check-in in Venice.
As we approached the airport via the "water highway," Christina caught this airliner landing at Marco Polo Airport.

Our Journey to Marco Polo Airport Via Water Taxi

Our Last Dinner in Venice

Ash and Christina are just leaving the hotel to find another place to eat!
Band playing in San Marco's square.


We ate along the canal next to the Ponte Rialto bridge but had awful service. Not only were we the last ones served around us, we also could not punish the waiter because his service charge was already included and they also had a cover charge just to sit down! This had to be the worst dinner we had but at least we had the best view!

We Returned From Lido Island To A Fishing Strike Encamped at Our Hotel

Up close and personal with the fishermen at the Bauer hotel's dock.
Water cannons!!!

The view from our room of the fisherman's strike! There were three rows of fishermen boats that blocked the Grand Canal's through traffic. They allowed only one boat through at a time. Things then became rowdy and the fishermen began shooting their water cannon's at the boats that were passing by, including the ferries, gondolas, and taxi's. The police would break it up and it would quiet down for 10 minutes until they picked back up again.

Getting to Lido Island

Leaving the dock at Lido Island
On the way back on the ferry boat to Venice...........don't we look wiped out!
Christina with Venice in the background.
Christina decided to take the opportunity to catch Ash in action. Ash was too lazy to change so he chose to wear his shorts over his swimming trunks. He failed to realize what a dork he looked like because his trunks were longer than his shorts. As we walked back to the ferry docks, Ash had to keep adjusting his trunks..................
Bungalow's to rent along the beach.

One last photo before we left Lido Beach
Finally!! Ash and Christina are relaxing, after Ash spent almost an hour running around the island for suntanning lotion and two towels. Little did Christina know that Ash got fed up and ended up stealing two towels from the hotel next door. It didn't stop there! Ash then was pulled aside by employee's and then escaped just in time.

Christina relaxing on the Lido beach and drinking lots of water to hydrate.

Our Escape from Tourists: Breakfast on the Roof

Venice is known for its Glassworks, from glass statues to vases to lighting like this. In purchasing glass, there is always a catch. Vendors line the streets and "special deals" are offered, but you can always haggle down to half of what they are asking. And be careful of the island where they blow glass. The same products are twice the price and hotel concierges are paid a percentage of what you buy, so here too there is room for negotiation and be sure to tell them you came on your own (to avoid the referral fee that you will be charged).

This is the view of our room from the roof. Our room has the three windows on the right of the five shown. At night, metal shields come down to cover the windows much like electric Hurricane shutters. We are not sure why they have them as we have not heard of such storms in Venice.

Church of Santa Maria di Salute
Over breakfast, Christina caught up on the business news in the WSJ Europe to prepare for her London GS tour.
Ash reading the comics!

This was the view from the rooftop breakfast balcony of the Bauer Il Palazzo

With Legs Dead, We Must Relax - On The Roof!

Earlier in the day, we reserved this private jacuzzi, which was included at our hotel. We couldn't resist taking a picture on top of the Bauer with such a beautiful setting.
Ash took the opportunity to make this romantic by having champagne delivered and set up already when we arrived. It was the perfect touch to make this experience even more relaxing after a long day of walking.

From the jacuzzi, Christina took this picture of San Marcos square. The dome like building is the famous Basilica and to the right of it is the Campanile tower. This is also where the pigeons take over and attack tourists!!!

Villaggio di Poop di piccione

The Village of Pigeon Poop. Christina absolutely loved this place as a Pigeon went for her head. It is the Central Square of Venice and is extremely commercialized. In November this area has historically flooded.

First Day Walking Tour of Venice

Awww.......Aren't we just adorable! ;-) This was taken on top of the famous Ponte Rialto bridge. It is amazing because not only is it just a walking bridge, but all across it are shops lining both sides!

Seeing these gondolas up close and personal it is amazing how much detail goes into each one. The seats are designed with old English style fabrics and the boat itself has intricate carvings along the top. A private 30 minute ride can run around 130 Euros but only worth it if you have any extra money to enjoy. Prices are said to be cheaper in October and November (less tourists).

Ash took this photo just to illustrate how packed this little island was! Full of tourists, it was sometimes hard to just get away from all of the people. We were always keeping a look out as to pick pockets because of the close vicinity we were in.

The View from our Room in Venice

One of the many beautiful pictures we took of the gondolas right in front of our hotel.

From our room this picture shows you the Church of Santa Maria di Salute, which is just to the right. This is one of the city's "plague churches." Built at a time when the plague swept through the tightly packed houses it was designed as much as an offering to keep the plague away as a place of worship.

Waterways of Venice

We arrived in Venice and took the public water ferry to our hotel, which is the building in the middle with the red awnings. We both agreed immediately after getting off the train that our first impression of Venice was a "Vegas meets a Dineyland Waterpark." For the first few hours, it was shoulder to shoulder Americans and we were looking for any escape we could find as we prefer to visit areas where locals congregate. However, we decided to spend the first day in Venice seeing the tourist locales in the Central Part of Venice, then we escaped to Lido Beach. Anyone expecting a relaxed vacation in Venice Central should think again, at least from May to mid September. You will be overcharged at every corner and getting around is inconvenient (expample: $85 for a ten minute private water taxi ride vs $15 for a 90 minute ferry ride to the same place). But we enjoyed it nonetheless!

Leaving Milan and Heading to Venice by Train

Pose! Ash and Christina took this picture right before the train was about to depart at 7:30am. This was an express train to Venice and was a beautiful way to see the countryside of Italy. We recommend to take an early train because the ride is about 2 hours and once you arrive in Venice, the tourist crowds keep getting larger as the day progresses, and the lines to get a ferry become redicioulously long.

Yum Yum Milan Final Dinner with "Luigi"

From the street this restaurant does not look like much but with the wonderful recommendation from the Hilton concierge, we were able to dine at a great "locals" place. The food was delicious! Christina ordered a pasta with bacon and ham, and Ash ordered lamb. We never got the name of our waiter, so we nicknamed him "Luigi" because we thought it just suited him well. Luigi was amazing and surprised us with a special dessert, which is presented above. He was so sweet to even put the sauce in the shape of a heart for presentation! We would definitely recommend this place for anyone who wants to dine in a great local atmosphere.

Last Night In Milan = Shopping!

Christina was determined to buy an article of clothing in Milan, so we walked in the high end shopping district and found a decently priced store called Zara. Ash also enjoyed his time while shopping with Christina by taking many random photo's while she tried on clothes.

How They Make Roads In Como, Italy... Even in 2005

During our walks around the Lake, we found this man fixing the road by hand! Just imagine the amount of work it took to lay down the roads throughout the city!

Lake Como

Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber

Does This Place Look Familiar?

As you may recall in the movie Oceans Twelve, one of the final scenes involves Julia Roberts and George Clooney meeting at this home as they had won a bet with a famous art theif. This home was rented for two weeks for the filming of the movie. Also, further down the lake George Clooney has his own $10 million 25 room 300 year old villa on the waterfront of the Lake. It was acquired from the Heinz Family. The tour guide stated that the people of the area did not want "any American buying property" but welcomed Clooney because he "is a simple man that takes part in the community."

Our Tour of Lake Como Residences and Landmarks

Above pictures are on Lake Como, Italy just beneath the Italian Alps. We rented a water tour of the Lake and it was well worth it! For 30 minutes and 70 Euros, you can have a personal tour guide (shown in top photo) show you main spots along the lake and the history behind them. This is a beautiful lake and would definately recommend making a trip out here. This has been one of the main highlights of this trip! Oh and an interesting fact is that this lake is 350 meters deep, a little bit deeper than the Mediterranian Sea.

1946 Cris Kraft on Lake Como

Surprise! Mom, Dad this is our grand purchase for this trip! We are hoping to have it shipped to us in about 2 months! What a great year for a boat to be made! ;-) The owner of this beautiful wooden boat not only let us take a photo next to the boat, but allowed us to get in it and stage the shots!

Beautiful Architecture!

On the way down the mountain on the trolley car, Ash was able to take this beautiful picture of the main area of Como, away from the lake. As you can see, the roof tops here are all made of red tiles, and the structure of the buildings are all alike. Below that picture is Christina kneeling in front of the main chapel located at the top of the mountain. We tried to take a picture inside but unfortunately none of the lighting was good enough.

A View of the Italian Alps

From the base of the mountains surrounding Como, we took a trolley like train up the side of the mountain (that made our ears pop) in order to witness the beautiful views of the Italian Alps. Surprisingly it was still hot even at this altitude. You can notice the white capped Italian Alps to the left of us and part of the city of Como down below.

Swallowed By Hands in Como!

The Train to Como, Italy

As we dashed to the train station, we picked up breakfast to go from our hotel lobby.........yes including eggs and bacon, but we had to wrap our food in saran (sp?) wrap to keep it from spilling. We bought a first class train ticket for our 30 minute train ride, but we later discovered we sat in the wrong car and of course in a coach car!

Yes It Is.

As we close out the day, we are reminded of a painting (this picture) that a shop owner painted on the entry way of his store here in Milan. He and all of his customers see it every day. Good night!

Ristorante Nabucco - Brera District - Milan, Italy

Christina wanted "authentic Italian" and she found it here at Ristorante Nabucco (their website). If you ever come to Milan, this place is a Must Dine. Food and service are amazing... and so was our third round of desert for the day.

ET Phone Home

Accadamie Di Belle Arti Di Brera

How would you like to have class here everyday? This is the Art College that we mentioned below. We toured the facilities freely (what doors were not locked). It is evident, based on the works in progress (sculptures and statues) that they are trying to teach the students under apprenticeships.

La nonna, ciò la è? ..Grandma, is that you!?!

I do not think a picture of Milan could look more staged, but this was what we found on various back alleys throughout the Brera District... old ladies leaning over the rails tending to their "gardens" and wathcing the people below. These pictures do not do justice. Get to Italy quick!

Finally, We Find People!

The tourists and locals that we could find had congregated in the Cairoli District of Milan. This is a closed off street comprised mostly of American stores such as Universal and Gap, etc. As we prefer and are always looking for the local areas, we quickly did a b-line for a new destination. We were pleased to find the Brera District where we visited the Milan Arts College and also found a quaint Italian Restaurant (pictures to follow...above!)

There's That Map Again

Sempione District

Parco Sempione with the Castello Sforzesco in the background.


This is the Parco Sempione which stretches from the Castello Sforzesco to the Piazza Sempione (arch in the background).

SMU's Version of a Hippy Wagon

Outside the Castle, the city hosted a dance and mini carnival to try and lure tourists during the month of August (as mentioned below, August is a vacant time for Milan as it is a month of Holiday for most of Italy). We noticed this minivan holding up one of the tents. Too bad we were not around in the 60's!

Castello Sforzesco - Cadorna District

Christina and Her New Ride

Did not get very far with those tires!

Porta Genova Bridge

The Porta Genova District

Ahhhhh..... Gelato!

Christina and Ash's common addiction: Ice Cream or in Italy, "Gelato." It was the first thing we purchased when we arrived in Milan. After getting settled in at the Milan Hilton (link in the right navigation bar), we headed on a tour in the Southwest quadrant of the city and worked our way Northeast. As you will see in the following pictures above (this blog's pictures are chronological from bottom to top), Milan is vacant of both locals and tourists! But that leaves more for us to have to ourselves, so no complaints. We learned that in August, more than 60% of the population heads on Holiday, a large portion of these Holiday makers go to the beaches of Spain and the South of France.

Milano City Centre

3 Euros to City Centre

We arrived at Milan Linate Airport 20 minutes early. The airport offers a bus for only 3 Euros to take you the 20 KM to Milan's City Centre.

Quick and Cheap Will Get You There

In many places throughout Europe, the low cost carriers will board and deplane on the tarmac and cart the passengers via bus directly to the international arrivals baggage claim. Often, your bags will be waiting for you as opposed to vice versa. These airlines are trying to improve on the efficinecies that Southwest developed when it began turning planes in twenty minutes. Hopefully, US airports will work to guarantee airlines have the same efficiencies as are present in the EU.

Au revoir la France. Bonjour l'Italie.

We left Paris this morning via the "Paris Orly" Airport. It is a bit closer to the city than the main Charles de Gaul Airport. We chose easyJet, but Ryanair was another solid option and one to look into as you travel Europe.

When weighing low cost carriers, make sure you understand all of the weight restrictions (and breakdown of taxes and fees) for personal bags. Fare prices are otherwise deceiving. However, if you know what you are getting into by understanding these fees (instead of being surprised as you check-in), you can organize a great trip on Low Cost Carriers. There is no doubt that the Low Fare carriers are the way to travel Europe (Ryanair, easyJet, Vueling, WizzAir, SkyEurope are just a few). While some may sell a ticket for 10 Euros plus taxes and fees (and not all taxes and "fees" are the same from one LCC to the next), they may charge more for your baggage than your actual ticket. To view the pictures that proceeded Italy, visit www.CHRISTINASH.com and click on "France."