Back to Italy Again (Venice)

For the final trip away I took during my time as an English Language Assistant, I went back to Italy again, this time to Venice. Even though it was so easy to get to (there is a direct train from Villach), I had put off going there for a while as I was worried it would be really expensive. However, I found out it that if you stay on the mainland, near Venezia Mestre train station, it's actually quite affordable. Not the nicest area, but fine as long as you don't go out at night!

Venice, like Florence, was a place I'd wanted to see for a long time. And it really was as beautiful as people say it is. The downside was that it was extremely busy, especially around the most touristic places. It was only mid December when I went, so I definitely would not want to go there in the summer or the carnival season!

Even with Google Maps, I got very lost a couple of times, but I eventually managed to see all the main sites and take some pictures. Here they are:

The views you see when you first come out of Venezia Santa Lucia train station. Amazing!

I Frari

Ponte Rialto

Hard to see here, but it's a cool sculpture of a pair of hands on a building.

Basilica di San Marco

Piazza San Marco

Palazzo Ducale

Ponte dei Sospiri

A couple of islands you can see across the canal from outside Palazzo Ducale. Unfortunately I didn't have time to visit them in December, but maybe I will go back to Venice in the future and look round them then.


It is funny how I have ended up spending so much time in Italy during the German-speaking part of my Year Abroad. I had only been there once before, having spent a few hours in San Remo when I was fifteen and on holiday in the south of France. So it was great to explore the country more and see a couple of famous cities. There are lots of other places there that I want to go to in the future, Rome most of all.

I also started learning the Italian language in October before going to Udine, and I am finding it really interesting. Maybe it wasn't a great idea to start learning a new language when I'm already studying three, but I feel I have to finish the Duolingo Italian course now that I've started it!

I went home for Christmas a couple of weeks after my Venice trip and then came back to Austria in the new year for the last five weeks of my assistantship. I was too busy to take any trips away during that time, but I did do quite a lot of sightseeing around Kärnten. So that's what my next post will be about!

Florence

The next stop on my travels was Italy again, this time to Florence. I had wanted to visit this beautiful city for a long time and living in Austria gave me the perfect opportunity to do so, as it was only a few train journeys away.

It was great to explore the city on foot seeing all the different sites. The one thing that wasn't so good was that the Uffizi gallery was far too crowded for my liking. However, I loved my weekend there, and I had lots of opportunities to take photos.

Here are some pictures from the main cathedral in Florence. Unfortunately there was some work being done on the building so it wasn't as photogenic as it normally is, but it was still a very impressive sight!

This is a photo of the Ponte Vecchio, taken from a window of the Uffizi gallery. I had an amazing view from there!

Palazzo Vecchio

The walled garden in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi. This was a really tranquil and beautiful place.

Florence is a very unique city with so much culture and beauty. I'm happy that I had the chance to see it at least once in my lifetime!

Udine

Today I will write about the weekend I spent in Udine in Italy back in October for my birthday (which seems a very long time ago now).

Udine is only a couple of hours away on the train from where I'm living in Kärnten. But everything there seemed so different - the language, the architecture, even the weather was warmer! This is what I really like about living in continental Europe. You can explore so many countries, all with a different language and culture, so easily.

One great thing about Udine is that it's a small city and all the important sights are right next to each other, so it is very easy to explore on foot. (However it is a bit of a climb to get to the castle!) It is also not too touristic so you can look around without feeling pushed and shoved.

Now for some pictures of this beautiful city:

The cathedral

Piazza della Libertà (Unfortunately, my photos don't really do it justice!)

Porticato del Lippomano

The city hall

Arco Bollani

The castle

A nice park near the train station


Udine is not the best known city in Italy, but it is definitely worth a visit!