Italy 2004 - Venice

This is a typical row of buildings in Venice. Doors open to the canal, where the residents may arrive by boat.

Outside the Hotel La Fenice in Venice with a big smile on my face, you would never guess how much my feet hurt.

Travel Diary

Day 11: Florence to Venice

Steve wrote:

We awoke a bit early and had some breakfast. Since our train to Venice didn’t leave until 12:40, we walked around town a little bit. We crossed the Pontevecchio and Rosemary did some window shopping in the jewelry stores. She’s not big on expensive jewelry like a lot of women (thank God!), but a particular bracelet caught her eye. We took a closer look, she tried it on and really liked it. What could I do? "Cha-ching" - it's now hers.

We walked along the river and went back into town, had a slice of pizza and checked out of our hotel. Took a cab to the train station for our trip to Venice, about a three hour ride.

In Venice, we knew we would have to take a waterbus, or vaporetto, to get close to our hotel. I knew that Venice had canals, but didn’t realize that there were no roads, which meant no cars, buses, taxis, scooters, bicycles or rollerskaters. VERY quiet, compared to where we’ve been so far. The Grand Canal circles the city and is full of vaporettos, water taxis, gondolas and small boats necessary to get form here to there. "Streets" can be walked and some canals have small bridges over them, connecting the many islands that make up Venice.

We got off the vaporetto at St. Mark’s Square. In looking at a map, I realized that our Hotel was about half way between the northern and southern shore, but by going to St. Mark’s, we got a longer ride and saw more of the Grand Canal. We disembarked and walked one long block to St. Mark’s Square. This has to be seen to be believed. The Cathedral, The Doge’s Palace, The Campanile, all as you’ve seen in pictures, only more so, especially the pigeons.

Not exactly sure how to get to the hotel, we set off in what we thought was the general direction and, within a few minutes, we actually found it. Hotel La Fenice et Des Artistes is next to the La Fenice Opera House. Our room is small (sensing another trend here?), but big enough for only two nights, and it has a small private patio overlooking (what else?) a small canal. High ceilings with open wood beams and an incredibly ornate chandelier.

We unpacked and went back to St. Mark’s for a drink before dinner, passing some shops with incredible glasswork. Venice is known for its glass factories on the island of Murano, which we hope to visit on our last morning here. St. Mark’s was alive with people and pigeons. There are several restaurants surrounding the plaza and, surprisingly, three of them have small bands playing music for the patrons sitting outside. Usually, only one band is playing at a time, but sometimes there are dueling bands. We sat down, ordered a drink, enjoyed the music and watched the people. Very relaxing.

We had dinner at a small restaurant recommend by the hotel, which was quite good. After dinner, we walked back to St. Mark’s, looked in a few more shops, listened to some more music, had some gelato and headed for the hotel.

Once we had checked into our hotel, we headed for Piazza San Marco and had a snack.

In the afternoon and evening the "dueling orchestras" of the cafes in the piazza entertain diners and dancers.

In the area around the Piazza San Marco, many of the shops selling Murano glassware stay open late.

There are no cars (or trucks, buses, motorscooters, bicycles, etc.) in Venice. People get around on foot and by boat.

Goods are brought in by boat and delivered canalside or carted in on hand trucks.

Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square) is known for its pigeons, encouraged by tourists who buy lots of seed from the local vendors.

You can take an elevator to the top of the Campanile (bell tower) for a terrific view of the city.

The bells are used regularly.

The view is wonderful.

Except for a couple of cafes and one eccentric antique dealer, every shop along this canal in Murano sells glassware.

A gondola parking lot.

Traveling on the Grand Canal.

Masks are a big part of the fashion history of Venice, where many shops offer traditional and modern styles.

The Venice police outside their San Marco station.

Sometimes a private gondola is the only way to see the back "streets" of Venice.

From the Bridge of Sighs, you can see all the tourists looking your way...

...but all they see is the bridge.

St. Mark's Cathedral.

Day 12: Venice

Steve wrote:

For our only full day in Venice, we wanted to see as much as we could in the short time available, so we decided to concentrate on the area around St. Mark’s. By this time, we are pretty tired and some of the things are starting to run together. We started at the Correr Museum, which houses artwork from the Venetian area. Again, paintings, sculptures, frescoes and mosaics. From there, we went to the Doge’s Palace, home of the rulers of Venice. Ornately carved fireplaces, historical maps and weapons, murals on the walls and ceilings as well as very detailed plaster work decorated with gold leaf. It’s good to be the Doge!

After a nice lunch a couple of blocks away, we returned to the plaza and took the lift to the top of the Campanile, or bell tower, for magnificent views of the city and canals. Not having checked the time, we were surprised when the bells started clanging about 10 feet away from us. Pretty darn loud. I said “PRETTY DARN LOUD!”. After our hearing was restored, we descended and went into St. Mark’s Cathedral and some of its museums. (I think I've been to more churches in the last two weeks than in my entire life.) We climbed to the outer balcony of St. Mark’s for another excellent view of the square. The number of pigeons here is unbelievable, encouraged by the people buying pigeon food from vendors in the square. If you hold some food in your hands and stretch out your arms, you could easily have eight to ten pigeons perching on you, which freaks some people out.

At this point, we were pooped but didn't want to waste what little time we had left, so we boarded a vaporetto and just rode for a while, stopping at Lido across the lagoon, and another stop with a nice park where we just sat for a while. By the time we got back, it was almost time for dinner, but we went back to the hotel to get off our feet for a little while. We went to a great restaurant a block from the hotel, then went back and collapsed to try to get some rest for our final day in Italy.

Day 13: Venice to London

Steve wrote:

Venice's Murano island is famous for its glass factories. We had seen Murano glass in shops all over Venice and Florence and there are some great artists working in this medium. In addition, once the process is explained, you can see how some of it can be handmade yet produced in quantity.

After 25 minutes on the vaporetto and several stops, we got to Murano. If you want glass, this is the place to come. Paintings? No. Marble sculpture? No. Groceries? No. Glass, glass and more glass, either factories or stores, as far as you can see, except for a few places for the tourists to eat. We started cruising the streets, ducking in and out of the various shops. Because it’s handmade, these items can be pretty expensive. We’ve seen serving plates for 500-600 Euro, vases up to 1,500 Euro and glass sculptures up to 10,000 Euro, all of it beautiful.

We drifted into a shop and saw some unusual plates and glass wall hangings featuring different types of fish. Only then did we notice the store was called "Pesce Pesce". The owner explained that they make everything there, not in some factory, and that they had just started making things with plants and flowers as well as fish. She spent time telling us about the processes used - all very interesting. We ended up buying two pieces to be hung on the wall like pictures and arranged to have them shipped back to the U.S. She gave us a few little glass fish like the ones in the pieces we bought to use as accents around them. A very nice lady, and the prices were reasonable.

We went to a few other stores and bought some gifts, had a quick lunch and took the vaporetto back to St. Mark’s, went back to the hotel to get our stuff and took off for the airport. There's a boat that goes right to the airport with a shuttle bus to the terminal.

We boarded British Air for the flight back to London, having to take a bus from Gatwick to Heathrow, then a cab to a local Holiday Inn. There was a restaurant at the hotel which had an interesting-looking menu so, being as tired as we were, we checked in and went down for a surprisingly good dinner. We showered (God bless the Brits for knowing how to build a shower!) And got ready for bed. The room was pretty warm even though we had turned up the A/C and window was designed so that it would only open a couple of inches, so I called down to the desk to see whether I had set the A/C properly, only to be told that the hotel didn’t have A/C, only a fan system for circulation. At this point we were too tired to care and had along day of travel ahead, so we left a wake-up call and went to bed.

Day 14: London to Los Angeles

Steve wrote:

Our wake up call did its job and we dressed and went down to breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Because of the devaluation of the dollar, the exchange rate is almost two to one. London is very expensive - when I see prices listed for almost anything, it looks about right until I remember that it’s in pounds and double what it seems. A buffet breakfast for two at the Holiday Inn was $60. We caught the airport shuttle, checked in and sat in the first class lounge for about 30 minutes waiting for our 11-hour flight to LA.

Looking back, I’ve learned a few things about traveling that will come in handy. More days in fewer cities - not only does travel take up an incredible amount of time, but each city we went to had SO much to see that we burned ourselves out trying to see it all. If we had more time, we could have paced ourselves better, seen everything we wanted to see and probably enjoyed it more. Still, it was an incredible two weeks and, although I’m eager to get home, I’m sorry to see it end.

Rosemary wrote:

I could easily have spent much more time in each of these cities, and I'm eager to come back someday. (At the same time, it will be pleasant to return to a land where the air conditioning works, the toilets flush, and my feet do not hang over the end of the bed.) Despite my aching feet, I had a wonderful time.

 

Tanzania 2001 - Maasai Village, Olduvai, Serengeti

This is an arena or conference center in the middle of the village. Note the fence built of trees. The women line up on one side of the area as they prepare to perform a song.

A toddler joins the adults forthe dance.

Both men and women wear a lot of jewelry. They pierce both the upper and lower part of the ear and wear big earrings through elongated holes. The colorful blankets are also part of their everyday clothing.

The choreography is simple. The men take turns seeing how high they can jump.

Steve pays full retail for some Maasai jewelry.

Olduvai (aka Oldupai) is a hot, dry place.

Three brothers lounge together on the plain. If they do not already lead a pride, they soon will.

Our presence did not interfere with their naptime.

This distant cheetah was barely visible in the tall grass.

If the sun isn't too harsh, hippos will come out of the water to graze or nap.

Male giraffes resolve conflict with a form of wrestling known as "necking". The sound of their huge necks slamming into each other is shocking, but they rarely get hurt. When the battle is over, they resume their friendship.

A savanna hare, just before it leaped up and raced away.

Bad luck for the zebra - a windfall for the vultures.

A secretary bird looks for small rodents and lizards in the grass.

Leopards spend a lot of time resting in trees. When they kill something, they will drag the meal up into the tree, out of reach of most other predators, to eat at leisure.

Wildebeest form a long line, migrating toward the rain and greener grass.

A wildebeest calf stops for nutrition.

A road on the Serengeti.

Travel Diary

Tuesday (June 5) - Maasai Village, Olduvai, Serengeti

Rosemary: We left the crater area and drove to a Maasai village. They performed a traditional song and dance. Women on one side, men on the other. The women sing and the men "dance" by seeing how high they can jump, one at a time, as the spirit moves them.

We were given a tour of a house. These are little round huts built of mud, cow dung, and sticks. Extremely dark inside. Leather beds. A smoldering fire to keep the bugs out. Our host has three wives. Each wife has her own house, and he must move from one to the other.

Of course, we bought their jewelry - beaded bracelets, necklaces, and a "fly chaser". They don't sell their earrings, which I would dearly love to have.

Steve: Woke up to a foggy day atop the crater. After breakfast, we drove back to the main road along the crater rim, to arrive at Serengeti that night.

On the way, we made a couple of stops: first, at a Maasai village where the natives encourage visitors. Upon arriving, we were met by one of the tribe who spoke English. He welcomed us and encouraged us to take as many pictures as we wanted. This was a gracious gesture on his part because many Maasai want money if you take their picture.

We went into the middle of the village, where the women sang and the men danced. According to Hassan, the dance was to celebrate the circumcision of a 15 year old male. Part of the dance was that each male jumped up and down on both feet several times. If I had been circumcised at 15, I’d be jumping up and down too.

Our host then invited us into his home, a hut made of straw and cow dung - not as disgusting as you might think. It was very small, with a sleeping area for him, a separate area for his wife, a fire pit in the middle, one small window for ventilation and a spot for a guest to sleep. It was very dark inside, so much so that when he invited me to take his picture, I couldn’t see his face through the viewfinder.

Afterwards, we were led outside to where the women displayed their beaded jewelry. We bought a few pieces and as we were trying to add up how much everything cost, one of the tribe members came over with a pocket calculator to assist. We could have negotiated on the prices, but they were so low we figured that the Maasai needed the money more than we did.

We then saw the school, where I gave the teacher two boxes of ballpoint pens I have brought just for such an occasion.

We left the Maasai and went to the Olduvai Gorge, site of the oldest human fossils ever discovered. This is the place where Louis and Mary Leakey worked for over 40 years.

The Maasai village after the tourists leave.

Rosemary: The real name of the place is Oldupai, not Olduvai. Apparently the first European scientist to come here misunderstood the name, and it became famous that way. There is a small museum and a local guide who gives a short talk about the history of the place. He thinks the "p" vs. "v" mixup is hysterically funny.

On to the Serengeti.

Steve: We had a box lunch at a nice little picnic area and climbed to an observation point at the top of a hill. "Serengeti" means "endless plain" and it is aptly named. It's almost 15,000 square kilometers (you do the math) and goes on forever.

On the road to the picnic are we saw lots of gazelles, some zebra, ostrich and eland, which are the largest antelope. Hassan thought there might be some cheetahs there, feasting on the gazelles, so we back-tracked a bit and went off road, into the grass. We saw all of the above (except cheetahs), plus a savannah hare and the skeletons of some recently killed zebra and wildebeest.

Rosemary: Lots of male lions. A group of three brothers just lying together on the savannah. We got close and circled them. One had a wound on his eyebrow. They were just relaxing, not bothered by us at all.

Steve: We then saw another couple of solo males, all of which were sleeping.

Further on, we saw a huge herd of zebra, some gazelles and more wildebeest. At one point, one of the gazelles, after running quickly for a while, started hopping along, like a circumcised Maasai.

Rosemary: Lions, savannah hares, eland, topi, gazelles, zebra, vultures, wildebeest, hartebeest, bustard, ostrich, warthogs, eagles - and more!

We saw plenty of dead animals, nothing left but a little skin and bone, or just bone. One zebra by the side of the road was still being worked on by a flock of vultures.

Lions on the rocks. Big rain in the distance - the gazelles start hurrying toward it.

Steve: As we made our way to yet another Sopa lodge, we could see it raining across the plains and we got a little sprinkle. A lot of the animals were headed towards the rainy area for water and hoping for some new grass to grow in the next couple of days.

We arrived at the lodge a little after 5:00 PM, showered and went to dinner.

Rosemary: We have a fabulous view from our room. The plains, hills in the distance. Nearby giraffes are eating the trees. Unfortunately, there is no screen on the glass door, so we can't leave it open for ventilation. No ceiling fan, but there is a table fan in the room. It's very hot here. As usual, hot water is rationed. Plumbing weirdness, also as usual. They put a bidet in every bathroom, but can't or won't install a properly designed shower. I suspect it's a plot to keep people from using the hot water.

I really like the Serengeti, the little I've seen this afternoon. The smell of the grass and the rain, the huge blue sky, animals everywhere. We drove off road for a while, and it seemed as though we were the only people there. It's so vast, it really does seem endless.

This Serengeti lioness was wearing a research collar.

 

Tanzania 2001 - Ngorongoro Crater

This was our first view of the Ngorongoro crater, standing at a popular vista point before turning up the road to our lodge.

This hyena and his pals were very comfortable resting in the road a few feet from our vehicle.

Lions love to nap.

The bright red coloring of this male ostrich indicates he is ready to mate. Unfortunately, there were no females nearby.

There is not much left of this buffalo, probably killed within the last week. As time goes by the bones will be gnawed and scattered, with only the skull left to mark the spot.

The zebras like to pause for a quick drink before crossing the stream.

In the distance, three rare black rhinos graze quietly. They are about the same size as buffalo.

These two playful zebras engaged in some mock wrestling.

Flocks of flamingos enjoy the lake.

Wildebeest head for greener pastures.

A baby zebra stops to wonder what we're doing.

There are not many large trees in the Ngorongoro Crater.

Travel Diary

Sunday (June 3) - Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro

Steve: After the usual breakfast of fruit, omelettes, meats and juices, we left the lodge at 8:00 AM to go to Lake Manyara National Park, home of the famous tree-climbing lions. Upon entering the park, we immediately saw huge groups of baboons of all sizes and ages. Some were eating, some were grooming each other. Quite the little society!

We saw an elephant with a damaged tusk. He probably broke it off on a tree or scraping some rocks. More impala, giraffes and zebra, but we were really looking for leopards and lions - love them cats!

We found some warthogs, who finally didn’t turn away and run when we tried to take a picture. Only the good folks at Disney could make an animal this ugly so popular. Oh well, Hakuna Matata!

After a while, on the road near the lake, I saw a leopard run across the road. By the time I could say anything, he was gone so Rosemary never saw it. What a great looking animal.

Later, we spotted a black-backed jackal on a side road and got a good picture. At one point, we saw a dik dik, the smallest breed of antelope. He kept moving back and forth, as if he was trying to get through the brush but couldn’t. Got a couple of shots of him through the leaves.

At last, we got a good view of a leopard, lying on top of a toppled tree trunk. Snapped a couple of pictures and ran out of film. Changed rolls and got a couple more shots as he climbed down and disappeared behind the tree. This was easily the highlight of the morning.

We saw some vervet monkeys and blue monkeys, a few storks, a giraffe sitting on the ground, some miscellaneous birds, a couple of monitor lizards and a crested eagle.

Unfortunately, we never did see any lions, either on the ground or in the trees, but I’m sure we will see them later in the trip.

Back to the lodge for lunch, which was the best meal of the trip so far. After lunch, we hit the road to go to the Ngorongoro Crater (hereafter "NG2"), the crater so nice they named it twice. Drove through farmlands and a small town, where the road was blocked by a procession celebrating the local bishop’s 50th birthday. Someone told us that, as a gift, his wife was taking him on a trip to California.

Rosemary: A drive over miles of incredibly bad road to Ngorongoro. It is beautiful here. At a higher elevation, and cool, so there are no mosquitoes!

Steve: We arrived at the entrace to NG2 National Park and saw about 15 vehicles waiting to get in. We knew it would be crowded, since everyone we overheard at Lake Manyara seemed to be going there. A few miles ahead was the first place you could get the first glimpse of the crater from the edge, so everyone stopped to take pictures.

The first look at the crater is an awesome experience. It seemed to be larger than theSan Fernando Valley at about 100 square miles, and it had a large lake in the middle. The unique thing about NG2 is that most of the animals don’t leave the crater due to not liking to climb the steep walls. We are told that it is an unbelievable adventure.

Our home for the next two nights is the Sopa Lodge at NG2, the same hotel chain as we stayed in Tarangire. The lodge is perched on the edge of the crater at about 8,000 feet. The view is breathtaking and our room has a small sunroom where I can see much of the crater while writing this journal. Hopefully, the food here will be better than at Tarangire. We will leave at 8:00 AM tomorrow for a full day of viewing on the crater floor, taking a picnic lunch so that we don’t have to drive all the way back to the lodge.

We went to the bar before dinner for a drink. Because of the altitude, we actually wore our jackets for the first time. The bar was cozy, with a fireplace and snacks for "happy hour". Dinner began at 7:30 and, unlike our first two hotels, there are a lot of people staying here. This is one of the two larger lodges in the area, and NG2 is a popular spot.

Rosemary: Watching the sunset from the bar of our safari lodge on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, drinking white wine and listening to American pop music ("What if God Was One of Us"). I'm exhausted, looking forward to some sleep (luckily everyone goes to bed early here).

Steve: Dinner was very good (for a change) and as an added bonus, the staff performed some African songs in a manner similar to Ladysmith Black Mambazo. We went to bed around 9:30, hoping not to be kept awake by a group of school children who had to pass our room to get to their own.

Monday (June 4) Ngorongoro Crater

Steve: We had a good night’s sleep, partly because of exhaustion and partly because, due to the altitude and drop in temperature, there are no mosquitos.

After a good breakfast, we descended into the crater. We saw a couple of elephants in the highland jungle, then encountered the first of many wildebeest (or gnu). Over the course of the day, we must have seen at least 1,000 of them. Unlike the wildebeest on the plains, these do not migrate, but live in the crater all year round. Several other firsts today - Thompson’s gazelle, hartebeest, black rhino, a brief look at a serval cat and (drum roll please) LIONS!

Rosemary: First thing, hyenas, just snoozing in the road. We drove right up to them and took their pictures while they calmly watched us.

Steve: Surprisingly, when they are not ripping at your flesh, they are fairly attractive and somewhat dog-like in nature.

We saw our first lion fairly soon. It was a female napping in an open area. We and another jeep were no more than 10 feet from where she was sleeping. Even while asleep, you could sense the power of the beast. As more vans arrived, she awoke and walked to a nearby rise, where she promptly lay down to sleep again.

All over the crater we saw large groups of wildebeest, zebra, gazelle (both Thompson’s and Grant’s), waterbuck, buffalo, with smaller groups of warthogs and the occasional jackal.

Rosemary: So many wildebeest! Many zebras and gazelles. The flamingos eat in the saltwater lake, but go to the section where fresh water flows in to bathe.

Steve: The crater was crowded with many tours, but in some ways that was a plus. The drivers exchanged info via short-wave radio and a van that was stopped sometimes indicated some unusual game. One of these times, we saw a couple of jeeps parked in front of this little mound of brush. Only when we got right up to it did we realize that there were between six and ten lions hiding and sleeping, with young males and young females. They didn’t seem to be lying in wait for any prey, but merely resting. In fact, when we passed the same spot about four hours later, they had spread out to nap in small groups of two or three each. Later, from a distance, we saw three male lions napping in a dry creek bed.

We had a box lunch at a picnic area overlooking a lake full of hippos. All we could see (mostly) was their ears, eyes and nostrils.

After lunch, we went to look at a black rhino we had seen on the way and then saw a group of three of them a great distance from the road. Black rhino are very rare and only 25 of them live in the crater; we’ve seen four of them.

We saw a serval cat in the road ahead, but as we tried to approach, it ran faster, finally disappearing into the brush. Still, an unexpected surprise, which made us the envy of all the other tourists we told.

After a full day of driving, we went back to the lodge, tired as usual. Riding around in a Jeep doesn’t sound like it should be tiring, but the roads are very bumpy, so the ride is a constant struggle to stay in your seat, plus all the standing up and sitting down in order to take pictures.

We saw fields of pretty flowers blooming in the Ngorongoro Crater.