10 unforgettable experiences in Venice, Italy

by Justin Delaney on

Visiting Venice is a lot like living in a painting. The colors and reflections feel ephemeral. You blink and the picture changes. The size of Venice ceases to exceed its usefulness as no corner, road, bridge, or shop seems wasted or useless. Each thing plays a part in defining her character. The peeling paint reflects glories of the past, with the new layers an homage to the upkeep of a starstung legacy. The beauty is so effervescent that even a blind man could make a career as a photographer here. While people may come and go, none forget. Hemingway hunted, Napoleon conquered, Monet painted, Leonardo invented, and millions more have gasped and gawked in the shadows of this most storied settlement. It is to be savored like some early morning dream that surreptitiously impacts the remains of the day.

In Venice, the ambiance alone is so beautiful and otherworldly that just wandering aimlessly provides fantastic results. Beyond errant exploration though, Venice provides many gorgeous sights and enchanting islands for travelers to explore. Here are 10 things to do in Venice and around the lagoon.

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Carnevale
It was a damp Venetian evening, and I lobbed my luggage off the Vaporetto at Piazzale Roma. A massive crowd buzzed about the station, cackling and hooting. It was mid February, and I had not prepared for such crowds. During my flight in from arid Sharm el Shiekh, I had envisioned a wintry Venice where steps echoed across abandoned squares and snowflakes fell undisturbed to the ground. I was greeted with the opposite. A raucous party of some sort was in full swing. As I stood, trying to make sense of the madness at the station, a line of eight Lego men walked past, robotically one arm before the other, in slow deliberate motion. They disappeared into a menagerie of goblins, Baroque aristocrats, and tourists firing off rounds of photographs like young mujahedeen soldiers. I had unintentionally staggered upon Carnevale – a treat for the over prepared and uninformed.

Carnevale starts about two weeks before Ash Wednesday and ends on Shrove Tuesday, more commonly known stateside as Fat Tuesday. The costumes were introduced as a way for revelers to obscure identity and social class, allowing equal opportunity for debauching. The party spreads out across the heavily trafficked parts of Venice, with evening performances in Piazza San Marco and hordes posting up along the Rialto Bridge. While many European students make the trip to party, it is notably tamer than Mardi Gras, catering to a higher end demographic.

The Original Ghetto
If you have ever found yourself contemplating the etymology of the term “ghetto,” but were to lazy to do the wiki legwork, then you will at last be united with the term’s origin. The term is derived from the Venetian word for slag (gheto – a byproduct of smelting metal), and was attributed to the Jewish neighborhood in Venice that shared an island with a metal foundry. The old neighborhood still stands and is, in fact, the original ghetto. This ghetto was once the heart of the Venetian shipping empire and the inspiration behind Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. To reach the ghetto, exit the San Marcuola station along the Grand Canal Vaporetto and head northwest.

Piazza San Marco
At the heart of Venice is one of the most ambitious and breathtaking plazas in the world. A vast open space flanked by historic sights, its gravitational pull has attracted travelers for hundreds of years. The Clock Tower, Basilica di San Marco, Campanile di San Marco, and Palazzo Ducale are some of the most popular sights in Venice and each is situated on the Plaza. While this is the undisputed tourist destination for cruise boat daytrippers, even the most jaded anti-mainstream traveler will marvel at San Marco’s splendor.


Burano
Burano is an explosion of color. A residential archipelago about 30 minutes from Venice, Burano boasts buildings in every color as if created by a kid gone mad with a box of crayons. An order exists among the technicolor chaos though, as the government controls specificity regarding color choices for each home. If one of the 2,800 residents decides to paint, then he must first have his choices approved by the government. This process has fostered an aesthetic that is more Curacao than Caravaggio. While Venice has no shortage of photogenic subjects, Burano is the most vivid and unlikely. Even the locals’ hanging laundry bursts with a myriad of colors. Be sure to bring a camera and drop by a bakery to sample some S shaped Burano cookies. To reach Burano, take the Vaporetto on the LN line from Fondamente Nuove, and depart when you hear the Italian man shout “Burano, Burano.”

Torcello
Once a heavily populated island and Byzantine settlement, Torcello is now largely ruins and farms. A malaria epidemic and dead lagoon transformed a bustling trading hub with the East into a veritable no-man’s land in the Twelfth century. Today, the population hovers around 20, and is most recently noted as being a favorite hunting ground for Ernest Hemingway. Torcello is a quiet place to stroll through history undisturbed passed sheep and edifices of the past. A main draw is the cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, built in the Seventh century. It is one of the few remaining structures from Torcello’s boom days. Torcello Island is located directly across from Burano and can be reached by Vaporetto or private boat taxi.

Murano
In the late Thirteenth century, after repeat fires in Venice were attributed to the foundries used by glassblowers, the craft of glassblowing was outlawed within the city walls. The blowers relocated to the island of Murano in the Venice lagoon. To keep the craft of glassblowing as secretive and local as possible, the blowers were not allowed to set up shops beyond the lagoon, and if caught doing so, would be brutally separated from their hands. This insured Murano’s continued status as the center of the glass blowing world. A visit to Murano is not complete without dropping by a glass studio and watching artisans blow some fine pieces using red hot furnaces while they carelessly drink cold Peronis. To see a glass blowing demonstration look for a “Fornace Glass” sign exiting to the left at the Colonna Vaporetto stop. To reach Murano, take the LN line from Fondamente Nuove.

Gondola Ride
Few things are as romantic and storied as a trip down the Grand Canal in a Gondola. Gondoliers are almost entirely male and wear the signature black and white striped shirts. Reportedly, there is a lone female gondolier among the ranks of nine-hundred that ply the waterways as a trade. Negotiating with a Gondolier can be difficult, but the walk-away tactic could knock five to ten Euros off of the price. Eighty Euros for forty minutes is fairly standard, though expect to pay more between 7pm and 8am. The best time to ride is near dusk, follow it with dinner at an authentic Venetian restaurant like Al Covo.

Sunset over Lagoon, Gelato in hand
Sitting on the banks of the lagoon in San Marco, with a gelato-filled cone in hand, is a beautiful way to end the day. Watching the sun disappear beyond the beauty of Venice feels like being a smudge in some dusky Monet painting.

Charting the reign of the Doge
The Doge ruled Venice for over a thousand years. They built grand palaces and ruled undisturbed until the eighteenth century. Perhaps their most impressive contribution to the Venetian landscape is the Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace) adjacent to Piazza San Marco. The palace holds a variety of splendor that reflects the wealth of Venice’s rulers, but some of the most interesting features are those that do not glisten and shine. A damp jail that once housed Cassanova, as well as various torture chambers, speak for the darker side of Venetian politics. Entry to the Palazzo Ducale costs 13 Euros, but opt for the 16 Euros admission which includes the secret passageways tour.

Lido
Off the beaten track, Lido is a seven-mile sandbar southeast of Venice – an authentic sliver of beaches and film festivals. The annual Venice Film Festival takes place in early September, and during the summer months, travel cognoscenti from all over Europe spread out across the chic beaches. Renting a bicycle will allow the speed to explore the long narrow island, and be sure to watch the sun set behind Venice to the west. Accommodation is cheap relative to Venice, so for travelers on a budget, Lido is a great option. The island can be reached via Vaporetto from Venice or by using the Alilaguna Waterbus from the airport.

Outside Magazine posts their 2011 trips of the year

by Kraig Becker on

Adventure travelers still looking for suggestions on what to do, and where to go, this year may find some inspiration courtesy of Outside Magazine which has posted their selection for the 2011 Trips of the Year online.

Compiled by the Outside editors, the list, first appeared in the March print edition of the magazine which is on newsstands now. The recommendations will send travelers off on active adventures to far flung places ranging from Alaska, Nepal, Siberia, and beyond. The trips aren’t necessarily for the faint of heart however, as the suggestions include high altitude trekking, heli-skiing, mountain biking, white water rafting and much much more.

Each of the trip recommendations includes a short description of what travelers can expect, suggested dates to go, and a recommendation of a travel company to use when booking the journey yourself. Prices are also included, and be warned that some of them can induce a bit of sticker shock. But these trips are also unique excursions to remote places, which usually don’t come cheap. They also happen to be genuinely once in a life time opportunities for most of us, and will almost certainly leave a deep and lasting impression on those who take them.

As an active traveler who happens to enjoy a bit of adventure in my getaways, each of these trips appeals to me on a different level. But were I forced to choose one or two that stand out the most, I’d recommend the mountain biking journey through Argentina’s Patagonia or the expedition across Mongolia on horseback. Both offer a fantastic adventure through stunning landscapes unlike any other on Earth.

Stunt cyclist climbs to top of tallest hotel in Europe in 19 minutes

by Chris Owen on

It took him 19 minutes and 27 seconds today to climb to the top of the 614 foot-tall Grand Hotel Bali in the eastern Spanish resort city of Benidorm in Madrid.

Young Polish stunt cyclist Krystian Herba did not pedal but hopped up the hotel in 921 steps.

“I’m tired but very happy” Herba told the Associated Press.

Herba has been cycling for 17 years and got started by doing stairs in famous buildings in Poland before moving on to climbs around Europe.

In October, Herba hopped to the top of the 50-story Millennium Tower in Vienna, the tallest building in Austria.

Flickr photo by Michael Jablonski



The ten essentials of hiking and why you need them

by Kraig Becker on

Hikers and backpackers are no doubt already familiar with the “Ten Essentials”, which is a list of important items that we should always carry with us when heading out on to the trail. The list has had several iterations over the years, but the original can be traced back to a Seattle based outdoor club in the 1930’s. The club, known as the Mountaineers, came up with the list of items that were most important to our survival while in the backcountry and over the years it spread to other outdoor enthusiasts across the country. Since those humble beginnings, the list has grown to almost mythic status, and while times may have changed, it is still as relevant today as it was when it was first created.

Here are the ten items that everyone should carry with them on a hike of an significance.

Map
Navigation can be vitally important while in the wilderness and it is important, even in this day and age, that you have a good quality, and up to date, map with you when you hit the trail. Sure, a GPS can provide much of the same information, but any good outdoor enthusiast will tell you that you shouldn’t rely too much on those electronic devices. They can fail to get a signal under thick tree cover and when their batteries are dead, they are only useful as a paperweight for your map during a wind storm. It’s not enough to just carry a map with you however, you must also be able to read it properly too. That is an important skill that should be developed before heading too far off the beaten path.

Compass (or GPS)
Being able to use a compass is an important aspect of navigation as well and being able to use one properly goes hand in hand with being able to navigate with a map. A good compass is inexpensive, small and lightweight and could potentially be a life saver if you ever become lost in the woods. That said, this is the 21st century, and despite what I said about GPS devices above, they are certainly a worthy addition to your pack, provided you don’t become too reliant on the device and also know how to use one properly. For instance, you can learn to conserve battery life by using your map to navigate and simply switching on the GPS from time to time to check your direction and plot a course. Personally, I’d recommend having both with you, but given a choice, the good ol’ reliable compass is your best bet.
Sunglasses and Sunscreen
Sunglasses and sunscreen are important for staying healthy and comfortable on the trail and are useful in all seasons, including winter. While we all understand how important protection from the sun can be during the warm summer months, the reflection of the sun off the snow in the winter is just as hazardous. Sunglasses can help prevent snow blindness and protect the eyes from flying debris or errand tree branches. Sunscreen keeps the skin from being fried by the suns ultraviolet light, but remember to apply it well in advance, as it isn’t much good after you’ve already been scorched.

Extra Clothing
This is one of those items that most people tend to forget about, but once again it can be a potential life saver. Carrying extra layers can help protect against hypothermia and allow for some versatility should weather conditions change unexpectedly or some odd accident occur. For instance, you could be hiking along a river bank, slip and fall in, and suddenly find yourself soaked to the core. Depending on the weather conditions, and the distance you need to hike back to safety, extra clothing could quite literally be the difference between life and death. Many climbers caught on a mountain during a freak storm have learned this lesson the hard way while others have survived because the brought seemingly unnecessary gear with them on their trek.

First Aid Kit
This one may seem like a no-brainer, but it is surprising the number of people who hit the trail without even some simple band aids in their daypack. Your personal medkit will likely vary depending on the length and nature of the hike, but it should have, at the minimum, the ability to treat simple cuts, abrasions, insect bites, and burns. I personally have several different first aid kits of varying sizes that slip into my pack on a moments notice when I’m heading out on an adventure that is more than a couple of hours in length.

Headlamp/Flashlight
Having a source of illumination may be the last thing on your mind when you start out on a hike in the bright morning sun. But once again, unforeseen consequences could prevent you from making it home before dark, and if that should happen, you’ll be glad you packed a light to help find the way. A headlamp works best as it leaves your hands free to help guide you along in the dark or to carry other things, but a flashlight will do nicely in a pinch as well. Modern lights are efficient, bright, and inexpensive. Add a small one to your pack and chances are you won’t even notice that it’s there, but you’ll be glad it is should the need arise.

Matches (or Lighter)
Depending on weather conditions, the ability to start a fire could potentially save your life. Bring either a set of matches or lighter along on your hike just in case. If you do bring matches, be sure they are either the waterproof variety or stored in a good waterproof container, lest become useless in a sudden rain storm. The ability to start a fire might not be just for warmth however, as it can be used to signal a search party as to you whereabouts should you become lost or injured in the backcountry.

Firestarter
Matches or a lighter are only part of the equation when it comes to building a fire, as you also need something that can help you quickly and easily ignite whatever it is you’re burning. Once a match is struck, the best firestarters will burn easily and for more than a few seconds, while providing plenty of heat to get things going. There are a number of good firestarters available, including dry tinder but one of the best that I recommend is a few cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly. This is an easy, cheap, and very lightweight solution that also happens to be highly effective.

Knife/Multitool
A knife has always been an a very versatile tool to have with you on any extended hike. They can be used to shave wood for the fire, cut through cloth or rope, perform minor field surgery, or even slice the evening meal. Modern multitools, such as the Swiss Army Knife, can do all that and a lot more thanks to the fact that they often incorporate multiple blades, screw drivers, cork screws, scissors and more. Those tools can be used to repair gear on the go and offer more options for when those unexpected occurrences crop up once again.

Extra Food and Water
Finally, you should never head out on to the trail without bringing some extra food and water along with you. Even if it means simply throwing a couple of energy bars or an extra sandwich in your pack, you may be glad you have them should your day on the trail extend longer than expected. Hydration packs and good water bottles have made it easier than ever to bring plenty of water with us as well, but you may also consider packing some kind of water treatment option too. A bottle of iodine tablets can make most water drinkable, even if it doesn’t help the taste or a device like the Steripen Traveler, can be invaluable in this area too.

So there you have it it. The classic list of the ten things you shouldn’t leave home without on any hike. There are a few other recommendations that could be added, such as insect repellent or an emergency blanket, as well, but this is the list in its purest form, and the one that most hikers and backpackers follow when preparing for their next trek. Perhaps you’ll consider each of these items carefully before preparing for your next trek too.

What other “essentials” do you put into your pack?

On Celebrity Cruises X marks a change to on board experiences

by Chris Owen on

Cruise lines continue to hack away at what we think of them. Pretty much burried are images of shuffleboard, bingo, and “just old folks” on the ships. Now, they are moving forward with intense new branding efforts that are making for clear choices between lines.

It wasn’t all that long ago that if your answer to “Where did you go on vacation?” was “on a cruise” that similar images, impressions and perceptions would come up. Cruise vacations really were quite similar between lines and “on a cruise” was a good, accurate answer.

Now, cruise lines are clearly focused on defining their brands and making sure you know it.

Celebrity Cruises, traditionally seen as a more upscale line with a more fancy onboard experience, is taking it’s signature “X” icon to a different level with a new theme “X the rules”. This is different than Norwegian Cruise Line’s “Freestyle Cruising” that promotes how guests are “free to do whatever…” It’s different than sister-line Royal Caribbean’s “Land of why not?” campaign.

Celebrity Cruises is promoting change through a “trendsetting onboard experience”, different than other lines. Still upscale, Celebrity “iLounges” offer the latest Apple technologies and invite guests to become immersed in new applications through “iLearn” courses. Celebrity also offers vacationers the chance to learn a new language through Rosetta Stone, become immersed in the culture of the destinations with experts from Smithsonian Journeys, or taste the difference a glass makes in comparative wine tastings with Riedel Crystal.

Yes, there’s still bingo and you can find shuffleboard if you look for it. But Celebrity ships, new and old, are going after a unique onboard experience that won’t be for everyone. That’s a new direction for cruise lines in general who wanted to be everything to everybody for so long as the industry was developing.

While only an estimated 20% of the U.S. population has taken a cruise, the Cruise Lines International Association predicts strong growth in the future. If the individual lines have anything to say about it, they will find you, sail with you, and be everything you ever wanted in a vacation.

As Celebrity might have said in the not-nearly-as-well-defined past “It’s all about you”.

Flickr photo by sailorbabe80