Road Trip Day #5

On day five of the road trip, Nicola departed back to Cleveland for other plans. I got to drive the 11 hours to St. George, Utah on my own. Before we get to my solo driving day...

We first had breakfast in downtown Denver with some friends. I got to see my friend, Nicole, who if you are a regular reader, will recall our trips to Italy and Amsterdam .  She did a one year masters in London during my first year at LSE. Nicola and I also got to be reunited by a fellow former intern friend from London.  We all had brunch at a place that was themed around the disco. 

Nothing like a disco ball going on a Sunday morning at 9am!

Anyone surprised?

Nicole and me

London Reunion 

Best Road Trip Co-Pilot! 

After breakfast and goodbyes, I snapped a few photos of downtown Denver before heading off into the Rockies! 

Leaving Denver around 10am, I hit Utah a bit before 2pm. There was quite  a few zones of construction in the Rocky Mountains. Plus, I was not used to the windy roads and the elevation! My ears popped enough for an entire year!

Perfect Music

Such amusement

Rockies

Rockies

For lunch, I stopped in Grand Junction to check out the Colorado National Monument. I had 30 minutes to spare, so I went in through an entrance and drove around for literally 30 minutes. The roads were nerve wracking, but the views were well worth that brush with death!

Colorado National Monument

Colorado National Monument

Colorado National Monument

The longest stretch of my solo drive was in Utah.

Everyone had told me to fill up my gas tank as much as possible once I got into the state until I hit the larger cities. They weren't kidding. The state doesn't kid either. I passed a sign that said, "No Service Area for 100 Miles." I stopped and filled up my tank even with 3/4 left.

To make my trip more enjoyable getting through Utah, I took time to get off at the scenic outlook spots as I was coming through the canyons and desert.

Utah

Utah

Utah

Ghost Rock, Utah

I was puttering out as I got out of the canyons. Thank goodness for coffee! And, when Las Vegas started to show up on the signs, I got a lot more energy!

I stayed in St. George, Utah, that night. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to spend exploring the city. Thankfully, it's only two hours away from Las Vegas! 

World Heritage Sites

Photo Source

Throughout my international and even domestic travels over the past years, I've been working on two distinct lists when it comes to deciding what to see in various cities and countries. That being said, they aren't the only resources, but they do help!

Stonehenge

The main two lists that I use are the World Heritage Sites and the list in the book, "1000 Things to See Before you Die."  I plan on posting later about the book. The World Heritage List does get updated, and at the moment, there are 981 different locations listed. Crazy, huh?

Edinburgh

The other day, I was really interested in seeing what progress I had made. My total? 39. I have a long way to go until I get to 981, and there could be more and more added. #wanderlust

Verona

Some argue that the challenge of keeping up with a list such as this one makes a traveler or tourist not enjoy the moment. I disagree. The same argument often implies to those who spend a lot of time taking photos or videos of the location that they are visiting. Again, that's a subject for a different time. Going back to the argument, I love using lists such as the World Heritage one in order to find gems and historical places.  I'm a huge lover of history and having the guidance of what historical gems are in a city of an area is a plus!

Venice

Take a look at what I've seen below! What locations have you been to that are on the World Heritage Site List?


Palace and Gardens of Schonbrunn
Semmering Railway
Historic Centre of Vienna
La Grand- Palace, Brussels
Historic Centre of Brugge
Flemish Beguinages
Historic Distric of Old Quebec
Historic Centre of Prague
Palace and Park of Versailles
Pont du Gard (Roman Aqueduct)
Romanesque Monuments
Cathedral of Notre-Dame
Paris, Banks of the Siene
Histoic Centre of Avignon: Papa Palace, Episcopal Ensember, Avingon Brdige
Loire Valley
Palace and Parks of Berlin
Museumsinsel (Musuem Island), Berlin
Acropolis, Athens
Historic Centre of Rome, The Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritoral Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura
Vatican City
Venice and its Lagoon
City of Verona
City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and Foritifcations
Seventeenth- Century Canal Ring of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht
Historic Centre of Krakow
Auschtwitz Birkenau
Wooden Churches of Maramures
Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast
Steonehenge
Blenheim Palace
City of Bath
Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey includng St. Maragret's Church
Tower of London
Old and New Yowns of Edinburgh
Maritime Greenwich
Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Dorset and East Devon Coast
Statue of Liberty

Venice Day Three

Our last day in Venice was spent taking a walking tour of the city. We met our tour guide and group around 11am to begin walking and hearing the history of St. Mark's Square. We had saved doing the Basilica till that day because  we had wanted to hear the history as well. It was well worth the wait. I would never have learned about the construction of the Basilica and the influences that came from Constantinople.  Inside, it reminded me of the architecture that I saw in Istanbul especially with the mosaics.  (Sorry, no photos were allowed inside.)

For you, Marco Polo

The rest of the walking tour consisted of visiting the famous squares including the one named after Marco Polo, seeing the Bridge of Sighs, and learning about decrease in the number of permanent residents on the island.  There is the trend lately to see residents move to the mainland or other islands due to costs of living. The numerous houses that have been left abandoned are now being turned into hotels. Yes, it did make me miss my econometrics class. I was thinking of numerous regressions that could be run. 

Closed Home

We grabbed one last lunch of Italian food- bruschetta, cannelloni, pizza, and mozzarella, and one last gelato scoop before we headed off to the island where the airport was. 

When the moon hits your eyes, it's like a big pizza pie...

Venice and Verona was an amazing way to end the traveling portion of my spring break. We were delayed getting back to London last Friday evening, but getting there and home is half the adventure, eh? I'm so glad that I was finally able to see other parts of the country, and I'm already planning a trip to Lake Como, Naples, and Milan in the future. Arrivederci!

Venice Day Two

Sorry for the lag in posting. If you cannot tell, my life has become full of writing, studying, and drinking excessive amounts of coffee again. 

On our second day in Venice, Nicole and I had pre-booked a day trip out to the islands of Murano, Burano, and Torcello. We had wanted to get the full experience of a Venetian holiday in those three short days!

View for breakfast

We started off our day having coffee and breakfast at one of the many cafes in St. Mark's Square. It's hard to beat a good cup of coffee and an amazing view to start the day. 

Glass Blowing

Our first island that we visited with the tour company was Murano. For those of you who don't know, Murano is famous for glass-blowing. There was a short glass-blowing exhibition that reminded me of Corning Glass, but still well worth the experience.  We boarded our boat again with purchases in hand ready to head to Burano. 

Burano is famous for lace making. We spent some time wandering in and out of lace stores. It was very reminiscent of my experience in Bruges, Belgium.  Burano is also famous for the multi-colored fishing cottages that are all over the island. As we learned from our tour guide as well as my Foursquare check-in tips, if you are a resident of the island, you have to request to have your house painted a certain color.  My color combination choices would have to be mint green and blue if I lived there. 

Island of Burano

Multi-colored fishing cottages

Our last stop of the day was the Island of Torcello. We learned from our tour guide that the island once had 20,000 residents. Current population: 16. Yes, 16.  It's on my list of things to research because we never did get an answer as to why everyone left. The island does have several restaurants and the remains of two different churches. Highlight of this island: me realizing about two steps early that I am almost walked into a canal...

Island of Torcello 

Returning back to the Venice, we decided to continue our day with a light, late lunch and more coffee (I really do have a problem...) at the Florian Cafe. The Florian Cafe, located in St. Mark's Square, has been in business since the 1700s. There were photos in the menu that showed how they operate when the Square floods. We enjoyed our food, the sunshine, people watching, and listening to some live music. 

Our evening plans included checking out the Rialto Bridge. We were staying close enough to the Bridge that we walked exploring numerous other plazas before arriving at the magnificent Bridge.  The Rialto Bridge is full of stores and stalls selling everything from glass to masks to the Godfather t-shirts that you are considering getting family members. 

View from the Bridge

Nicole and me on the Bridge

We dined next to the Grand Canal for dinner with the Rialto Bridge in the background.  It was our last night in Venice, so we made sure to have an extra scoop of gelato for dessert! 

Venice Day One

Venice, you may be sinking....but you were gorgeous!

The second part of my Italy trip with Nicole was spent in Venice. We grabbed an early train from Verona to Venice. It took about an hour an a half. Enough time to almost finish Nate Silver's new book (review coming soon!).  

When we arrived at the main train station, we realized thanks to the hostel directions that we had to take the canal bus. Yes, I said a canal bus. It is exactly what you are thinking. Not quite the double decker red busses that I am used to, but it was the only way we knew of at the moment to get to the square that our hostel was on. Scenic ride, it was indeed. 

View from the Canal Bus

Our B & B was in a perfect spot! We could walk to the famous Rialto Bridge in under ten minutes, Saint Mark's Square in less than twenty, and there were more than enough gelato places for me to satisfy my craving! 

The Bell Tower

Standing in St. Mark's Square

We started our afternoon off with more pasta before we headed down to St. Mark's Square. It was just as I imagined it to be- full of cafes, street performers, and an amazing view. We decided to go to the top of the bell tower to check out the view of the city and the surrounding islands! Well worth the eight euros!

Our early evening adventure consisted of a gondola ride! When in Venice...

We had an hour tour of the Grand Canal as well as the residential areas by our gondola driver, Umberto. He was charming, funny, and full of fun history facts. Sadly, he did not sing...

Umberto

Nicole and me on the Gondola 

For dinner that evening, we ate along the Grand Canal in St. Mark's. Nothing could beat that view! 

Verona Day Two

“Do not swear by the moon, for she changes constantly. then your love would also change.” 

On our second day in Verona, we had a theme. 

Take a guess at what that might have been?

Yes, Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare. The Famous Love Story. 

(Side Note, I actually enjoy Hamlet and Macbeth a lot more than Romeo and Juliet.)

We started our morning with a quick breakfast at our B & B before we headed next door to Juliet's house.  Before we took in the museum, we took in the letters and locks as well as the Juliet statue. Legend has it, that if you touch her left breast, you will receive luck in your love life. That one is for your, Mr. Wonderful...

wherever you may be.

Statue and Balcony

The museum was only in Italian which clearly posed a problem. There were a few exceptions, but those were things related to the movie.  We did take a few photos on the balcony while I quoted the famous lines in my head. 

On the Balcony 

And, I did write Juliet a quick note on computers set up for the purpose...

Our next stop was to find Juliet's tomb. However, we got lost for a good 20 minutes. Thankfully, Verona is full of surprises! When we finally found the tomb, I was a little disappointed. There is a museum on site, and while it is devoted to period art, there was hardly anything related to the story. 

We switched themes for part of the day when we visited Castlevecchio and took in the famous bridges of the city. 

For the rest of the day, we indulged ourselves with some souvenirs, fresh fruit, and gelato before our last dinner in Verona by the arena. It was a quick trip, but it truly was everything that I imagined the city to be!