Posted by Martin Orr on
Thursday, 03 August 2006 at 14:50
The most obvious thing about Venice is of course that it is built on a collection of islands. Every block or two you come to a bridge over a canal. All transport is on foot or by boat: the streets are just too narrow for wheeled vehicles (I saw one child on a bicycle). They are also impossible to navigate, twisting in unexpected directions. And to make it harder to find anywhere, the buildings are numbered from a single sequence in each district (my hostel was number 5170 Castello).
Most of it is also pretty run-down. Once you lift your eyes above the shops on the ground floor, most buildings are lacking in paint and the bricks are crumbling. Apparently the non-tourist population of the island city is falling rapidly. The exception is the churches and museums maintained for tourists. The Doge's Palace is grand and well-presented but I didn't like St Mark's Basilica: it was more like a tourist attraction that a church. I suppose I'm being a bit hypocritical going there as a tourist myself and complaining, and with the number of tourists who want to see it perhaps there's not much else can be done.
Now in: Ravenna
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Martin
Tags
churches, holiday, italy
Posted by Martin Orr on
Monday, 31 July 2006 at 18:59
There's not much to see in Villach itself - it's just a small town in the Alps - but the point of coming there was to take a break from city sightseeing. I went for a walk yesterday to the Dreilandereck, the point where Austria, Italy and Slovenia meet at an altitude of 1510m. There's a notice pointing out that it's not just the meeting point of three countries but of the three main European language groups - Romance (derived from Latin), Germanic and Slavonic.
It was a little hard to get started as the first couple of roads I tried were closed due to a landslide. But once I got past that and got on to the right road it was fairly straightforward walking - just follow the road up and up and up. The weather was nice too: The sun was shining, but it wasn't too hot, especially as you were mostly in the shade of the woods except when you crossed the areas cleared for ski pistes.
Now in: Venice
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Martin
Tags
austria, holiday, slovenia, walking
Posted by Martin Orr on
Saturday, 29 July 2006 at 17:01
It was much cooler in Salzburg, and even rained. I'm not sure if this was because of the altitude or just because the weather has changed. The mountain scenery around is stunning and there is a steep hill behind the city, on top of which is an impressive castle. It was built by the prince-archbishops of Salzburg - a slightly odd combination but they seem to have been politically clever. Down in the city is the Mirabell Garden and Palace which Archbishop Wolf Dietrich built for his mistress.
Salzburg's most famous citizen was Mozart; you can visit two houses that he lived in, although I didn't. There are posters advertising concerts everywhere, many of them of his music - especially as this year is the 250th anniversary of his birth and this is the time of the annual Salzburg festival. There are a couple of opera houses, three or four big concert halls and numerous chamber music venues. I avoided anything that might be expensive or require a dress code I'm not carrying in my rucksack, and went to a performance of the Requiem in the cathedral.
Now in: Villach
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Martin
Tags
austria, holiday, music
Posted by Martin Orr on
Thursday, 27 July 2006 at 19:23
Munich is a much larger and busier city than the others I have been in (except Berlin of course). There are several large boulevards lined with grand 19th century buildings, and the modern main shopping street is crowded with people. Once again there were several nice churches (Gothic and Baroque). I'm in Catholic country now: before Munich it was all Lutheran, except one church in Nürnberg which the Catholics bought back in the 20th century. I visited the Residence of the rulers of Bavaria, which had a special exhibition for the 200th anniversary of their promotion to kings.
Munich of course is also famous for its beer halls. I found these a little confusing as I expected a bar, and I thought they looked more like bars than restaurants, except for the lack of an actual bar. But they behave more like a restaurant in that you sit down and get served, drinks as well as food, and pay at the end.
Now in: Salzburg
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Martin
Tags
churches, germany, holiday
Posted by Martin Orr on
Tuesday, 25 July 2006 at 19:29
I really liked Nürnberg. It is a couple of hundred years older than the other cities have been in and the old city is still surrounded by a sturdy sandstone wall. However it was very comprehensively bombed during World War II so few of the original buildings survive. Nevertheless, it has been rebuilt so that you wouldn't notice this until you look for the difference between the old and new stone. Fortunately the paintings and statues which decorated the churches were stored in an underground bunker.
The old town is on a pretty steep hill, at the top of which is a castle built by the emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Strangely, right beside the castle is another defensive tower, built by the citizens after an enemy had captured the castle to stop him capturing the rest of the city.
I took a trip out to the site where Nazi party rallies were held. There are a couple of stadiums and the Kongressbau, an unfinished building specially built by Hitler for rallies. It was intended to look like the Colosseum but twice as big, but since it is just a horseshoe of red brick it looks a bit odd. I also went to the German railway museum, much smaller than the one at Cultra.
Now in: Munich
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Martin
Tags
germany, holiday