Venice

13/06/09
Decided on an early start and caught the public bus across to Venice from my campsite in Mestre. Caught the scenic all stops vaproetta (ferry) through the Grand Canal to San Marco Square where I promptly entered the San Marco Batisque.

I avoided any queues simply because I checked in my backpack and got handed a card, which I confidently strolled to the front doors and handed in. I guess they presumed I had queued all this time only to be told I had to check in my bag and thus only happy to let me back in...old trick I read on the web.

Inside would be a taste of the extravagance that was to greet me in Venice. After countless churches in Rome the interior of this one was striking as it was pasted with gold mosaics! Afterwards I then unfortunately had to queue to enter the Doges palace where the showing off of opulent wealth continued, the ticket purchased also entitled me to wander into the St Mark museums on the other side of the square and one other museum of your choice, I chose the Ca'Rezzo art gallery.

Afterwards and maybe due to the frustration of navigating the maze they call Venice I had hit the wall with travel fatigue given the many museums, galleries and churches I had visited the last few days, not to mention the insane Italian heat.

A dash was made to Lido island to escape the mass of tourists for a quiet walk and a gelato. With my feet getting tired I caught the ferry back across San Marco for some snaps and walked back to the awaiting shuttle back to the campsite. There is definitely enough to do in Venice for 2 days but frankly the heat and a little of the same old same old was getting to me, I was starting to feel Italian out...

Venice

Rome

08/06/09
Flight was delayed coming into Rome, one of the pitfalls of flying easyJet, never on time! I spent a frustrated hour trying to find my hostel before heading out that evening for a small orientation walk.

09/06/09
Today first stop was of course the Colosseum, avoided the “free photo” Gladiator touts.
Afterwards next door to the ruins of the Roman Empire civic center the Palentino and then lastly the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument which was just up the road.

10/06/09
Luckily we were here at the right time to see the Pope give his weekly audience in St Peters Square, Vatican. As everyone has to pass through security checks the Pope is free to roam the crowds requiring only an open top jeep instead of his usual popemobile.

Afterwards we wandered through the Vatican museums to end at the Sistine Chapel. No photos allowed! But that didn't stop the tourists who numbered in the hundreds versus only two screaming attendants within it.

Ended the day with a lookie inside St Peters Basicilia and a stroll along the brown green waters of the Tiber River passing by some minor landmarks including the Spanish Steps.
As we had not found anything worthwhile to do at night we went on a hostel pub crawl with 50 odd other like minded people into the wee hours of the morning.

11/06/09
Had to shake off the tiredness to revisit the Vatican as we forgot about going up the Michelangelo Dome. This was well worth the revisit into the Vatican. Knocked off the last few sights on my to do list in particular the Trevi fountain and Pantheon. The Pantheon makes you appreciate how advanced and grandeur the Roman civilization was in its heyday.

12/06/09
Last day in Rome, the pounding of pavements, standing in queues and hot hot humid weather had taken its toll. Therefore decided to have a super slow day before we both left Rome and so dusted off some sights in the south east quarter which are less busy than the main tourist traps. Surprises being the Sacred Steps and the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the mother of all churches.

If Washington DC is the city of museums then Rome is the city of churches and fountains.

Rome

Vatican

Montreal

Day 46 24/05
I had booked the 9pm bus that arrives into Montreal at 3.45am. I thought the bus would be express but there was a 45 minute layover in a small café in Kingston. Arrived on-time into Montreal’s central bus terminal but nothing was open, neither the subway nor the lockers which I had planned to store the bulk of my luggage in order to make the most of my day.
Luckily the security guard allowed me to purchase a locker token through him that allowed me to catch the first subway at 5.45am out to the sights of Old Montreal, otherwise I would have had to wait for the locker cashiers to open at 8am.

Upon arrival at Champ de Mars metro station I hired a Biki bicycle from an automated booth. Now this is what every world class city should have, the bike was in top condition with 3 speeds, bell, kickstand, front basket, extremely comfortable to ride and cheap to hire by use of ones credit card (so I thought at the time, but actually I take it all back as it cost a bomb to hire after I checked my credit card statement later as I misread the Frenglish T & Cs).
Biki would allow me to cycle around the cobblestone streets of Old Montreal before the eventual busloads of tourists. Unfortunately not a single thing was open before 9am except Mcdees which I had for want of choice for breakfast.
By the time the helpful tourist office was open it seemed I had done everything that was open for the public (a lot were closed for restoration work).

With time in hand it was onto the 1976 Olympic tower near the Uaia metro station, this is the tallest leaning tower in the world but really who would build a leaning tower deliberately!
Afterwards only had time to get to the airport to finally leave North America, Bon Voyage to the land of big fast food and even larger high rises.

Montreal

Toronto

23/05
A travel day for Sig but we did squeeze in some central sights as Toronto was holding a special Doors Open weekend where buildings around the city were open for public access. After sending Sig off at the metro I continued wandering around into whatever building held my interest until my coach that night to Montreal.

Toronto

Niagara Falls

22/05
We booked a Niagara Falls tour the night before and before we knew it we were at the better Canadian side of the falls and prompted embarked on the Maid of the Mist ferry ride. You definitely get a drenching from the spray from the falls however the ferry ride is short lived and the boat way too crowded. A better bet which we did is to hike to the falls from the ferry dock and take the Journey Behind the Falls walk, this basically is a small lift ride that takes you down to the base of the falls where you gain access to some tunnels that are behind the falls and also to an adjoining observation deck. The noise of the falls is thunderous and you can stay there is long as you like.
Afterwards there was a small wine tasting in a nearby vineyard part owned by Dan Ackroyd where this region is famous for ice wine before some free time around Niagara-on-the-lake, an old loyalist colonial town.

Niagara Falls