Tag: Canal

Around Amsterdam

I did some walking around Amsterdam after the museum. It’s such a unique city.

A beautiful canal.
I used to collect little houses like this.
The beautiful interior of the Rijksmuseum.
Cheese for tourists.
I had some famous Amsterdam pea soup. It was very good.
They have crepes that are thicker than those in France. I got one with Nutella on it. It was too rich for me to finish but very good. The guy next to me had M&Ms added to his. There were huge waffles all over the place too, and pancakes.

Ghent

Another large and well known city in the Flemish part of Belgium is Ghent, full of interesting architecture.

The exterior of the train station.
I liked the interior too.
We came upon an alley full of grafitti, a lot of it very artistic.
An artist at work.
The end of the street.

There was a lovely canal as well.

So many old historic buildings.

Off the Beaten Trail

A friend recommended a place to eat in what was once the Jewish Ghetto where Jews were forced to live until Napoleon conquered Venice and gave them the freedom to live where they chose as well as being allowed to build synagogues. I’ve been here before and don’t find it especially interesting compared to the rest of Venice but set out to try a new place called Gom Gom, a kosher Jewish restaurant, which turned out to be very good.

An image seen in a window of an art gallery of a wedding in a a gondola.

interesting pastry which is in the shape of the Grand Canal.
Back to the very beaten trail of Saint Mark Square with a soft sunset.
inside the interesting church of Saint Stefano. I really liked the campo, or square, here too. It was very lively.
A dressed Madona there.
This is the back of my hotel when guests used to arrive via the canal.

Short and Sweet

Maurice and I made a quick trip to London to look around and to visit a family member. It was very cold but it never rained so walking around was pleasant.

I love the lobby of the hotel where we stayed, the Montague on the Gardens.
A photo of what they call an English breakfast. I’ve done it before-very tasty.
Our train comes into the beautiful and historic Saint Pancras station.

We crossed a canal one day. Notice the boat down there which I think sells books. Wish I had had time to go there.
We went to Notting Hill which was packed with shops, many selling antiques and, well, junk on Portobello Road.
Maybe I should have bought a mink jacket. It was cold enough to wear one.
Notting Hill is known for its colorful buildings like this one. The plaque next to the door says Bankrobber which I would love to know about.

A Palazzo on the Grand Canal

The Grand Hotel of Venice is lined with huge mansions and you would love to see inside. With some of them this is possible as they have been made into museums. We visited one called Ca’Rezzonica and it was gorgeous as expected.

There were elegant stairs to the main level.

Sumptuous decorations although not much furniture remained. There were some chairs carved by a famous artist with slaves from Africa carved on the legs.

A red velvet throne against a red velvet wall should a Pope or royalty arrive. One of the Rezzonica family was in fact a pope.

I saw these two girls alone in one of rooms looking like it might have in the past.

I love this painting showing a couple ready for Carnival.

A view of a canal below from the third floor.

More From Venice

As usual, I have many photos so I want to share them. Venice is so full of photo ops.

The famous Realto Bridge was teaming with people.

So many lovely courtyards and gardens, most of which are private.

Wouldn’t you love to sit here along the canal and have a drink? It was in front of a hotel in the Carnaggio area of Venice which have way fewer tourists. Even at this time of year Venice was crowded but not like it will be this summer.

An unusual and bit crooked statue on the side of a building where the famous Italian artist, Tinoretto, once lived, also in Carnaggio.

Drying laundry when you don’t have a back yard line.

Evening light on a canal.