Tour Break in Amsterdam

After my last gigs in Germany (Hamburg), I had a two-night break before the next gigs in Belgium.  One major city was perfectly situated for a couple nights off, between Hamburg and Antwerp: Amsterdam.



I stayed at a hostel in Amsterdam, my first one in many weeks, and it was located in the Red Light District, with coffeeshops, headshops, and prostitutes galore.  Its actually not that seedy of a Red Light District, though, except for the streets where prostitutes actually sit in windows and make faces at you, that was pretty damn seedy.


A monument to remember the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam during World War II.


One of Amsterdam's many canals, with a tour boat zipping along.  Some call Amsterdam the "Venice of the North".  I call it not nearly as warm, but at least not sinking.


Some cheap rental homes on the canal.


I really enjoyed the charming, seemingly slapped together homes that line the canals.

Venice Is Sinking... For Rizzle

On New Year's Day the family and I left Florence to spend the next two nights in Venice.  We had caught word that there was some flooding in the city, which left us a little bit worried, until we learned that Venice floods about 100 times a year, which helped... a bit.  They call the floods "acqua alta", which means "high water" in Italian.  They are caused by a combination of high barometric pressure and strong winds from the south which literally push the ocean up into the city.  The Mediterranean has little to no tide, so this doesn't affect it at all, but rising sea levels and the fact that Venice is slowly sinking certainly doesn't help.  I have decided that for purposes of posting on Venice this trip, the floods are the story, so that is what I have posted pictures and commentary of.  If you want to see some pictures of Venice on a nicer day, check out my post from last April on my last time in Venice.



When we arrived during the night the waters were down, so we were able to walk to our hotel and stay high and dry.  In the morning, the alley outside of our hotel was beginning to flood and we were lucky that the hotel supplied us with rain boots.  Pictured above are my parents and brother, about to embark on a wet Venetian adventure.


The city of Venice sets up boardwalks on main streets, though boots are still recommended.


Myself standing in a watery St. Mark's Square.


Boardwalks in front of St. Mark's and the Ducal Palace.  Yes, I took this picture while standing in the water.  I quite liked sloshing around in the encroaching Adriatic.


My brother, Cody, standing at the point of entry for water into St. Mark's Square.  Though the water also seeps up through grates in the middle of the city, you can see how high the sea water is here.

Venice!

Venice! This city is the stuff of dreams, truly a unique place, but that is an understatement. I had to make it here on my trip, as I spent an entire semester studying the city in a 400 level history class when I was a student in Oshkosh. I only stayed for half a day, unfortunately, as it was Carnival season and the city was busy as hell, so lodging was at a premium. It was in and out on the train for me...

Here you can see a plethora of revelers in St. Mark's Square, with the Ducal Palace in the background. I realized upon arriving in Venice that I was completely broke, and this is a terribly expensive city to be broke in. I had 5 euros in my pocket, and tried to use an ATM only to find I had nothing left in my account, ahhhh! I found a euro on the ground and had enough money to buy a panini to eat, and spent the rest of my time enjoying the warm weather and people-watching. I was able to call my dad and he put some money into my account for a price... I would be his labor slave in April when I was home. It is now nearing the end of April, and my parents have made good use of my slavery...

This family was all decked out and posing for lots of pictures. That little girl looks pretty unhappy if you ask me.

One of Venice's many side canals filled with gondolas.

I stumbled by accident into the Jewish Ghetto, a section of Venice we had spent lots of time on during my class. This is the square in the "Ghetto Vecchio", which means "old ghetto". Straight ahead and to the left is the "Ghetto Nuovo", or "new ghetto". Both are relative terms to an older time, as both have been around for quite some time. Venice's Jewish population lived here during the Renaissance. The word "ghetto" then did not have the same negative connotation as it does today, and this was as much an ideological neighborhood for the Jews as it was isolation.