French Alps...Not So Much

I departed San Diego at 7:45 in the morning and arrived in Geneva the following day about 7:45 in the morning. Of course my mind knew it was 7:45 in the morning, but my body knew it was 10:45 pm (the previous day). So, while my body and mind fought it out, I got to hug my sweetheart Kirsty who had driven to Geneva from Courchevel in French Alps.
Our plans had changed, and we were no longer going to stay in the Alps, and instead spent a couple of days in Geneva (letting my jet lag abate), then headed by train to Venice, Italy. A word to the wise my friends: Switzerland is muy expensivo!! Unless you come with a suitcase full of Swiss Francs, you might want to limit your stay there, or skip it all together.
We walked around Geneva for a bit, then schlepped over to the train station and headed for the border. Another heads up for my fellow travelers: the train ride through the mountains and along northern Italy is a ride through a mostly industrial landscape with square, ugly apartments and houses, power stations and a brown, winter landscape, almost all the way into Venice. In other words, ugly as all get out.
However, 6 hours later, we had arrived in Venice!

GENEVA

I was walking around in a daze, so not so much in the picture department.

Lake Geneva.

The most beautiful woman in Switzerland!

Swiss are very orderly when it comes to their buildings.

Jet d'Eau: 132 gallons of water per second are jetted to an altitude of 459 feet by two 500 kW pumps, operating at 2,400 V, consuming over one megawatt of electricity. The water leaves the nozzle at a speed of 124 mph. When it is in operation, at any given moment there are about 1849 gallons of water in the air!

Ducks like their space!

No doubt about it, this is a police car.

This is the Brig train station on the way to Venice, just before entering the tunnel through the mountains into Italy.

Swiss train.

Milan train station stop on the way to Venice.

VENICE

View from the Ponte Dell'Accademia towards the Canale di San Marco.

Wow!

Kirsty translated this for me: it means pizza served all day, they don't close between lunch and dinner.

The neighborhood (Dorsorduro) where we were staying. This area is mostly residential and had a less touristy feel to it.

View from our bedroom window in the very nice Fujiyama Hotel. Only four rooms and a lovely tea garden. Highly recommended!

Love the colors of the boats and the buildings!

One is hard-pressed to find a strip of grass or a tree in Venice.

Original fresh water wells (since been sealed off).

Striped poles in front of the mooring stations of the gondolas. Vaporetto (boats used to ferry tourists around) in the background.

Venice has its own leaning tower! Quite common to see buildings leaning, and some had arched braces built from bricks attached from one side of a building to another to keep them apart.

The next three pictures are from St. Marks Square. Easily the most ornate buildings, and unfortunately, the most saturated with tourists and souvenir stands.

Venice is truly a unique place, and the senses are overwhelmed upon arrival. Walking around is like walking in a maze, and we often were pleasantly surprised upon discovering new "neighborhoods" as we meandered about. We were surprised at the amount of visitors in February, and I would not want to be anywhere near Venice in the summer months. The heat and crowds would make a summer day in Disneyland seem like a pleasant walk in the park.

We are taking the train to Florence (or Firenze for you Italian speakers) and I will post from there soon! I miss you all my friends!
Peace