the visual ramblings of ZZZ
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In Passau, we stayed at the house of grandaunt Emmy. She’s the grandaunt of my brother’s girlfriend and a nice old lady.
In my room I met Chucky, his bride and his daughter:
Nathalie - my niece - was there with us as well.
The sidecar I mentioned yesterday is an Ural. We went to see and test it in a small town near Frankfurt, in Egelsbach. After examining and riding it for about an hour, my brother decided not to take it because its condition wasn’t good enough.
On our trip to Egelsbach we had a break on a motorway resthouse at Würzburg South. We had a great view over Würzburg there. I took several images and photomerged them:
After examining the sidecar and going back on our six hour trip from Egelsbach to Passau, we stopped at Aschaffenburg where we had lunch and visited the Johannisburg.
There was a great red brick wall near the Johannisburg which provided a nice motive for another wallpaper. 
Just click on the image below. If you are looking for another red brick wall, try this one.
We had lunch in a lovely restaurant near the Johannisburg where I found these nice beer coasters.
Today I went to Passau by train (ICE - InterCityExpress). First class. Of course. That’s what I deserve. 
The great thing about travelling first class is that you have much more space than in second class. That and a waiter who serves anything you want. People travelling second class have to go to the dining car themselves if they want to order drinks or something to eat. In first class you just tell the waiter. 
In Passau I met my brother who asked me to go on a trip with him to Frankfurt to have a look at a sidecar (motorbike). He’s thinking of buying it but isn’t 100 % sure yet.
We went to a shopping center where I indulged my passion in taking pictures of mannequins.
At the end of the day I tasted a really great beer from Passau - Hacklberg. If you ever get the chance to try it, don’t miss it!
On our way to the airport we came across San Marco for the last time. You can see the Doge’s Palace on this picture and the two columns at St. Mark’s Square.
Good bye Venice, see you next time!
You don’t get anything for free on a SkyEurope flight. No drinks, no meal, no newspapers, no TV, n-o-t-h-i-n-g. Well, actually, you get something. Czech Stewardesses who hardly speak english.
Astonishingly other no-frills airlines like FlyNiki and AirBerlin serve free drinks, sandwiches and newspapers. Why is it, that SkyEurope is that mean but the flights are not cheaper than FlyNiki/AirBerlin? 
Our full day in Venice started with a great breakfast at our hotel in Lido. We had a full view of the laguna and Venice from the breakfast room. Even a Greek ferry passed by.
Actually we wanted to visit the St. Mark’s Square (Piazza San Marco) on our first day. But we had to change our plans because of the suitcase incident. So the first sight we visited today was Piazza San Marco where we visited St. Mark’s Basilica (Basilica di San Marco a Venezia) and feeded some doves in front of it. There were hundreds even perhaps thousands of these dirty and distasteful birds. Why don’t they sell poison there instead of corn? That would solve the problem. At least for me.
On our walk straight through Venice we passed a gondolier who invited us on a trip with his gondola for only EUR 80,-. After haggling for a few minutes we had him down to EUR 50,- and started the trip through the small canals. It was a really nice and romantic tour where we came across the former houses of Giovanni Giacomo Casanova Albanase de Seingalt and Marco Polo. I really recommend doing a gondola tour should you ever go to Venice.
We crossed the Canal Grande and had a really great lunch at a lovely restaurant with a perfect view of the Rialto Bridge. We were seated next to the water and enjoyed the sun while drinking white wine and waiting for our meal.
The sauted mussels (”Cozze alla marinara”) were a perfect starter and were only surpassed by the main dish, king prawns with herbs (”Gamberoni alle erbe aromatiche”). Their taste was indescribable. Even “delicious” and “exquisite” are only auxiliary descriptions for this dish.
The mussels in Venice fortunately were as good as the mussels in Paris.
In contrast to these delicious dishes you can also visit McDonald’s in Venice. If you should feel like eating some fast food.
The owner of this shop (La Bottega Dei Mascareri) is one of Venice’s most famous mask makers. His masks have been featured in the movie Eyes Wide Shut and in many other Hollywood motion pictures.
Sitting in a café at St. Mark’s Square is a great thing and the view at St. Mark’s Basilica is grandiose. Even though the prices are crazy to say the least. A cup of coffee costs EUR 8.50, a Spritz (white wine, mineral water and Aperol) EUR 10.10 and one beer (0.5 liters) EUR 12,-. 
That’s absolutely mad when compared to the prices in Vienna - coffee: ca. EUR 2.60, beer: ca. EUR 3.50.
In fact, these are the prices for tourists. Locals get a different menu with cheaper prices. But it’s hard to pretend being a local if you aren’t able to speak Italian.
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