A Seattle View at Rockaway Beach, Bainbridge, WA

We spent a 4-day weekend on Bainbridge Island in mid-June 2010. Accommodations on the island are limited. This led me to look for alternatives. I came across Bainbridge Island Vacation Rentals. We looked at several offerings from them and chose "A Seattle View at Rockaway Beach."

The house faces due east on the southeast corner of the island directly on the Sound. Across the Sound is the Seattle skyline. It's less than 50 feet from the water. The Seattle-Bainbridge Island ferry comes directly at the house before it turns north to Bainbridge harbor. Mt. Rainier is visible to the south just over the trees.

I posted a lengthy review on tripadvisor.com.

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Seattle-Bainbridge Ferry, Seattle, WA

The quickest way to get to Bainbridge Island is to take the ferry across the Puget Sound. It's about a 35 minute ride and runs about once an hour. Their schedule is here.

Interestingly on a couple of the trips we had escorts as we crossed the Sound.

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Funivie Monte Bianco, Italy

As we left Courmayeur headed to Chamonix, our hosts had a surprise for us. They were going to take us over the Alps in a cable car, the Funivie Monte Bianco.

Unfortunately bad weather had it shut down. I'll have to go back for that.

Their web site is here.

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Courmayeur, Italy

I remember Courmayeur as a sleepy little town just before we got to the Mont Blanc Tunnel. We stopped there for lunch on our way from Milan to Chamonix. We got there around 1:00PM and I was surprised as all the restaurants were closed for the afternoon.

My father bought a case of wine there (against the advice of our French host) and it was awful.

Their web site is here and the wikipedia article is here.


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Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy

Piazza San Marco is the quintessential spot in Venice. Our water taxi dropped us nearby and our hotel was a couple of canals away. Honestly, nothing is very far away in Venice.

Reminiscent of Place du tertre in Paris, there are sidewalk restaurants all along the sides. There are nondescript openings on the north side that open into tiny sidewalks that take you deep into the maze of Venice. On the southeast is the Campanile di San Marco. To the east is St. Mark's Basilica and Doge's Palace.

Then there are the pigeons!

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