Welcome to Venice, the city that is basically on water. Technically it is a city of over 110 islands divided by canals and connected by tiny bridges.
Gondola Ride
Going on a gondola ride was a MUST on our to-do list for Venice. There are companies you can go through for the gondola ride and then there are individuals who run their own gondola; we chose an individual. We had a great experience and it was fun to see all the buildings from a different angle.
Rialto Bridge
The Rialto Bridge is one of the main bridges that stretches over the main canal; it is the oldest of all these bridges. The bridge houses lots of tiny shops.
Water Buses and Taxis
We mostly walked in Venice but we did have to take a few water buses and water taxis for long distances. We took a water bus from the train station to St. Mark's Square where our hotel was and we also took buses to Murano Island and back. We had to take a water taxi to the Venice airport unless we wanted to take a 2 hour bus ride; ha, no thanks. I am not one to get sea sick, I love boating and never get sick... I went through a hurricane on a cruise and didn't get sick, but oh my goodness I got so sick on all of our buses and the taxi I would just fall asleep to avoid the sickness. I never wanted to go on another ride in Venice again after the first day there; someone can just helicopter me in next time.
Here we are at one of the bus stops waiting for the boat
Piazza San Marco... umm it floods
Piazza San Marco, or more commonly known in the English language St. Mark's Square, is the principal public square in Venice. Our hotel was just one tiny bridge away from the square and so it made it very easy to find our hotel. Now Venice is slowly sinking and every night during high tide St. Mark's Square floods.
We knew the square flooded and we would even see shop owners sweep water out of their stores in the morning but we didn't realize how high it flooded until it was time for us to leave Venice. We had a 6am flight which meant we needed to leave at 4am to catch a water taxi to the airport. The day before we needed to leave we booked a taxi with our hotel front desk for 4am and it was easy as could be and they did not even question the time. When 4am came we went down to the front desk to check out and the front desk manger looked at us like we were crazy. He asked if we had boots and we said no and then he just grumbled, "Well you're going to get wet, good luck." He was not kind or helpful and acted like we were idiots (well if your hotel had taken a moment to think about what time we were booking the taxi for, maybe they would have suggested we left earlier). We thought maybe he was being a little over dramatic because he was just in a bad mood until we walked up the little bridge, that led to St. Mark's Square and our only way to get to our water taxi, and then started down the steps only to see it was flooded in 2 feet of water. WHAT?! Long story a little shorter, we rolled up our pants the best we could, picked up our bags and luggage and waded across the square. The whole situation was hilarious to me and I could not stop laughing. At the airport I threw away my shoes (we just waded through murky pigeon poop waters) and changed my pants. We then all washed our feet in the sink in the bathroom and wiped them down with baby wipes.
Vizio Virtu
Paige had read about a "must visit" chocolate shop,
Vizio Virtu, in Venice and so we decided to go and find it. The shop was filled with over 50 different kinds of chocolates to choose from, each kind with its own artistic design, and then hot chocolate. We all got some chocolates and some hot chocolate to go and we ate it as we walked through Venice.
The hot chocolate looked like a melted chocolate bar it was so think but of course an amazingly delicious chocolate bar and then topped with high end whipped cream and then more chocolate pieces sprinkled on top. This hot chocolate was so great but also so rich, I could only drink half of this tiny little cup.
Murano Island
Murano Island is an island near Venice (it's about a 40 minute water bus ride away from St. Mark's Square) and it is known mainly for glass making. We visited the island to go to the glass museum but it closed before we got there. I still enjoyed walking around there because the buildings were colorful and beautiful and the canals were wider than the ones in Venice and so it did not feel as claustrophobic.
This and That
By the end of the trip we had eaten so much pasta and had very little in the protein area; we were craving meat... BAD. We found a Hard Rock Cafe in Venice and everyone got nice big burgers and I tackled these ribs.
Venetian masque ball masks shops were everywhere and so fun to look at
Our last gelato run before it was time to head home.
Goodbye Venice AND ITALY
We made it home pic
After many hours of traveling - flying from Venice to Paris to Chicago, watching a long list of movies, going through customs and trying to get the guards to crack a smile (it did not work), satisfying food cravings in Chicago with sushi and soft pretzels and then flying to Salt Lake on the world's coldest flight - we made it home. Here is our final selfie of the trip.
Ciao!
Florence
Amalfi
Rome
