Venice

A Romantic 2 days - 4.1 - 4.2

Venice was a must - I'd always wanted to go. And then I started learning about it in my architecture class and it made me even more antsy to get there. It was amazing and so different than anything I've seen yet - it's a city in the water!

Friday

The water is never out of view. We took a train to Venice on Friday afternoon and got in around 3 - it took us a VERY long time to find our hotel because the streets of Venice are ridiculous...super narrow and easy to lose your way. eventually we found it, dropped off our bags, and grabbed some pizza for lunch before starting exploring.

Our cute little room! The pictures we had seen online had been a little deceptive - but overall it was really fine, especially for one night.

"Spritz" - apparently it's the drink in Venice. It's white wine with seltzer and ice...the orange color is a mystery to me (and it doesn't taste anything like orange.) It's good!

Just your average waterway

Sitting on a dock

San Marco - used to be the biggest piazza in Italy, but now there are a few bigger. It's really spacious and really beautiful - very different from the piazzas I'm used to seeing in Florence.

Anna and Lisa modeling for me

For dinner I looked up restaurant recommendations and we ended up at the one I found - it was very good! This is what I got (although the picture makes it look a little gross/slimy.) It's pumpkin gnocchi with zucchini and scallops - so so good.

After dinner we didn't really want to go to bed, so we went back to Piazza San Marco to see if anything was going on. It was an entirely different thing at night - so much calmer and quiter, and the buildings were beautifully lit. Also, one of the outdoor restaurants had some musicians playing Frank Sinatra. It was a nice way to end the night.

Saturday

We woke up and grabbed a little breakfast as we went in search of a Gondola ride. It was another gorgeous day.

Obviously Gondola rides are strictly for tourists, but I'd say it was a requirement, and it was definitely worth it. Although very brief and quite pricey, we were taken through little passageways and under bridges and just around Venice. It was beautiful, and good to see the town from the water as opposed to from the land.

Rialto Bridge

The three of us on the Rialto Bridge

After the Gondola ride, we took a ferry to Murano, a little island off of Venice that's know for it's glass-work. It was very quiet and serene, and a nice break from tourist-central that is Venice.

Some cool glass blown pieces on a doorway

Glass-blown sculpture!

After Murano, we took a taxi back and then got a train back to Florence. It was a very brief time in Venice, but it was easily worth, and I'm so happy I was able to make it there. It's such an amazing little place!