Day in Venice

Today was spent walking: over bridges, next to canals, through windy alleyways, and past hoards of people. We really enjoyed Venice– it’s such a wonderful place to visit, but it is too surreal of a place for us to want to live here!

Breakfast at our hotel was rather odd (granted, we have had a number of odd breakfasts lately), but then we headed out to wander the streets. While we had several places we wanted to see today, we also understood that part of enjoying Venice is wandering the streets and coming across hidden bridges and canals. We certainly enjoyed walking the streets and crossing quaint bridges. There were many shops with gelato (yum), murano glass, venetian glass, and randomly, The Disney Store. We have been amused at the number of cities that we have found McDonald’s and Starbucks in, which sort of makes sense, but the Disney Store? In Venice?

We finally made it to Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square) to take in the cathedral, people, pigeons, etc. The line for the cathedral was ridiculous, so we enjoyed the outside and instead went to see the Bridge of Sighs. We saw the Oxford version (named for this famous one in Venice), so it was neat to see the real thing. Afterwards, we headed to Harry’s Bar, the famous hangout of Ernest Hemmingway. We had a fabulous lunch, which also turned out to be one of the most, if not THE most expensive lunch of our entire lives. But who cares? It was Harry’s Bar!

We saw some other sights, including a piazza used in Indiana Jones, and the famous Fenice Opera House, which mysteriously and scandously burned down in 1996. Throughout our trip I have been reading a book by John Berendt (author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) called The City of Falling Angels, which is about the burning of the Opera House, the scandal, and Venetian society. It was fun to read the book and then actually be there! I was able to explain some “inside scoop” to Andy, which made the sights and people more intriguing.

The Grand Canal is aptly named, and it was glorious to walk along the canal. It feels a bit like a movie set. We liked the gondolas, but opted to skip it for this trip.  That way, we have to come back!

For dinner, we ate by a canal by candlelight, and a man serranaded us with his accordian while singing classic touristy Italian songs. That’s Amore, anyone? Even though it was cheesy, we loved it! It was fun to fall asleep listening to the street noises below (which is just people, since there are no cars!). While it is hot during the day, the nights here are really pleasant.

Arriving in Venice

The train ride from Vienna to Venice was nine hours, which went by surprisingly quick. We watched movies on the laptop, read, ate our picnic lunch (we found Bugles at the train station! Yum!), and enjoyed views of the Alps. We loved watching the terrain change from Austrian to Italian. Even better, we loved watching the WEATHER change! We arrived in Venice with still damp coats, and it was warm and humid at nine o’clock at night. Yay!
We found our hotel with record time and no wandering around streets trying to get our bearings. The train station is so fun– you step out of it right onto the Grand Canal. There is no question where you are, you are in Venice!
Our hotel is simple but perfectly lovely, and we can just barely catch a peak of the canal from our windows. We are right next to a church, and while the bell ringing is deafening, it’s fun to watch the bells ring. We caught a quick bite at a bistro, where I had pizza and Andy had lasagna. Venice felt unreal, like we were on a movie set. There really are ridiculously narrow alleyways, streets with clotheslines, canals, bridges, and 500 year old palaces everywhere. We love it! Andy and I agree that it would be strange to live in a place with no cars and only boats, but it is an absolute hoot to visit.