Venice

The city of Romance.

♥

We were here for 2 days as well.

Venice is considered one of the most romantic cities in the world.

There are technically over 120 different “islands”

that make up Venice.

With just little bridges connecting them.

There are absolutely no roads.

Or buses.

Or anything on land.

It is allllll done by sea

We have been learning a lot about the city here.

There are Gondola’s,

Water taxis, metro’s on water

{that was quite an experience, felt like we were cargo}

and even policeman rolling around in the boats

with their lights flashing.

It is just such a different feel here.

The day we arrived was soooo hot.

But luckily the second day has been somewhat overcast

Keeping it still really warm,

But not blistering hot

{its so humid here too, so its even worse}

you get sweaty and never dry. Haha.

We walked around the city for a while

{if you don’t have a map, you are in big trouble}

even if you have a good internal sense of direction

its pretty rough even with a map.

There are people standing to the side everywhere looking at maps

Trying to figure out where to go.

But part of the fun is getting lost sometimes.

In the afternoon we wanted to get away from the tourists

Because mid day is madness.

We found a little dock that was on the Grand Canal.

We sat on the edge with our shoes off

And feet dangling in the water.

We watched the boats go by for a while

Just sitting peacefully away from the thousands of people

This is what I love.

I love taking the city in for the city

Not for the souvenirs and shops that tourists always flock to.

We sat here for a good hour to an hour and a half.

{view from our dock seats} 

Once the tourist madness had calmed down a little bit

We decided to walk around the shops to get gifts for the family

When there weren’t as many people.

We got some good things.

I walked away happy!

We were wanting to do a Gondola ride while here

You have to when you in Venice.

It is more expensive at night

100 Euro vs 80 Euro for the day

We decided to take it now since it was slighty overcast

And we would be able to get good pictures and it was super crowded.

The gondola right was heavenly.

It was so romantic.

People on the bridges would stop and take pictures of us.

Our gondola guide man was dressed in a stripe shirt and slacks

And had the fancy Italian hat.

Exactly how you would imagine it.

Our seats were leather and comfy with pillows for our backs

As well as gold trim.

It had all the bells and whistes.

It was about 30 minutes of bliss!

 

We were getting hungry after our wonderful ride

and decided to get some dinner

The restaurant waiters would stand outside

And literally fighting for us to come eat.

It was like a little competition.

They put their menu’s outside so when you walk by

You can see if you would like that before you go sit down.

One guy wouldn’t let off.

He kept reading what was on the menu and

Trying to take us into the restaurant.

It was awkward and annoying and funny all at the same time.

We didn’t end up eating there.

We found a nice air conditioned restaurant

Worth the searching.

It was about 9 by now and

All the tourists were heading back to their hotels on the mainland

We headed to St. Marco’s Square.

This is the place to be at night time

Most the tourists are gone and the whole square lights up.

There are orchestra’s all around the edges of the square

They call is “dueling orchestras”

There are places to sit and eat or get dessert but there is a 7 euro

Fee for just sitting while the music is playing.

We loved it so we decided we would do it

We got desserts and sat there enjoying the music

And the city for a good 2 hours.

Our dessert and music was more than our whole dinner before.

But when in Venice right?

We couldn’t have had a better day!

{our hotel}

{just a random canal.... so pretty}

{carnivale balls were huge here}

{pigeons were everywhere}

{st. mark's square}

{the lion is st. mark's symbol. everyone took pictures by this}

{another canal with the italian flag above}

{famous Rialto bridge}

{best.nougat.ever}

{from Rialto Bridge}

{from Rialto Bridge}

{St. Mark's Square}

{dueling orchestras}

{enjoying the music and dessert}

{another orchestra}
{also there are holes in the ground for when the
tide is high, so the water has somewhere to go}

♥ ♥ ♥