Well, we arrived safely in Venice after a long 13 hour trip. Luckily, since we are from Alaska, this length of trip was kind of standard for us, in fact, it’s kind of ridiculous that we can fly halfway across the world to a foreign county in the same amount of time that it takes us to get home. Regardless, I have not logged in to talk about flying to Alaska, but to share about our trip thus far to Italy! So let me get to it... We are currently on the train on our way to Verona after spending 2 glorious days in Venice. We arrived early Sunday morning and after a little bit of time and a lot of Euros we were on our way across the water to Venice; the airport is actually located on the mainland so we had to bus to the main station and then take a vapporetti (think water bus) to our area of the floating city. We stayed at the Pelligrio and Commercio a quaint hotel located in a tiny alley right near San Marco Square. Our room was super tiny, slightly larger than those you would find on a cruise ship, but who comes to Venice to spend it in a hotel room anyways? Fortunately the continental breakfast was good and the beds were fairly comfortable so our stay there was pleasant. In addition, the location was ideal for first time visitors to Venice as it allowed us the luxury of popping in and out whenever we needed to use the restroom or change sandals. After arriving in Venice we opted to take a nap in order to actually enjoy our evening and not just be zombies for the entire day. So after a refreshing nap we hit the town.
Okay, on to the exciting stuff. Our first afternoon we spent wandering the streets and becoming familiar with the layout of the city and the surrounding cites. We purchased a San Marco Square pass which allowed us entry to the Doge Palace and the Correr museum. We spent an hour or two exploring the Correr museum which held various statues, paintings, artifacts and relics. We explored San Marco Square taking in the sights (and Lucas chasing the pigeons) and then meandered to the famous Rialto Bridge where we did some window shopping and admired the beautiful Murano glass and carnival masks. We then finished off the evening with a glass of wine at a local shop and tucked ourselves into bed.
Day two began with a look at the Doge Palace and then St. Mark’s Basilica. I cannot begin to tell you how amazing it is to stand in a church that was built centuries ago and by hundreds of craftsmen. Both cites were breathtaking and a work of art without all the beautiful statues, woodwork, mosaics, and paintings that were found in both. Afterwards, we stopped off at our hotel to change footwear and were off to do a self-guided walking tour of some of the churches of Venice. We stopped at approximately 8 churches; can you believe we still managed to miss more than 30! Unfortunately there was just not enough time in the day and our feet began to complain. So we headed back for dinner stopping at a nearby market to pick up a bottle of wine for the evening. We grabbed some pizza from a local vendor and sat canal side enjoying our pizza and wine. To finish the day off we headed to the Café Florian, which is the most famous Venetian café and one of the first places in Europe to serve coffee. It has been visited by Charles Dickens, Lord Byron, Casanova, and now of course, by us. J We each enjoyed a ridiculously expensive espresso, incredible tiramisu, and live music in the square. The perfect ending to a perfect day.
Okay, on to the exciting stuff. Our first afternoon we spent wandering the streets and becoming familiar with the layout of the city and the surrounding cites. We purchased a San Marco Square pass which allowed us entry to the Doge Palace and the Correr museum. We spent an hour or two exploring the Correr museum which held various statues, paintings, artifacts and relics. We explored San Marco Square taking in the sights (and Lucas chasing the pigeons) and then meandered to the famous Rialto Bridge where we did some window shopping and admired the beautiful Murano glass and carnival masks. We then finished off the evening with a glass of wine at a local shop and tucked ourselves into bed.
Day two began with a look at the Doge Palace and then St. Mark’s Basilica. I cannot begin to tell you how amazing it is to stand in a church that was built centuries ago and by hundreds of craftsmen. Both cites were breathtaking and a work of art without all the beautiful statues, woodwork, mosaics, and paintings that were found in both. Afterwards, we stopped off at our hotel to change footwear and were off to do a self-guided walking tour of some of the churches of Venice. We stopped at approximately 8 churches; can you believe we still managed to miss more than 30! Unfortunately there was just not enough time in the day and our feet began to complain. So we headed back for dinner stopping at a nearby market to pick up a bottle of wine for the evening. We grabbed some pizza from a local vendor and sat canal side enjoying our pizza and wine. To finish the day off we headed to the Café Florian, which is the most famous Venetian café and one of the first places in Europe to serve coffee. It has been visited by Charles Dickens, Lord Byron, Casanova, and now of course, by us. J We each enjoyed a ridiculously expensive espresso, incredible tiramisu, and live music in the square. The perfect ending to a perfect day.
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