Venezia!

A month ago today, we were in Venice. Ahhhh. And about the time that I write this, we were enjoying a lovely lunch in Piazza San Marco, soaking up the warm sun. Here I am savoring a bellini (my favorite!):



Pat was lucky enough to have a break after his project in Russia and since those don’t come often, we wanted to make the most if it. Italy was the clear choice and my dad suggested Venice for its laid back atmosphere, as opposed to Florence & Rome, where we would feel the need to run around and see things. We wanted to just chill for a couple days and not have an agenda. Venice was perfect, thanks for the great advice Clark!

The weather was perfect – sunny and warm, but not quite hot – which always makes a trip better. We opted for a boutique hotel near the train station, about a 30 minute walk from Piazza San Marco and the center of town. I am really glad we stayed out there, it gave us a chance (ok, 3 days full of lots of chances) to wander the narrow streets & canals that makes up of the maze of Venice. It was so fun! You turn a corner and have no idea what you may find! Here are a couple shots:





After our long, lingering lunch in the square by the orchestra (see pic below), we wandered along the waterfront.



We had heard that Venice can be a bit smelly due to the water, but let me tell you, it has nothing on Moscow! We didn’t notice anything. And we even investigated. Check out this close look, it’s cleaner than Lake Shafer!



We found our way into a little church and sat in there for awhile to admire its simple beauty (and to cool off). We found out later that it is know as Vivaldi’s Church, as he was the concertmaster there from 1705-1740.

That night we committed the fatal hungry tourist error and allowed ourselves to be lured into a restaurant bc it looked nice and we were very very hungry. Ugh. All I can say is that it was a big disappointment. And to make it worse, we were eaten alive by mosquitoes while sitting in the garden. And little green things kept falling on our table, in our glasses, etc. It was just not good. At least there were plenty of gelato stands our on walk home to make sure we went to bed with a full tummy & a smile on our face!

The next day we wandered over to Piazza San Marco and the Rialto Market again and did a little shopping (notice I said “we”!). Then we found a little pizza place on the water and enjoyed some yummy Italian pizza and watched the boats coming & going. It was awesome! We even found a table where Pat could be under the brollie & I could be in the sun. Perfecto!

Next we took a vaporetti (the boats that serve as public transport) to Murano, the nearby island where all the glassmakers are located. They were ordered to be transferred from Venice to Murano in 1292 due to the fire hazard posed by the open furnaces. For hundreds of years, the glass blowers' secrets (including how to make mirrors) were held on this island and Murano’s crystalware decorated villas in Italy and the royal palaces of Europe. Here is a picture of Pat on a bridge as we wandered through Murano:



That night we had dinner at a hotel restaurant with a dramatic terrace overlooking the Grand Canal. It was a wonderful meal (we tried the Venetian pasta e fagioli soup) and a gorgeous view. A great way to celebrate our last night in Venice! It was too chilly to sit outside for dinner, but we made sure to get a picture out on the terrace before we left:



We started our last day with another trip to the local coffee shop. Forget the breakfast buffet at the hotel, all I wanted was a cappuccino and doughnuts! We found this coffee shop on our first morning after sleeping through the breakfast buffet (moms – we were not being lazy! Our flight was delayed and we didn’t get to the hotel until after 1 am). Neither of us are doughnut lovers, but we needed something with our coffee, so we planned to share one to tide us over until we could find something a bit healthier. That was the plan. And then I sunk my teeth into that sweet, delicious, perfection. YUM! I immediately had a flashback to my previous trip to Italy to visit my Nana’s cousins in the hills of Fanano (outside of Bologna). I don’t know what they do to those doughnuts, but they are magnificent! And it tasted exactly the same as the ones I remembered from 22 years earlier. Thus, every morning we were in Venice we started our day at the coffee shop with 2 doughnuts each (then to the fruit market). Here I am, so excited about my little friends (wondering how many I can eat before getting sick):



Although we had walked around Piazza San Marco everyday, we still had yet to take the lift in the Campanile di San Marco for the breathtaking views of the city. Thankfully the queue was quite short when we got there on our last day and we were in right away. Here are a couple of our pictures from way up there: