Venizia's Top 5!

Ahh, we have arrived in Italia. The weather is warmer, and the air more humid. Le sigh. Our first stop was Venice, City of Canals. Two days here was short, but oh so sweet. My highlights are in chronological order, since I can't really say one was better than another: all were equally amazing moments.

Fun Fact #1: Venice is comprised of 118 islands, 177 canals and 409 bridges connecting them.
Fun Fact #2: Yes, it floods and is in danger. Yes, the government is slowly working on a moveable, electrical dam system.

I gladly present...Venizia's Top 5! 

View from the Gondola Ride of one of the larger canals

Cindy, Me, Lawrence, Colette, Derek, and Larry

5. After driving for almost 10 hours from Austria to Venice, we were all a little weary. After a hearty dinner of bruschetta and pasta pescatore, however, we were all much happier. With full bellies we headed to our first activity, a gondola ride at sunset. (Sunset, by the way, has been consistently much later in Europe. In Germany, Austria and Italy sunset has been around 9/9:30ish.) It is the quintessential Venice experience, and rightly so. Six in our boat, we meandered through the city's canals while listening to our gondolier sing. The weathered city buildings are stacked together in a mix of Classical, Neo, and Byzantine styled architecture. The setting sun reflects in the lagoon's water, and as the street lamps light up, it feels almost magical. 

4. Morning Walking Tour: We met our local guide, Elisabetta, outside the hotel to begin our tour. While I currently can't remember most of the information Elisabetta gave us, it was fascinating to learn about Venice's history: its hodgepodge of architecture, Napoleon's influence, how they set up wooden planks to cross from building to building when it floods, and the restorations that result, the economy and population's decline, a demonstration of how to make the masks worn at Carnival, and its main church, San Marco, whose ceiling is plastered in mosaic glass tiles with a thin, gold leaf inside.

Well deserved Frescata pizza lunch after much shopping

3. SHOPPING! I let my inner girly-girl emerge today; Colette and I shopped to our heart's content. I had to purchase a pair of earrings made of the city's special Murano glass. And the dress and purse were just too cute (and too reasonably priced!) to pass up. What can I say? I can never pass up a good sale. Of course, I didn't break the bank today because there's still Florence! Ah, this is the life.

2. A part of Venice's charm is being able to get lost in it, and then finding your way through it. The streets have occasional signs that inform you of your whereabouts, but there are so many twists, turns, dead-ends into canals, and bridges, that it's hard to keep your directionality. Being completely devoid of a solid sense of direction, it was quite easy for me to get lost. Every street being filled with fancy couture shops, cute boutiques and the occasional whiff of a nearby trattoria or pizzeria make the experience quite enjoyable. We spent hours exploring the city; at one point, we ended up in a residential area. As we turned a corner to a dead-end, we began heading back. A woman sitting on the steps of the canal asked us, in perfect English, "Do you need directions somewhere?" After we explained we were enjoying getting lost and re-finding ourselves, we learned Laura is from Chicago and recently picked up and moved to Venice. She has spent years visiting the city, and finally decided to move to a place she felt truly at home in. It was incredibly inspiring to hear her story, and Colette and I left her with a renewed bounce in our steps after a long day of wandering and shopping.

Walking by Venice's canal at night

1. An evening in San Marco's Square is divine. We splurged and sat at Cafe Lavena in the middle of the square, right in front of the orchestral quintet that serenaded us for a few hours. We sipped on Spritz's (a popular Italian drink: orange-y, sweet alcohol with just a bit of tartness) and chips. We looked out at the tourists and Italians strolling in the square. (I feel I have overused that word lately, but you can really do nothing but stroll in Venice. The city requires it.) I was grossed out by the hordes of people feeding pigeons bread out of their hands and allowing them to sit on their heads. Luckily the music and otherwise pleasant atmosphere negated the pigeon scene. We watched the moon peak through the clouds and felt a cool breeze. We sat for hours, just enjoying the music, enjoying the contentment, enjoying the San Marco square.    

San Marco Square in the moonlight