In the morning we were able to sleep in a little bit and eat breakfast. We all boarded the bus for the town of canals and islands, Venice! The town is carless and there is only one island that is connected to the mainland by bridge for cars and trains. Everyone then parks their vehicles and gets on a boat to head over to the other islands and the main tourist attractions. We were dropped off in the morning around 9:00PM and went into the city for a glass blowing demonstration. Venice is know for their glass figurines and jewelery. The demonstration was arranged by our touring company, and many other tours also go their for demonstrations. After the glass blower made a vase and a small glass horse, they walked us into a small room and showed off all of their expensive products. A tea seat cost over $4,000! Of course, the crazy "family" bought 3 vases, which caught me off guard. Most of us wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible in fear of breaking something. We still can't figure out these people who are burping, farting like mad are also buying everything in site. It's really has me stumped...
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| St. Mark's Basilica, beautiful skies... |
After the demonstration, we went to the kissing bridge, or Rilato Bridge in Venice. It spans the Grand Canal without any support and is a beautiful structure. If you kiss someone on the bridge, you are destined to be with them eternity (of course!).
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| On the Kissing Bridge, looking down the canal. |
After Rilato we just started wandering; when you're on an island, you can do that. There are signs all over the buildings leading people towards the biggest attractions, so you can get a sense of where to go. A map is useless, so wandering was the best way to get around. We were originally going to go to the beginning of the Grand Canal and take the public boat (similar to a public bus) down the Canal and do a Rick Steve's guided tour. Once we got there, we decided against it and decided to take the back streets and walk the tour instead. We had a few secret picnics (discrete, because it's not truly allowed in Venice) and I bought a cafe Americano. We also stopped for a big slice of pizza for Paul and shared a gelato. It was a wonderful wandering day.
Paul and I opted out of the famous gondola ride for a much cheaper version. We didn't need the Italian singer and guitar player for one hour. And we would have been with the tour group, which is not the slightest bit romantic. We decided to take the traghetto! The traghetto is a service locals use to cross the Grand Canal, because there are only 4 bridges spanning the Grand Canal in Venice. You pay 0,50 Euro per person and they take you on a short gondola ride to the other side. It's young men that are making a buck with a service. It's really convenient, and the pictures looked like we splurged big bucks! It's just me and the gondola rower in one of the pictures. The locals on the boat weren't too impressed with all of our picture taking. Paul and I laughed about that one for a while, it really is the classic way to do ride a gondola!
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| Poor man's gondola ride... |
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| Our Traghetto location, also featured on the movie "The Tourist"... |
After the gondola ride we sat down for some strawberries and took a break. The day went fast and we started making our way back to Piazzale del San Macro (St. Mark's Square). We had enough time to visit the Basilica of St. Mark and see the massive church. Pictures weren't allowed, but the place was large, and beautiful. The church ceilings were covered in gold colored paint sprinkled between the beautiful frescos and mosaics.
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| Fresh strawberries for lunch on the Grand Canal... |
After viewing the church, it started to get a bit dark, so we secured a spot under a roof for potential rain cover. We enjoyed the live Italian music played at the restaurants on the square. Sitting down at the restaurants is very expensive, but listening a bit off on foot is free. There was a dining place that was playing wonderful live music, but not a soul was sitting down for a meal or glass of wine. The sitting fees are quite ridiculous and the menu items on top of that are steep. For example, sitting down for a cappuccino could cost you $20 to sit and sip.
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| Live restaurant music on St. Mark's square... |
We walked quickly back to the pickup point to get back to the mainland by bus. We didn’t realize how far it was, but we made it just in time to get on the boat and cruise over to the coach bus and head back to the hotel at 6PM. It was a long day on the islands of Venice, but it went by quite fast!
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| Giggling at the plumber vacationing in Venice... |
We arrived back to the hotel safe and sound and prepared for an included hotel dinner. Paul put on his running clothes under his jeans and we went down to the serving room for dinner. We had rice, noodles, corn, marinara sauce, and some meat selections. The dinner wasn’t anything to write about, but I filled up on warm pasta! It was nice to have a meal prepared and warm. It was a buffet, but it didn’t get refilled as we all had assumed so once the food was gone, it was gone. Luckily, the meats were the first to run out, and I was able to over indulge. Others in the group were also disappointed that coffee wasn’t included with the cake/bread for dinner. It was classic. We had a good time visiting with our table over dinner. I went out to the lobby with Paul and took his jeans and sweatshirt back with me to the table to finish my meal while he started his 12 mile run. I got a few odd glances while carrying Paul’s jeans, haha, so I had to explain his marathon training, etc.
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| Looking back at the islands of Venice, on our way back to the mainland. |
Over dinner we were also asked what we did, I said I was a nanny at the moment and Paul just grinned. Of course, then our favorite woman with a small portion of common sense blatantly asked how we paid for the trip, super awkward. I wish I would have said something clever, but I was taken aback by the question, I’ll think of a more creative answer. Police pay-off? Counterfeit pharmaceuticals? Vegas win? Any suggestions?
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| Picture of the famous Venice gondolas... |
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