Venice

Friday, March 6, 2009

Our goal for today was not to go into Switzerland, so we went to Venice instead! (I believe we did take the Switzerland book just in case) It was rainy in the morning, but by mid afternoon it had cleared up into a beautiful cloudless day. We got over to Mestre (just west of Venice) and were looking for the train station, to take the train to Venice. But somehow we managed to miss the train station. So after a while of driving around the town looking for the train station we sucked it up and drove over the causeway and parked in one of the parking garages near the start of the Grand Canal.

First View
Venice, Italy

Our first order of business was finding a suitable lunch location. We decided on a place right on the Grand Canal, near to the Rialto. The day was warm about 55 or 60 degrees so we ate outside next to the Grand Canal. It was beautiful! After lunch we did some shopping on the Rialto – we hit a small leather goods shop recommended to us (Thanks Tim!!) and then headed to St. Mark’s Square. There were just about as many people there as pigeons which was a lot. The basilica was very pretty although the floor was rather uneven. I guess one of the benefits of mosaic tile floors is that they will shift and move without breaking fully, which benefits them well. So St. Mark’s also has this treasury, where you pay a few Euros to see the “treasures” of the church. (They should come up with a new name I think) Among the “highlights” were bones of various saints, mummified hands and other various body parts. (Thank goodness things weren’t labeled I can only imagine the stuff that we saw – YUCK) Granted there were some beautiful pieces made out of gold with precious stones and what not. But we are convinced its called the treasury because they get suckers like us to pay money to see this stuff.

View from the Rialto
Venice, Italy



Jenny by the Rialto
Venice, Italy



Saint Mark's Square
Venice, Italy



Cool Church across from Saint Mark's
Venice, Italy

Next we headed to the Doges’ Palace (this did count as a Schloss find for Mark) next door to St. Mark’s Basilica. The Doges’ Palace was the official residence for the Venetian rulers. The rooms were absolutely gorgeous. There is one room in there that was large enough to play a pickup game of football and lavishly decorated and ornamented. Back outside we did some more shopping and a lot of walking. We took our time and weaved through the little tiny streets to see what we could find. We had dinner on the Grand Canal, which was all lit up with boats and gondolas passing by. After an exciting day in Venice we headed for home.

Side Canal
Venice, Italy

Side Street
Venice, Italy