Venice...

So we decided to come to Venice! And boy are we glad we did! Venice is AMAZING! We have loved every second of it and can't wait to come back again someday. We're making this a quick trip here so we can spend a little more time in Florence. We've heard there is a lot do to in Florence.

So we arrived into the San Lucia Train Station here in Venice a little after 2pm. And we were fortunate enough to have to pay for transport to our hotel. But it was a loooong walk. Especially with Cameron continually saying he knew where we were going and "we're almost there" every 5 minutes. It felt like we walked around half the island before he would let me finally convince him to ask for directions. So after two people guiding us in the RIGHT direction, we were standing in front of our little hotel. Not the nicest, but for only 50 Euros a night, we'd take it. We walked up the stairs to find that the toilet (bathroom) in our room was not working and they were trying to fix it, so we couldn't go in until it was ready. We left our bags and went out on the town!

Instantly we were amazed at the canals, buildings, people, shopping, piazzas, and historic sites. So many churches that we would love to go in, but we're kind of on a tight schedule so we stuck with the main ones. The coolest was the Basilica di San Marco - wow. We weren't allowed to take bags or cameras or anything in with us, which we don't really understand. But there's a lot of things that most people don't understand about our religion so we didn't question. It was so beautiful inside! From half the way up the walls and covering the ceiling was a magnificent gold mosaic, dated back over 950 years. I did happen to sneak in the exit, which I saw a few other people do first, and snapped a couple shots of this beautiful artwork. Inside we saw St Mark's sarcophagus (coffin/remains) with a hidden treasure behind it that includes over 2000 emeralds, sapphires, rubies, pearls, and other precious gems. This really was an amazing place. Such history!

Then we walked around Piazza San Marco for a while, admiring all the beauty of the shops (which included all the stores we saw in Milan and more!). My most favorite thing to look at was the jewelry and decor made out of the murano glass. Truly gorgeous. I would LOVE to go over to the island Murano and see how it is made. I picked out a few pieces that I wanted to come back and buy next time.

On top of the Rialto Bridge.

We ended up back at our hotel around 6pm so we could officially "check in" and rest our feet for a bit before we headed out to see the town at night. I guess they never got the bathroom fixed because they moved us into the spare room at one of the employee's apartments. He's this cute little old man who has a nice apartment in residential Venice, and this place we're staying is waaay nicer than what we would've had at the hotel. And best of all it is super close to the train station, so there's not too many ways Cameron can get us lost on the way out tomorrow!

We spoke to our host for a bit, getting tips on the town. The Italians are extremely friendly! Sometimes they even go out of their way to help us! After we changed into our "evening-wear" (sounds fancy huh? i just mean long-sleeve shirts:), we went out looking for some cheap delicious pizza and more gelato (we'd already had some earlier in the afternoon- yes it's THAT good!). We walked and walked and walked, and everyone was gone! Earlier, this island was packed with all kinds of people, and I swear they all just vanished in that hour we were inside! All the shops had closed down for the night, and some restaurants. All the expensive ones were still open, sure, but we'd have to starve before we ate at any of those! Eventually, on the way to where we heard there was an internet cafe, we found a little corner shop that had one table still outside. So we took a seat and the waiter brought us each a nice huge slice of italian pizza (and a delicious Fanta - which tastes so much better here than back home). It was a wonderful night! As I'm sure you can tell from the pictures. We did end up finding some people walking around by the canal. And we walked with them as we ate our gelato (three scoops each - yummmm). So I guess this isn't really a hopping town at night, but that's alright with us. We're ready to turn in anyways.

Goodnight to you all! Tomorrow is Florence!

-Wendi