Venice is the one city in Italy I have visited before. Granted Kerri and I were probably there less than 24 hrs. but it stuck with me. When Steve and I walked out of the train station and saw the Grand Canal I felt so happy. Venice is a special city. You feel different here, like life goes at a slower place. Maybe it's the fact that you don't here engines reeving or honking horns, it's just different.
We spent 3 nights in Venice in our nicest hotel yet. We celebrated New Year's Eve in St. Marks square with snow coming down, what a great night. We saw plenty of masks and glass to purchase. We loved walking down the narrow streets and getting lost on our way to our hotel. I took tons of pictures from our many boat rides and one gondola ride. It was a great ending to an amazing trip!
St. Mark's Basilica - The Basilica was built around 1100 and is a an anchor to Piazza San Marco. It is said to have the remains of St. Mark within it.
Courtyard, Doge's Palace - Home of the elected official of Venice back in the day of Venetian rule. We took the "Secret Itineraries" tour and got to see the jail and rooms of the "terrible ten". Our tour guide was great and gave us lots of detail about the palace.
Bridge of Sighs - built in 1600 to connect Doge's Palace and Doge's prison. This was the last view the prisoner's got to see before their imprisonment.
St. Mark's Campanile - Bell tower in Piazza San Marco. It was built originally in 1514 but that one fell down in 1902 and was rebuilt. You can ride and elevator to the top for some great views of Venice.
View of Venice - From the bell tower.
Rialto Bridge - The most famous bridge to span the Grand Canal. It was completed in 1591 and has lots of shops to roam through.
View from the Grand Canal - This is one of many small canals that run from the canal. It is so interesting to look down and see more bridges.
Our Gondolier - This is a silly picture but it made me laugh because he is thinking we are crazy :)
Murano Glass Factory - We spent one morning in Murano watching some famous Murano glass being made. It was neat to see. We didn't bring too much home because I was scared of it breaking in transit.
New Year's Eve - We enjoyed spending our New Year's Eve in Piazza San Marco. The evening's theme was Love. There were lots of people celebrating the New Year with champagne and fireworks.
3 comments:
Loved all your blogs about the trip. Can't wait to take our own in July. Of course, you enjoyed things the kids would never bear-ha! As much as you are looking forward to little Emily coming--make sure you enjoy this time together.
Venice, would have been very interesting. Now how was the food???
Amazing! This is one of the places I have always had on my "bucket list."
Post a Comment