Ahh Venice

We're in love with Venice! It's so beautiful! From the moment we stepped out of the train station, we were standing in a postcard facing the Grand Canal with its gondolas, private boats and vaperettos (the city's bus system via boat). Talk about a good first impression.

Speaking of good first impressions, our hotel - which we thought would be a hostel since we booked it on HostelWorld.com - turned out to be a charming, regal-looking 3-star b&b! We felt so pampered! The owner spoke good English and gave us several excellent recommendations on restaurants. If you ever go to Venice, eat at Trattoria Storica. We had delicious seafood antipasti, a marinated beef main dish and good vino rosso.

It's quite true that it's hard to find your way around, but getting lost was very pleasant and often purposeful in our 2.5 days there. Brent said that, out of all the Italian cities we visited, he'd pick Venice to live in. The canals are beautiful. The water is a beautiful color of teal and looks very clean. There are small bridges everywhere, but surprisingly, only three bridges cross the Grand Canal. Also, I loved the renaissance-styled architecture of the buildings. Furthermore, the shopping is excellent. Most shops have fun, elaborate window displays, so I enjoyed just looking. :) We couldn't avoid buying Venice's most famous commodity though: blown glass jewelry made on the small island of Murano.

The best architecture was found at Piazza San Marco, which is the city's hub. St. Mark's Cathedral is decadent inside. It's nicknamed the "Church of Gold" because it's got gold worked into many of the mosaics and paint and has elaborate Byzantine architecture. We also toured Doge's Palace where several generations of Venice's kings lived. The most interesting part was the 1600s weapons and prison. We crossed the famous "Bridge of Sighs" that led to the prison underneath the palace.

It was a romantic city. Next time we go back, we'll cough up the absorbent 100 euro fee for a gondola ride. Still, with our many walks and even our 50 cent tragghetto ride (which is a 1 minute gondola ride across the canal only), we had a fabulous time. Here are our photos: http://melissabarto.shutterfly.com.