View of the Rialto Bridge from one of the vaporettos, or water taxis. This is how people get around. There really are no cars in Venice (maybe the occasional bus) and I loved it! But, needless to say, this leaves the water pretty dirty. I couldn't tell it was dirty, but I've heard it kind of smells in the summer.
Standing on the Rialto Bridge overlooking the grand canal. It was beautiful, crisp, and sunny for our first day in Venice, and a little more overcast the second day. Sunny, but cold still!
Up close of the gondola activity on the grand canal.
Our hostel was right around the corner. If you click on the picture, you can zoom in and see the nice german shepard sleeping on the nearest boat. I thought of Rebecca and Banta and Bently for sure!
One of the many many many brightly colored stores tucked away in the winding narrow streets. The streets were narrow enough sometimes to reach out and touch both sides- reminded me a lot of Greece!
Wow, ok so I know I write about food every time I post on here but it's ridiculously amazing wherever I go. Actually, we had really bad seafood and pizza in Venice, but the chocolate was top-notch. Clearly I was impressed. Please note the hand-painted chocolate in the foreground and melting chocolate waterfall in the background. It was 10am and I had to have some of that waterfall. It was so worth it!
Wow, this guy is the ultimate girl magnet. He actually makes chocolate, and beautiful artsy chocolate at that. If only Chaz could learn to make chocolate like this...
Sarah was easily persuaded to get some too. We asked this nice lady in perfect Italian if she could take our picture, and she looked confused. Turns out, she spoke English. This was often the case in Venice! We heard so many languages this weekend. Venice receives something like 7 million tourists a year- and only has 60,000 residents. Wow.
Window shopping at night was so much fun! I can't believe how expensive everything was here- even a pizza was at least 9 euro. (They're normally 4 or 5 in other cities.) So needless to say, it was hard to go into most stores to buy anything. But we sure had fun outside :) This is me showing off my luxurious cotton gloves next to the fancshy smchancy leather gloves.
This is a pair of shoes made for Camp Irvine
No explanation needed. Having fun!
Shoes! Shaped like barefeet! I love them!
The next day, we went to the nearby island of Murano, where all the glass is made.
One of the Murano glass "masters" (that's what they're called) demonstrating how to make a vase. It was so cool to watch them!
Tiny glass orchestra
Wow! Big blue spiky glass sculpture. We should take a picture in front of it
Ok so to explain my weird pose... This little guy reminded me of Seymour, from "Little Shop of Horrors." Use your imagination...doesn't it kind of look like it could be a man-eating plant?
Back on the mainland, in an amazing market! They had fresh fruit and nuts and all sorts of goodies for sale so it was great to walk though. And then they had a million little shops selling glass and candles and masks masks masks.
The masks are amazing. So many different kinds! Most are pretty, but some are kind of scary too. I am glad I didn't go to Venice during Carnivale- a lot of Umbra Students did. But, since I don't like big crowds like that, and the masks sometimes creep me out, I think this weekend in Venice was much more my-pace. I liked this mask though!
The artist hard at work.
The famous gondalas! I thought about going on one...but it was really cold and overpriced. It's the kind of thing I might do if Chaz were here, but Sarah and I had fun running around doing other things. Sarah's roomate Jen, and her boyfriend Dwight, also came with us and they opted for the gondola experience. I didn't have the heart to tell them that they got ripped off- 100 Euro for a half hour! I read in the travel books that they always ask that much at the beginning and that you have to haggle them down. Looks like Dwight and Jen didn't know that.... They said it was really nice though so it was worth it to them :)
If I were a pigeon.... I would be a San Marco pigeon! Dang, these guys have the right idea. There's thousands of them, EVERYWHERE in this square, and people selling pigeon food to the tourists (yes, i know how this sounds) to throw in the air. Really an amazing site. Plus, then you look up and San Marco church is right there. Awesome! Just watch out for flying pigeon poo...
Sarah enjoying the new at sunset
Tower in the San Marco Square
This clock has taken something like 20 years longer than planned to re-furbish and clean. There's Italy for ya..
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