Venice, Italy

We went to Venice the weekend of April 9th and 10th. We took the train there, and then rode a vaporetto (water bus) to the Piazza San Marco, where our hotel was located. The vaporetti aren't as romantic as a gondola, but they are much cheaper.

We did see a lot of gondolas as we cruised along the Grand Canal to the Piazza. The gondoliers are required to wear striped shirts, black pants, and black close-toed shoes. The traditional flat hats are optional - we didn't see too many of them. We decided not to ride in a gondola for a number of reasons. As I said before, they are expensive - about 100 euros for a ride (which is about $145). Plus (and probably the main reason), Robert and I weren't sure we could get into a gondola without capsizing the thing! And if we did get into the gondola, we weren't sure we would ever make it out again! We didn't ride, but we sure did enjoy watching them.
We made it to the Piazza San Marco and began the hunt for our hotel. We had been instructed to walk through the arch under the Torre dell'Orologio (clock tower). After doing that, we made our way through a number of teeny tiny streets until we found our hotel - the Best Western Hotel Montecarlo (which seemed like a strange name for a hotel in Venice). By the way, the clock tower was completed in 1499. I'm constantly amazed that I've been seeing buildings that are 500 to 1000 years old!
After settling in, we went and got lunch - at the Hard Rock Cafe. So nice to get barbecued ribs! And a milk shake for Scott! And ice in my Coke Light! We bought Scott the obligatory Hard Rock Cafe Venice t-shirt, then headed back to the Piazza. We took an elevator to the top of the Campanile (free standing bell tower) of the Basilica of St. Mark's. Here's a view of the city. You can't even tell there are all sorts of small canals down there.
Here's a view of the five domes of the Basilica of St. Mark's.
Here's a view of one of the bells in the bell tower. We were all glad they no longer ring those bells! I don't think our hearing could have withstood the noise!
Here's a picture of the arch above one of the doors of the Basilica of St. Mark's.
Next we took a vaporetti to the Rialto Bridge. As you can see from the number of people on the bridge, it offers an excellent view of the Grand Canal.
So we took pictures. I love the gondolas. I love how the old buildings are all so different.
The motor boats and vaporetti kind of detract from the beauty of the Grand Canal, but they are sure a lot quicker means of transportation!
I even managed to convince Scott to let me take a picture of him.
One of the coolest things about the Rialto bridge was that while you could view the Grand Canal from either side of the bridge, the interior of the bridge was lined with shops. Lots and lots of amazing shops! Suffice it to say, I had a lot of fun in the shops!

We decided to walk back to the Piazza San Marco, which was interesting. We had a map, but the street names never seemed to match up. Thank goodness someone had taken the time to write "San Marco" with an arrow pointing in the right direction at the end of most of the streets. Who knew I would ever be grateful for graffiti!

The next day we took a vaporetto to the island of Murano. Murano has been the home to Venetian glassmakers since 1291. When I found out we were moving to Italy, one of the things I wanted to do was go to Murano and see a glass blowing demonstration. We had to spend 15 minutes listening to a high pressure salesman ("You only need to spend 450 euros, and we will ship to America for free"), but then we got to see the demonstration. We watched this blob of glass....

... be transformed into this beautiful vase in about 5 minutes.
We had to buy a couple of things. I have a small collection of eggs, so this was calling to me! It's hard to get a picture that shows how pretty it is.
We also bought this vase. Robert actually picked it out. He loved the color (which is a deep, dark, rich reddish/maroon) and the shape. Those were our two treasures.
Venice was amazing! Such a beautiful and unique city. I am so glad we got to visit - even Scott admitted that was one of the places he wanted to see while in Italy.