Europe IV: Venice

Wednesday May 23 - Day 10

We took a train from Interlaken, Switzerland to Venice, Italy.   The train ride south through Switzerland into Northern Italy was absolutely beautiful.  Dominic continued to enjoy the train rides:

We arrived in Venice early evening and set about finding our hotel.

Needless to say, we had a very difficult time finding our hotel and wandered around for hours.  We finally asked a local restaurant owner if he knew of the hotel.  He was just closing the restaurant for the night and offered to take us.  We were tired, hungry and relieved to arrive.  We ordered a pizza from the hotel's restaurant and called it a night.  Amazing how difficult it is lugging around our heavy backpacks with Dominic.  Not my favorite past time.

Thursday May 24 - Day 11

We were refreshed and excited to get out and explore Venice!!

Just to give you an idea of the layout of Venice AKA Venezia.  We trained in on the white bridge in the upper left corner.   We also visited the Island of Murano (I mention this later, so take note).  Burano also came highly recommended, but we didn't make it over there in our limited time

It didn't take me long to fall in love with Venice.  It is one of the most picturesque cities I had ever seen.

People are serious when they say the best way to see Venice is to get lost in Venice.  The walkways are narrow and windy and the streets are constantly changing names.  Michael and I have a pretty good sense of direction, so it was a challenge (at least for me) to know where we were at all times.

Consulting the map

No cars here

We took a water taxi to a nearby island called Murano known for glass blowing.

Look at this decked out archway

We watched a glass blowing demonstration

This man was an amazing artist

I could've watched him for hours

After we watched the demonstration, we walked through a museum/shop of very elaborate blown glass.  I would LOVE to own a piece of art like this someday.

We left the museum and walked around the island of Murano.  Also very picturesque.

Street musician

This glass piece was out on the street.  Pretty cool street decor!

I loved our time here!  It was so beautiful!  No cars.  Just boats parallel parked.

Another glass piece on the street (Fire to go along with the Ice)

Window shopping

Dominic enjoying the glass art

I love mosaic.  I hope to learn how to do my own some day.

Taking the water taxi back to the main island of Venice.

A view of Venice

I love the colors in this city!

The roofs were beautiful

I loved the flower balconies

Crossing the main bridge in the city

Ambulance

Me and my boy

We never did get to ride on a gondola

Refueling

I hear it's best to let babies enjoy Coca-Cola before they have teeth.

Dusk

Basilica di San Marco.
The most famous church in the city and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture.  It lies in St. Mark's Square which has been featured in many films: The Italian Job and Casino Royal to name a few.

If you ever feel like you don't own enough Ferrari swag, this is the place to go.  Ferrari everything.

Enjoying the lightening storm from the bridge while listening to another street musician

Walking along the main canal enjoying gelato

Friday May 25 - Day 12

Friday morning we grabbed breakfast and headed back for the train station.  We only spent 1 full day in Venice.  Some people feel it is too touristy to stay long, but we loved the architecture and fell in love with the ambiance of the city.  We would've enjoyed the chance to see Burano Island, but it will have to wait.  We had to catch our train down to Rimini and San Marino, a beautiful beach town half way down the eastern coast of Italy!

A sneak peak: After hitting the beach in Rimini, we took a bus to San Marino, an enclaved microstate surrounded by Italy.  The views were amazing from atop this mountain.  After returning to Rimini, where we enjoyed the best Italian food of our entire trip, we took a train down to Rome.  We spent more time in Rome than any other city.  We managed to shoot about 800 pictures!!  Oh the digital world.  There will be lots of good pictures of Rome but don't worry, I won't publish all 800.  After a wonderful time in Rome we flew to a BEAUTIFUL island off the coast of Spain called Mallorca before returning to Barcelona for our return flight.  The trip was pretty amazing from start to finish.  See what you have to look forward to?!   Stay Tuned!