Venezia (10-29)

Ciao di Venezia! Wow, Venice is more beautiful than I could have even imagined! After leaving Sicily a few days earlier than we had expected, Amy and I now had a few more days to fill up with sightseeing. We wanted to make the most out of Amy's vacation from school, so going back to Rome wasn't an option at this point. I had said a couple weeks prior to this that I would love to go to Venice with Amy... it just seems like the classic Italian date-spot. So off we flew to Venice from Catania with a company called MyAir. It was a good deal, and the plane was absolutely brand new. I guess that is one of the perks of flying with a young airline: you get brand new planes and a staff that's still very friendly (as they haven't been tainted by many jerk-flyers yet).

With the help and resourcefulness of Mom and Dad (yet again), we were able to make all the last-minute bookings and accommodations necessary to make our stay in Venice trouble-free. So, we got off the plane close to midnight, and then had to take a combination of transportation methods, from ground taxi to boat bus, to ultimately find our hotel. It was a little tough at that hour of the night, but we made out just fine. The hotel was called "Hotel Giorgione" and I would recommend it to anyone! The staff was extremely friendly, and they supplied me with a shaver (because I desperately needed one after only flying and traveling with carry-on for the past few days), and they also supplied us with toothpaste. We hit the hay as soon as we got to the hotel, and the morning greeted us with a great continental breakfast! After that, we were off to see the sights.

The first thing we needed to do was get our travel arrangements in order for the coming days. The plan was to take an overnight train from Venice to Cinque Terre, then explore Cinque Terre for a day, and then take an overnight train from there to Vienna, Austria. So, we headed to the train station to make these bookings. We made the booking for the Venice to Cinque Terre train via one of the automated ticket-computers, and we tried doing the same for the Cinque Terre to Vienna trip as well. Unfortunately, it wasn't working out, so we were instructed to go see a teller at the ticket window. So, over we mosey to the ticket window, and BAM! The tellers are on strike in Venice on this fateful day! BOOOOOO! So, then Amy and I scramble around to try and find a way of getting these tickets, and we finally found a seller at a travel agency which had a kiosk at the train station... and they didn't charge a commission on the tickets!

So, that was that... we were now set for the following days' trips, and now it was time to check out this amazing city! Amy and I really took our time in this city, and just relaxed for the most part. Don't get me wrong, we definitely saw most or all of the sights in Venice, but we just weren't up for running ourselves completely rampant as we had in every other city we had been to date. We had a relaxing lunch while sitting at a table literally on the Grand Canal... what a way to spend a day! But, in an effort to not bore you too much, on with the pictures! These will explain the sights and the activities Amy and I partook in throughout the day! Enjoy!

The Hotel Giorgione... a great place in a great spot in Venice!

The colors, the canal... talk about being out of one's element! Even still, there's just no place like it.

Look at the scale of the buildings in the background in comparison to the people. Look how low the windows are, how short the floor-to-ceiling heights are, and the overall "daintiness" of the buildings.

Just more incredible scenery looking along one of the "smaller" side-canals.

Ahhh yes, one of Venice's famous gondola's docked in its home along the Grand Canal.

A church I spotted while Amy and I were on a water-bus headed towards Piazza San Marco.

Amy and I on one of the bridges crossing over one of the canals.

When I said we ate lunch at a table ON the Grand Canal, I meant we ate lunch at a table ON the Grand Canal!

Another gondola docked right next to the restaurant we ate at. The large concrete building across the canal is the train station that we eventually headed out from.

A cool statue/scenery we passed while walking along the streets of Venice.

This is sort of the classic "Venice" picture (or so Amy tells me). About a 2 minute walk from St. Mark's Square, a lot of people congregate on this bridge to get a picture of the footbridge and the underlying canal. It wasn't until recently that they put in the gondolier's lanes, which I really don't think detract from the photo too much.

This is a view of Doge's Palace, which is located just before Piazza San Marco, in a small piazza cleverly named the "Piazetta San Marco." This palace used to be the home of the Doge of Venice. It was constructed from 1309 all the way to 1424, and today it serves as a museum with works on display mainly by Paolo Veronese and Jacopo "Tintoretto" Comin, two of Venice's greatest painters.

Ahhhh yes. This is me running through the pigeons in St. Mark's Square. As many people know, pigeons are like an epidemic in this square. Some people love them, others definitely hate them. Either way, they are definitely a sight to see. At one point, a pigeon just randomly landed on my head and hung out there until I batted him off... jerk.

Amy running through the pigeons. She didn't have any land on her head... lucky!

And then there are these people... the ones who want the pigeons all over them, pooping on their jackets or their hair. This wasn't even the worst of it. People would walk around with multiple pigeons perched on their heads, as well as pigeons on every other limb. And to think Amy and I thought the Tuilleries in Paris were bad with the pigeons crawling up people's legs... by the way, note the pigeon caught mid-motion about to land on this woman's hand.

St. Mark's Campanile. This is the bell tower of St. Mark's basilica. This is the most recognizable aspect of the city with a decent reproduction seen in Las Vegas. The real tower stands just shy of 100 meters tall.

A portion of the amazing ornate Basilica di San Marco a Venezia (St. Mark's Basilica). This is the centerpiece of the piazza by the same name. This is Venice's primary cathedral. It has five domes and is a great example of Byzantine architecture.

The sun sets over St. Mark's square.

A few gondoliers being chatty Kathy's, but ultimately taking out the paying customers along the Venetian canals.

You're only in Venice once... probably. So, naturally Amy and I had to take advantage of the opportunity to take a gondola ride at sunset through the Grand Canal in Venice.

Another shot of Amy and I in our gondola... this time taken by our gondolier. Although he didn't sing to us, he certainly was knowledgeable about the city and pointed out quite a few interesting landmarks, such as Marco Polo's house among others.

And the sun sets in the horizon while Amy and I are aboard our gondola.

A cool shot (I think) of the bow of our gondola as well as some Venetian scenery.

Another interesting shot taken while cruising along the canals.

The Rialto Bridge. This is Venice's most famous bridge which spans the Grand Canal. It is very reminiscent of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence. I say this because this bridge appears covered, as does the Ponte Vecchio, but is in fact an open-air pedestrian bridge surrounded entirely by elegant shops and constant activity. This bridge was designed by Antonio Da Ponte, and is of course a single span stone bridge; it was completed in 1591, as a replacement to an earlier high-maintenance wooden bridge that stood in its place for many years prior.

Amy and I in front of the Rialto. We ate dinner a just a stone's throw from here. We could actually see the Rialto right out the window we were seated at within the restaurant.

Looking at the Grand Canal from the highest point along the Rialto Bridge.

Amy and I decided to take very similar pictures in the restaurant we ate at. Here is me... with a bottle in my face.

And here is Amy... still wide-eyed after seeing so many unbelievable things in one short day!

So, that'll do it for this post. Next up is Cinque Terre. After dinner in Venice, Amy and I hustled back to the Hotel Giorgione to grab our travel bags, and then off to the train station we headed to catch our overnight train to Cinque Terre. I'll explain just how awesome the overnight trains were in my next post. Until then, churn Venice around in your head for a while... enjoy! Oh, of course...how could I forget!? You'll notice in the pictures that I am beardless. You see, I knew I wouldn't be shaving too often on this trip (as we only travelled with carry-on), and my beard was out of hand, so I decided to lop it all off and start fresh. It's okay though... it was back within 4 hours or so.