Ciao from Venice

The last two days in Venice have been absolutely full of exciting moments and findings.  Our first full day in Venice started with a hearty meal.  The family and I rose by 7am, so we could get breakfast and head to St. Mark's Basilica for 8 am mass.  The basilica was so ornate.  The mass was said in Italian, but it is very similar to the Catholic masses at home, which made it easy to follow.  After mass I was able to sneak a few pictures because taking pictures was not allowed.

Charlie in front of St. Mark's Basilica

Ceiling in St. Mark's

After mass we grabbed our things, and we headed out into the winding streets of Venice.  Every street you take in Venice leads somewhere.  You are constantly walking over bridges to get to the other side.  We got a map of Venice from the hotel with all the major landmarks and important places to see.  Our plan for the first full day was to wander the city, see the churches, a museum or two if we pleased.  The one absolute goal we had was to stop at the Museo Correr to purchase a pass to the museum and the Doge's Palace, so we could see them on Monday and to avoid the lines (recommended by Rick Steve's Italy travel Book).

Our first stop of the day besides St. Mark's Basilica for mass was La Accademia.  There we saw a lot of Venetian art.

Mom, me, Kathleen in front of La Accademia

After the art exhibit we walked by the Guggenheim, and continued on to Santa Maria della Salute.  The church was absolutely beautiful, and it had an amazing view of St. Mark's Square from across the grand canal.

Charlie, Mom, Kathleen in front of Santa Maria della Salute

We continued walking along the water for awhile, and we continued to see a lot of churches.  We eventually stopped at a place for lunch.  We got sandwiches because we just wanted something simple.  The place we chose was not so great, so I won't even mention its name (also because I don't remember it).  After lunch our plan was to head to the Rialto Bridge, so we continued through the winding streets of Venice.

Charlie trying to push Kathleen in the water

The three siblings taking over Venice :)

We finally made it to the Rialto Bridge.  The bridge was massively crowded.  There were tons of shops everywhere, people everywhere, and barely any room to walk.  Even though it was crowded, there was a pretty view of the Grand Canal.

Rialto Bridge and its shops: Can you find Kathleen and Charlie?

View from Rialto Bridge

After seeing the Rialto Bridge, we headed back to the hotel room for a little R & R.  We headed back out into Venice for dinner after a nice little nap and cleaning up.  We went to a little restaurant called da Raffaele.  I had emailed my aunt about what restaurants we should go to and she mentioned Raffaele's.  We went there the last time I was in Venice.  It was a little restaurant about a 3 minute walk from the hotel, and it was outdoor seating along the canal.  We ordered some amazing pasta (Charlie-gnocchi, Kathleen-lasagna, Mom and Me-Spaghetti with mussels).  Everything for dinner was just delicious--the vino, the pasta, the dessert, the view, even the gondoliers occasional singing.  All in all, the first night full day in Venice equaled a success!

After a good night's sleep, we rose early again to start a new day in Venice.  We started by seeing the Doge's Palace.  The Doge's Palace was a great way to start the day.  At 8:30 in the morning we arrived, and there was only one tour group in front of us.  We walked in without a problem.  We got an audio guide, but I would recommend not getting one because in every room there was a description of what the audio guide was saying.

Doge's Palace Courtyard

Me, Charlie, Kathleen in front of the window looking over to San Giorgio Maggiore

After seeing the Doge's Palace, we just walked the city as we did the day before.  But this time, we walked in the opposite direction.  We walked beyond St. Mark's Square in the direction of the Museo Storico Navale.  It was a good direction to walk because there were hardly any people in the area.  We walked through the back streets away from the main water where we could see the side streets of Venice.  There you could see the homes, buildings, and many churches.  While we walked, we ran into a few markets.  Charlie is studying culinary arts, so he was snapping pictures left and right of the meat, seafood, and produce markets.

Charlie and his seafood finding

After walking a bit, we stopped along c. de la Rasse for lunch.  It was recommended by Rick Steve's, and boy was he right on!  The sandwich shop we stopped at was delicious.  I had a sandwich with proscuitto and brie.  The food was much better than the lunch the day before.  After lunch we continued walking in the direction of Murano, Burano, and Torcello, which is the opposite side of Venice.  We again walked through many side streets.  As you are probably noticing, we are doing a lot of walking through random streets to see random churches.  Once you see the main sites in Venice, all you can really do is explore the city of Venice on your own.  Almost every turn you take you will find a little square, church, fountain, or street full of shops.  Every corner you take, you never know what you are going to get (unless, of course, you are using a map).

We finished the afternoon at Museo Correr.  There were many sculptures, paintings, and maps.  It was a nice exhibit.  The museum overlooks St. Mark's Square, so it was really neat to see the art and see the square from above.  When we finished viewing the museum, we headed back to the hotel.  We had an afternoon drink and nap before heading to dinner.  After a full day of walking in the sun and being absolutely amazed at everything you are taking in, you kind of need a little break.  We rested and then headed back out into Venice for dinner.  We all had pizza, which was kind of fitting.  Our first main meal was pizza, and our last main meal was pizza.

Although it is time to leave Venice, we are heading onto other great places.

The 4 Bosse's in Venice