Venezia!

This past week Andre and I went to Venice! We flew out from Charles de Gaulle and arrived early in the afternoon. We had an idea of where our hotel was, and headed towards the Rialto bridge; which Andre had picked out as a landmark before we left. Maps seem pretty much useless, a good thing to have for the occasional reference but to actually use it for navigation would require constant review, which would be far too distracting… The buildings pile up on top of one another, as if they were organically coming up from the lagoon itself. 

We wandered through the narrow alley streets crossing over little bridges and passing through small squares using the street signs to guide us to the Rialto Bridge. The Rialto Bridge bustles with market vendors and store fronts, it being the first dry bridge to cross the grand canal, and one of only four to do so.

After checking in we continued our wanderings to the San Marco Plaza, where we saw the Basilica di San Marco and the Palazzo Ducale. The sun was setting by this time and the view out over the water was spectacular. The Bridge of Sighs turned massive advertisement behind us though, is a subject of debate…

To see what I mean click here

The next day we returned to see the San Marco Plaza in daylight and watch as the tide bubbled up from the various spouts in the ground.  Platforms are set up, allowing people to still visit the Basilica and cross the plaza with out getting their feet wet. We walked all morning stopping to warm up for a café et cioccolata; a hot chocolate so thick you eat with a spoon!

San Marco Plaza by day

San Marco Plaza at night

We took a waterbus back to the Rialto Bridge; Gondolas prices are very high. Most of the Gondolas are immaculate with seating that looks like a small throne. Although the waterbus route doesn’t go through the small canals, it was still nice to see the city from the water.

We ended our afternoon on the rooftop terrace of our hotel with a beautiful sunset

The next day we flew home; it was a short visit, but we still had the morning to wander and grab one more cioccolata….