A Gondola Ride in Venice

We arrived in Venice by plane, and were met by Mom, Gary and Jessica who had come back to claim Jessica's lost luggage. We took the Alilaguna boat (15 Euros each) to the closest water stop to our apartment which was Sant Angelo. This is a pretty simple way to travel from the airport, and certainly less expensive than a private taxi which can cost around 180 Euros!!!!

Once we got off the boat it became a bit more confusing and we did wander lost for a bit before finding our apartment. No surprises there. I'm sure Venice is one of the most difficult cities to navigate in the world! There are so many little roads and bridges that wind around this city!

After arriving at the apartment, I settled in for a rest and Steve and Jessica went for a walk (and a little gelato)! St. Mark Square had water in it, so provided an excellent photography opportunity.

Steve said, Jessie readily walked right into the water to have her photo taken 😀

The next morning Steve and I woke up early (for Steve.... 8:00 ish) and he headed out to find us some breakfast. He returned with some delicious chocolate croissants and two large sandwiches (which he finished off promptly!)

Then we headed to the supermercato (grocery store) to pick up a few things. Steve got in trouble because you are apparently supposed to wear gloves when you handle the produce... and then bag it, weigh it and put the sticker on it. This of course was difficult to figure out if you don't speak Italian 😀

The weather was bright and sunny this morning. Since, the forecast looked a little more ominous for the next three days we decided to take the gondola ride right away. I did a bit of quick research to figure out what the price would be and then we headed out. "The Google" said 40 minutes would be 80 Euros, but in actuality, the official sign said it would be 30 minutes for 80 Euros. We did opt for the longer ride which was 40 minutes for 120 Euros. I know it is crazy expensive, but I think it is something you need to experience once in Venice. After we came last time, we said we wouldn't do it again... but  Mom, Gary and Jessie needed to, so we went one more time. I loved it just as much the second time, and Jessie seemed to be quite awe-struck 😍

Interestingly, we got to ride the boat that is my name-sake...

I'll just include a few shots to show you how beautiful it was!

You go under many bridges. Some little bridges like this one...

...and some big bridges, like the famous Rialto Bridge!

We loved looking at the beautiful buildings along the canals.

It was interesting to see how the water goes right into the main floor of many buildings.

Steve watched a video later that said, many Venetians have to totally renovate their ground floors every five years because of the water damage.

And finally, here are Mom and Gary!

After this we decided to take a walk to San Marco Piazza. On the way we saw this tower, which I am officially calling the "Leaning Tower of Venice"!

We passed through many squares and alleyways with shops on the way to San Marco. My favourite shops were the bakeries and the shoe and purse stores. I'm pretty sure I'm not leaving Italy without at least one new handbag!

This decision was so complicated I had to take my sunglasses off to take in all the pertinent information. 😎

When you arrive in San Marco Piazza you see the beautiful St. Mark's Basilica (and approximately 10 bajillion tourists!) Steve and Jessie were surprised to see that there was no water in the square during the day. We later determined that it must seep up through the ground tiles at night from the high tide.

Steve tried to take a group photo here, but Jessica was distracted because one of the many pigeons in the square actually brushed her arm as it flew by!

We walked past the Doges Palace and down to the water where I took these beautiful photos.

Hey! I just noticed that Steve and Gary had matching outfits on 😀

We continued walking along until we saw the Bridge of Sighs. We were told it was so named because it was the prisoners last view of the beautiful Venetian canals before being put to death... hence the sighing...

Then we accidentally got distracted by the scarves at this kiosk. 3 for 20 Euros! Yes please! You know how I love scarves!

Jessi and I got "almost matching" Venezia scarves and I got a beautiful black one which Steve thinks you need to wear like this!

After our expedition we headed back for some lunch at the apartment. This is where Jessica determined she did indeed love Italian olives and brie... but not whatever that yucky hard cheese was 😀

We finished off with a lovely dessert which can be described as two meringues held together with chocolate... a bit like the reverse of an Oreo cookie... but better!

After this Jessie thought she might try to feed the fish in the canal right outside our window with the leftover crackers and bread from lunch. Oddly, the fish were not interested in the least in these offerings. Instead they seemed to be more interested in swimming in the area where it appears the sewage was regularly flushed into the canal... I know... gross right???

Later, we just relaxed a bit. This included activities like shopping (Mom and Gary), napping (Lisa and Jessica), and general hanging around (Lisa, Jessica and Steve).

We had a lovely dinner in St. Stefano Square (Steve is VERY popular in Europe!) and then a walk through St. Mark's Square at night with a stop for some gelato! Leslie C. -- Steve is fulfilling your one gelato a day quest so far!