A year after doing our first weekend trip, to Carcassonne, France, we did our first day trip to Europe, to Venice. John found Ryanair flights for 4 pence all in (about 10 cents), so how could we not go? We took the first flight out in the morning and the last flight home at night.
It was such a treat to suddenly find myself, in the middle of the week when we would have normally been working, in a vaporetta (transit boat) going down the Grand Canal. The sun was shining, the water was sparkling and the buildings were stunning! I was pleasantly surprised by the magical feel to the city. What they say about Venice is true.
We cruised down the Grand Canal taking in all the classic Venice sights. We ended up at Piazza San Marco, where we weaved our way through the crowds of people and pigeons, past the Doge’s palace and into the Basilica. The Basilica’s ceiling was covered in gold but what we found most fascinating was the floor. It was covered in intricate stone mosaics but due to subsidence it was extremely wavy. Next, we went up the bell tower which gave us a great view of the city and water.
To see as much of the city as possible we followed parts of three walking tours in our guide book. We walked along the big canals, through back streets and squares, past docks with gondolas departing full of passengers, into the shopping districts, and over big bridges and quaint bridges.
We sat at a café in a sunny square and enjoyed bicerin, a Venetian specialty
drink of coffee, chocolate and very rich thick cream. The bill was EUR 13, which is cheaper than if we had had them in Piazza San Marco. We went to the old Jewish ghetto which used to house 4,000 people on an island the space of two city blocks. The buildings were the same height as buildings in the rest of the city but they had extra stories crammed into them. About four hours after the bicerin, we finally had enough room in our bellies for some Italian gelato. We strolled to the end of a canal with our gelato and sat and watched the sun set (how romantic). After stopping for a glass of prosecco at a bar we headed back to the Grand Canal and saw Venice lit up at night.
We had a lovely day in the magical city of Venice and we got everything done that we wanted to do – pics are posted on the website. The one day timing was perfect and it prevented us from spending an crazy amount of money, ‘cause Venice ain’t cheap baby!
It was such a treat to suddenly find myself, in the middle of the week when we would have normally been working, in a vaporetta (transit boat) going down the Grand Canal. The sun was shining, the water was sparkling and the buildings were stunning! I was pleasantly surprised by the magical feel to the city. What they say about Venice is true.
We cruised down the Grand Canal taking in all the classic Venice sights. We ended up at Piazza San Marco, where we weaved our way through the crowds of people and pigeons, past the Doge’s palace and into the Basilica. The Basilica’s ceiling was covered in gold but what we found most fascinating was the floor. It was covered in intricate stone mosaics but due to subsidence it was extremely wavy. Next, we went up the bell tower which gave us a great view of the city and water.
To see as much of the city as possible we followed parts of three walking tours in our guide book. We walked along the big canals, through back streets and squares, past docks with gondolas departing full of passengers, into the shopping districts, and over big bridges and quaint bridges.
We sat at a café in a sunny square and enjoyed bicerin, a Venetian specialty
drink of coffee, chocolate and very rich thick cream. The bill was EUR 13, which is cheaper than if we had had them in Piazza San Marco. We went to the old Jewish ghetto which used to house 4,000 people on an island the space of two city blocks. The buildings were the same height as buildings in the rest of the city but they had extra stories crammed into them. About four hours after the bicerin, we finally had enough room in our bellies for some Italian gelato. We strolled to the end of a canal with our gelato and sat and watched the sun set (how romantic). After stopping for a glass of prosecco at a bar we headed back to the Grand Canal and saw Venice lit up at night.We had a lovely day in the magical city of Venice and we got everything done that we wanted to do – pics are posted on the website. The one day timing was perfect and it prevented us from spending an crazy amount of money, ‘cause Venice ain’t cheap baby!
