The complimentary assortment of breads and jellies on the table, along with some croissant sandwiches and orange juice. The sandwiches were either stuffed with ham and cheese, chocolate or apple jelly. It was awesome! We also ordered espresso, a cheese omelette and an apple (we thought it was going to be cut up with oranges and pears, but it was a whole apple. I still ate it :o)) While we ate, we noticed a gang of pigeons staring at us while we ate. They bothered the other 4 tables that were there as well, waiting to get the chance to swoop in and eat the delicious bread and such. After being very satisfied and anxious to start the day, we left and watched the pigeons go crazy over at our table as we walked away.
In the room, we got ready to walk around and explore the awesomeness that is Venice. There were a few tours that sounded interesting, but most of them expected you to have your shoulders and knees covered for the church entries. It was waaaay too hot for me not to wear shorts. We decided to not get wrapped up in where we were going and to just walk around.
I knew that I definitely wanted to ride on a gondola, so we looked around for a place to let us reserve a spot for later. I had my heart on going around dusk, as the sun sets on the water and the street lights start to turn on. It was going to be super late, but I really didn't care, obviously. The first gondola place was saying 7:00pm was the perfect time, but I knew better. We reserved with them anyway. As we walked around some more, going through more narrow streets for shade, a park and more mini bridges connecting street to street, we come across another gondola place. They say 8:00pm is no problem and leave 20 euro to reserve your spot. The other place didn't do that, which was odd, but at least we didn't have a loyalty to them.
After making this reservation, we noticed that all over, there are directional signs for the Piazza San Marco. Tim and I decide to follow the signs to see what the hype was all about. On the way there, there are many hidden shops and eateries with A LOT of people everywhere. I've never heard more English spoken anywhere else in Italy. Not even Rome. We find another great bridge and a sign for a water taxi. Not knowing how far away we were from San Marco, we decide to take the water taxi. It costs 6.50 euro each and we make it on a boat. This was a good idea in order to see some of the buildings that you can only see by taking a water taxi. This place is still taking my breath away. We also met a couple on the taxi ride, where the guy was from New Jersey (with typical Hawaiian shirt intact). Very fun.
We get to San Marco and really didn't know what to expect. Another WOW factor, though, indeed. The Piazza was huge and the churches were big as well. The detail on the outside was unbelievable. We also see that there is apparently a concert that will be going on later that evening, starring Norah Jones. After taking in the sights of the piazza, we opt to start walking back to the hotel. The heat had us exhausted and a nice nap was almost necessary.
Instead of taking the taxi, we decide to walk and realized that we definitely could have walked and not taken a taxi ride. Oh well, but I don't regret it.
After achieving a great nap, we get ready for the gondola ride and for dinner afterwards. I had brought my heels on this trip thinking that this would be the perfect time to wear them, but ehh, whatever. Flip flops are fine.
We make it to the gondola ride and the sun is still up. Jeez, Sun, can't you make an exception this once and start to set right now?! Of course not. We get in the gondola and our "driver" is Stefano. As we introduce ourselves, he quickly catches the name similarity. Tim and I thought we were getting a ride on the Grand Canal, which would have been spectacular. And even though Stefano doesn't speak great English, it sounded like we were given a choice. Nope, sadly mistaken. Instead of the Grand Canal, we go through the "slums" of Venice. How romantic...
The tour included nice facts about the area and even some Stefano history, a born and raised Venician. Although, there was graffiti on a lot of the buildings and we almost crashed a couple of times, it was still extremely romantic and fun.
At the end of our ride, we take pictures and go on our merry way to dinner. We decide that since we didn't get the Grand Canal tour that we should at least eat by it. We get to a restaurant, whose name escapes me at the moment, and the waiter comes over asks us what we would like to drink and would we like to order and this and that and omg, slow down, we just got here! He leaves for us to decide and starts to sing a little tune as he walks away. Tim and I look at each other and are like, uhh, what jut happened? I ordered a Salmon Pasta dish and Tim ordered a Seafood Pasta dish. With that, we got a bottle of Chianti (obviously, not the right wine for fish, whooopsie!) and just enjoyed the view. We could see our hotel garden from where we were sitting.
After a wonderful dinner and bottle of wine, we go to a mini vendor to pick up some gelato. I automatically go for the one they called "Cookies" with a dancing cookie cartoon. Tim opts for mint and regular chocolate chip. Sooooo good!! We walked around the city some more hoping that this entire day would never end. Alas, we ventured back to our room to get some rest. We had another travel day ahead of us in the morning--onward to Milan!
*Birthday Shout Out: ROCHBEE! I hope you had a fabulous birthday!! <3
*Birthday Shout Out: ROCHBEE! I hope you had a fabulous birthday!! <3
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