In planning this trip, Venice barely made the cut. I kept hearing the words "Venice is a giant sewer" go through my head. Ultimately I decided it was now or never and it became the first stop on our winter holiday. Good plan! This place is AMAZING! After settling into our apartment which was right on a canal just across from the Frari church, we started exploring the narrow winding walkways of Venice. We found a local market and stocked up on a few necessities and enjoyed all of the perfect canal views and bridges.
The Rialto bridge spanning the Grand Canal.
Window shopping.
St. Marks square is famous for the buildings that anchor it, and pigeons. Lots and lots of people friendly pigeons.
From the roof of the Basilica.
The "Bridge of Sighs" named by Lord Byron. The bridge connects the interrogation rooms of the Doge's Palace to the prison. This bridge provided the last view of Venice to the convicted as they crossed over. We walked it on our tour of the Palace and the very extensive tour of the accompanying prison.
While we didn't take a touristy gondola ride, we did need a trip along the Grand Canal. After a day at St. Marks we took a Vaporetto back up to our apartment. It was a fun way to see a lot of Venice.
One of the best things about our trip? My kids now get to say "I learned to ice skate in Venice". We found this square just around the corner from our apartment and spent an evening here. All was well until Robert started collecting discarded snow from the sidelines and started pegging the kids with snowballs. With much dignity, he crouched next to me when the kids retaliated.
Our apartment.
The Frari Church, directly across the canal from our apartment.
On our way to the train station. One of many gelato stops :)
Not willing to part with perfectly good sodas we'd had in the apartment, Tyler hauled these bottles from Venice to Florence. Dedication.
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