Venezia

Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Venice, Veneto, Italy
Maybe I'm simple. (NO COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY!) I don’t go into things with a lot of preconceptions or prejudice. At least, I try not to. I don’t know what I expected from Venice but it was awesome. To start, after a relaxing 20 minute ride, the water taxi ride dropped us right in front of the hotel. The hotel we stayed at was easy walking distance to everything but removed enough to not be crowded. St Mark’s was three water blocks away and is as incredible as the pictures. To stroll through there, noshing on gelato, listening to musicians, watching the pigeons; it was almost too surreal to put on a postcard. We did a short walking tour of the city, followed by a gondola ride ( Corny, but how do you go all that way and not do one?) We walked through Saint Mark's Basilica and it was completely breath taking. I’m mean, I really felt like a country bumpkin from the back woods of RI with my mouth open taking in the gold mosaic insides. Yes, there is a line to get in, but that’s just because people don’t take the time to read the signs posted all over that ask visitors to respect the church and obey the dress code. And they’re in pictures, Italian, French and English; no excuse, stupid people come in all cultures. We took a trip to a glass blowing factory on Murano, a stop at Buranoto see the colorful boats and lace making and a short hike on the nature preserve of Torcello, to see the oldest church in Venice, Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta . The best part was just wandering through the alleys ways to window shop or to find tiny restaurants tucked into nooks that had food to die for. The night before we left we went to a small concert featuring a string quartet playing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. How cool to listen to Vivaldi in his city! Considering we had to deal with jet lag and only spent three nights there, I think we covered Venice pretty well. I would definitely go back and spend a few more non-jet lagged days there to discover more of the hidden spots. All too soon, another water taxi would come to take us to the airport and off to Bari we would go.
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