Ciao Venezia!

We'd been to France, England, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, and the Czech Republic...but we realized we had missed Italy!  Jake was headed to Rome to visit a friend, but us girls decided to head off to Venice!  Our professor had cancelled class in honor of the 4th of July (our American professor rocks) and we caught a cheap flight to Venice on Friday. 

We flew into Treviso airport, well outside of Venice. Our flight was really bumpy and turbulent! Luckily, we arrived in one piece!  After landing, we had to catch a bus to take us to our hostel.  We were staying in Mestre, a town on the "mainland" just a short bus ride away from Venice.

Outside the airport!

Rachel on the bus - sharing is caring, you know.

We arrived in Mestre and consulted a map several times before finding our hostel.  We were walking down an empty street, looking ahead at this yellow house that had all its shutters tightly closed.  "Well this looks sketch," I told Rachel and Emily.

Yep, it was our hostel.  But it was no horror story - we rang the bell and we were buzzed into an adorable and comfy looking hotel foyer, where we were greeted by a cute Italian woman who checked us into our room.  Compared to the vast range of hostels I've stayed in, ranging from holes-in-wall to party-centrals, this hostel was actually like a hotel!

We moved into our air conditioned room (YAY!) and then made the big decision:  Who was going to sleep on the pull-out bed?

Yep. I slept on the closet bed.

We even had a nice TV!

Our bathroom, complete with bidet (ew) and towel
warmer - how fancy.

We took the 5 minute walk to the train station, where we caught the nearest train into Venice.  After 15 minutes we stepped out to see this:

We spent the day strolling along the main road by the train station, taking in the sights of the Grand Canal and the other little canals.  It was surreal - how could a place like Venice actually exist?!  It looked fake, almost as if we were back in Disneyland.  Small powerboats, beautifully paneled with wood, shared the canals with gondoliers, who actually do wear striped shirts and the little boater hats!

Venice is sweepingly romantic and at the same time terribly tacky and touristy.  We actually felt like we were on vacation! 

We ate dinner at "Vesuvius Pizzeria" (although we were a long way from Pompeii...) where Rachel got pasta with seafood (she's the brave eater of us) and Emily got a wonderful homemade pizza.  I got the gnocchi (potato dumping/noodles) ala Venezia, which meant it came in a seafood pesto sauce.  It was delicious.  I don't know if I can ever eat noodles again - I've been spoiled for life! 

We walked a bit more - after getting our dessert, which was gelato!  It was getting dark, so we wrapped up our walk.  But not before some mosquitoes found us! I was enjoying not having them around. 

Many of the shops were still open along the Grand Canal.

We got up early that next morning, ready to explore the city.  We bought a 12 hour transportation pass, which allowed us to take both the buses and the water taxis.  But first, we decided to wander our way from the bus depot to Piazza San Marco, the main square in Venice.

If you go to Venice, you can directly go to most locations with the water taxis, but it's way more fun and interesting to wander your way through the city!  You can follow big yellow signs that point you in the direction of famous landmarks.  We ate breakfast at a cafe along the way and watched the other tourists go by.

Here are some of the sights:

One of the over 25 Catholic churches in Venice

A view from Rialto Bridge, one of the most famous and
oldest bridges in Venice.

View of the Rialto Bridge - look at all the tourists!

Emily ruins another shot.

We eventually made to San Marco after meandering (and some shopping)!  San Marco was swarming with tourists!

You can see the Piazza on the right.

The famous Bridge of Sighs

According to local legend, if lovers kiss under the bridge
 (on a gondola) at sunset, they will be granted eternal
love and bliss.

They will also be given the gift of a lighter wallet.

Tourists.
Tourist everywhere.

Say "hi" Emily and Rachel!

St. Mark's winged lion looks over the piazza
from his perch.

The clock tower of St. Mark's Basilica:
   St. Mark's Campanile

The Pizzetta di Marco

Don't feed the pigeons.
They are the rats of the air.
If you feed them, they will come.

A huge astrological clock

More of the  Piazzetta di San Marco...and the waiting line
to get into the Basilica.

The Basilica

St. Mark's winged lion adorns most things in the piazza.

We decided to avoid the long lines and instead looked
around the shops on the other side of the piazza.

After wandering around the piazza, we decided to head to Murano, home to Venice's famed glass makers.  But first we had to take a water taxi to Murano island, which took about 45 minutes.  Luckily, we got to see some lovely sights along the way.

One of the massive cruise ships docked in Venice.

Murano is an adorable little island, littered with tiny shops selling just about everything you can imagine in glass.  Need a glass chandelier? How about a bowl?  Necklace? Wine stopper? Key chain fob?  I'm no glass expert, but the Murano glass is lovely.  The stores on Murano island sell only authentic Murano glass, but be careful buying in  Venice - cheap Chinese imports have made their way to Venice.  If the colors are painted on, don't buy it.  The colors should be inside the glass.

Murano is a touristy town, but way less crowed!

A popular Murano glass theme - glass "fish tanks"
Super cute!

Another shot of Murano island.

We returned to Venice for the afternoon.  Here were some of the sights:

An elaborate mask and costume shop.

Quality masks are made from paper mache. 

We spent the rest of the day just wandering around Venice, eating gelato and getting some pasta for dinner.

Our next day was much of the same - Venice almost has too many tourists to wait in line for the Basilica or the museums.  So we wandered again through the city, but this time, we got lost!  It was unbearably hot and we were cranky.  Add that to being lost, Venice felt like a maze.

Anyway, have some pretty photos:

We flew out that evening...The airport looked like it was a little strapped for cash.  We had no benches or places to sit. I guess that's what you get for flying with budget airlines.

I loved Venice and I definitely want to return some time soon.  I wish I could have seen more of Italy! I guess this means I have to plan another trip to Europe!