Italy Adventure - Part 1 - Venice
One of the best perks of living in Europe is how easy it is to travel. Everything is a lot closer and also a lot cheaper to get to! For the first part of our Italian adventure we went to Venice. We got there by train. We sat next to a couple from England and the views from the train were beautiful. The train ride was about 6 hours with about 6 stops between Munich and Venice.
The first night we got there and checked into our hotel. The hotel only had 6 rooms (this is a very common thing in Europe). After checking in, we walked around our hotel and found the Ponte dell'Accademia (Accademia Bridge) just as the sun was setting. This was one of our favorite spots in Venice!
We had dinner in a square close to our hotel and I had Quattro Formaggi and Drew had Carbonara. We had tiramisu for dessert and it was SO good!!
On our first full day in Venice we woke up early and went to see the sights before they got too crowded. So many people recommended this to us and it really is the best thing to do! Here are some pictures of St. Mark's Square, Bridge of Sighs, and the Rialto Bridge all while the rest of Venice was still snoozing.
Then, we headed to our meeting point for our first tour of the trip. I highly recommend doing tours when possible. If you don't then you miss out on so much history and insight into the city. Our tour guide took us around the city to see the Rialto Bridge, where Marco Polo's family lived, St. Mark's square, inside the basilica, and to the top of the terrace of the basilica. We then went to Doge's palace. A doge is basically the leader of Venice. The palace was HUGE and so beautiful. It was filled with gold and incredible paintings from hundreds of years ago. It always amazes me how they built and did all of these things without modern day technology. We got to go inside the Bridge of Sighs and see the prisons. It is called the Bridge of Sighs because it is said that after the criminal was sentenced, they would cross the bridge and look out the window for the last time and sigh. That would be the last time to look at the world.
After the tour we were starving so we went to a "to go" pasta place. And OH.MY.GOODNES. It was so good! I had the pesto and Drew had an Alfredo pasta. After we ate, we went to the top of the St. Mark's bell tower. The views were stunning!
We then freshened up and went to find our gondola ride! This was something we were very excited about doing because it is quintessential Venice. We decided to go to the area by our hotel because there were far less tourists and people around. Our gondolier was so nice and took us through a beautiful, quiet neighborhood. He told us that there are only about 400 licensed gondolier's in Venice and even showed us a great spot where we could have a snack (which we did after our ride!). Gondolas have been around since the 11th century and today they are pretty much just used by tourists. To become a gondolier you go through intense 6 month training and you have to take an exam about the history and landmarks of Venice. Surprisingly enough, gondoliers earn up to $150,000 a year. Wow!
We loved learning about all of the history of Venice and seeing this incredibly unique city. Where we really loved Venice was when we were away from the crowds and in the neighborhoods. This is where we could really appreciate Venice!
Is Venice on your bucket list? Do you have any questions about this post or what we saw or did? Can't wait to hear from you!
xoxo
Liz
P.S. Did you know that Venice is made up of 118 islands?
The first night we got there and checked into our hotel. The hotel only had 6 rooms (this is a very common thing in Europe). After checking in, we walked around our hotel and found the Ponte dell'Accademia (Accademia Bridge) just as the sun was setting. This was one of our favorite spots in Venice!
 |
| Can this be more stunning? View from the bridge! |
We had dinner in a square close to our hotel and I had Quattro Formaggi and Drew had Carbonara. We had tiramisu for dessert and it was SO good!!
On our first full day in Venice we woke up early and went to see the sights before they got too crowded. So many people recommended this to us and it really is the best thing to do! Here are some pictures of St. Mark's Square, Bridge of Sighs, and the Rialto Bridge all while the rest of Venice was still snoozing.
 |
| St. Mark's Square |
 |
| Bridge of Sighs |
 |
| Rialto Bridge |
Then, we headed to our meeting point for our first tour of the trip. I highly recommend doing tours when possible. If you don't then you miss out on so much history and insight into the city. Our tour guide took us around the city to see the Rialto Bridge, where Marco Polo's family lived, St. Mark's square, inside the basilica, and to the top of the terrace of the basilica. We then went to Doge's palace. A doge is basically the leader of Venice. The palace was HUGE and so beautiful. It was filled with gold and incredible paintings from hundreds of years ago. It always amazes me how they built and did all of these things without modern day technology. We got to go inside the Bridge of Sighs and see the prisons. It is called the Bridge of Sighs because it is said that after the criminal was sentenced, they would cross the bridge and look out the window for the last time and sigh. That would be the last time to look at the world.
 |
| Doge's Palace to the left! |
After the tour we were starving so we went to a "to go" pasta place. And OH.MY.GOODNES. It was so good! I had the pesto and Drew had an Alfredo pasta. After we ate, we went to the top of the St. Mark's bell tower. The views were stunning!
We then freshened up and went to find our gondola ride! This was something we were very excited about doing because it is quintessential Venice. We decided to go to the area by our hotel because there were far less tourists and people around. Our gondolier was so nice and took us through a beautiful, quiet neighborhood. He told us that there are only about 400 licensed gondolier's in Venice and even showed us a great spot where we could have a snack (which we did after our ride!). Gondolas have been around since the 11th century and today they are pretty much just used by tourists. To become a gondolier you go through intense 6 month training and you have to take an exam about the history and landmarks of Venice. Surprisingly enough, gondoliers earn up to $150,000 a year. Wow!
We loved learning about all of the history of Venice and seeing this incredibly unique city. Where we really loved Venice was when we were away from the crowds and in the neighborhoods. This is where we could really appreciate Venice!
Is Venice on your bucket list? Do you have any questions about this post or what we saw or did? Can't wait to hear from you!
xoxo
Liz
P.S. Did you know that Venice is made up of 118 islands?
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