Venezia!

Our flight to Italy was nothing too exciting. The plane was so small we just climbed an attachable stair case onto the plane instead of the normal hallway type attachment. The flight was short. We did fly over the Alps which was beautiful! I took several pictures from the plane of the snow covered mountains. When we arrived in Italy we caught a bus to Venice, or Venecia as the Italians call it. Once we arrived in Venice we caught a water taxi to our hotel. We are staying at the Hotel Galleria which is right on the Grand Canal. The views are amazing! On the boat ride over we could not believe how beautiful and interesting the buildings were. I could not stop taking pictures because every turn was a photographic view. It was truly surreal! Once we arrived at our hotel we dropped our bags off and headed out for a true Italian meal on the water front. We ordered pizza, wine, and bread! After our meal we went to a square where most of the college students hang out to enjoy a few drinks before we called it a night.

The next morning we were awoken by the hotel staff bringing us breakfast in our room. We ate sitting next to the window so we could enjoy the view of the canal. Our hotel room is very quaint to say the least. It is beautiful and cozy but we have no air conditioning or bathroom. We have to walk down the hall to the small one stall/one shower bathroom if we need to shower or use the restroom. We do have a sink in our room which is nice. The hotel staff couldn't be any nicer. They all are extremely fluent in English, even though John keeps trying to speak to them in Italian anyway haha. After breakfast we walked down to St. Mark (San Marco) square where we went on a walking tour of the city. We went into the basicalla which was breathtaking! I was not allowed to take photos inside but just imagine all the dome shaped ceilings with religious paintings painted in gold! The floors and walls were made of at least 7 different types of marble and there were archways along every hallway. To go into any church in Italy you must be covered from your knees up and your shoulders must also be covered. I didn’t realize the tour took us into the Basicalla so I was wearing a sleeveless dress. I had to pay one Euro for a paper scarf to wear around my shoulders. Our tour guide, who spoke very fast and about really complicated historical events, took us all over the city teaching us about each part.

After the tour we ate pizza for lunch, walked around several of the shops, ate some gellato, and then came back to the hotel for a short nap. The weather here is much like the weather in Georgia...hot and humid! I had to buy a hat today to keep cool. After our nap we freshened up and went out for a light dinner. We found this nice little restaurant where we had some brushetta, wine, and hams and cheeses. Then we decided to go on a gondola ride since we are in Venice and it is the tourist thing to do. Next in line for the night was a walking ghost tour. Once the tour was over John and I were so thirsty and tired we stopped back at the place we had dinner for drinks and dessert. To end the night we came back to our hotel room to try to get an early night sleep. We will be getting up early tomorrow to drive to Senia to watch the palio! Until next time...