Gondola Rides through Venezia

We arrived in Venice in the late afternoon, and to arrive to our apartment, we had to take a water taxi across the city!! It doesn’t run in the small canals, but mostly around the periphery of the city in the major waterways.  It was really nice out, so it was a pleasant boat ride.  There were lots of people, and I was squished against the railing.  Since space was limited, I had my suitcase next to me, and my backpack on my back.  The boat hit a wave, my backpack hit the side railing, and my favorite Nalgene bottle flew out of the mesh pocket and straight into the water.  I cried.  I could see if floating away, but there was no chance of getting it back.  I had had this water bottle for about two years, and had collected stickers from all over.  I had some from California, a few from Idaho, a once in a lifetime sticker from Chicago, and then stickers from European cities I had just visited, like Hamburg.  On the train to Venice, not even an hour before, I finished putting on my italy sitcker. I was super super bummed. Guess it means I need to start a new sticker collection.  If anyone had any good ideas, or sees any stickers, let me know.  I’m keeping my eyes peeled here.  I wish I had a picture of my lost friend, but I don’t.  RIP Nalgene.

We eventually arrived at our apartment, unpacked, cranked up the AC, and headed out for some dinner.  We walked along the water, and alfterwards got gelato.  Kristin and I shared the shop’s signature flavor, which was white chocolate with caramel and Nutella or something like that.  It was really delicious. 

The next day we found our way across the bridges and through the canals.  We headed towards San Marco square.  We passed some really beautiful tall ships, cruise liners, and sailboats.  Being near the water almost felt like being home again.  In San Marco square there are many historic buildings to visit, including the church, the bell tower, and see the astrological clock.  We took an elevator up to the top of the bell tower where we had a beautiful view of the city and the water.  It was made even more enjoyable by the breeze that we had, being so high up.

 We made it to the top!!

Back on the ground in the square we watched the clock strike 11, and saw the little sculpted men ring the bells.  There’s even a portion of the clock with roman numerals (separate from the actual clock itself) that reads out the time, every five minutes.  We wandered the streets, checking out the canals, shops, bridges, and gondolas as we went.  The streets are tiny, since there aren’t any cars in the city centers, and are therefore extremely crowded and packed with people.  We stopped for lunch and grabbed a slice of yummy looking pizza.  The veggies sounded wonderful, and they were!

 After lunch we found a gondola and took a ride around the city.  It was a weird combination of nerve-wracking and relaxing.  The boat kept wobbling if we moved around (which is normal), but it still made me feel like we were going to tip (which probably doesn’t happen that often).  The other scary part was how close we got to walls, other boats, and bridges.  The gondola men are incredibly talented, and know what they are doing.  We could get within half an inch of hitting another boat, but manage to maneuver around it without even touching it!! But the ride was also incredibly relaxing.  At times I found myself zoning out as I sat on the little couch, enjoying the views of the super colorful buildings around us.  The four of us really enjoyed our gondola ride.  We tried to keep an eye out for my lost water bottle but, sadly, with no luck.

Not our gondoleer, but that's what he looked like!

We continued wandering, enjoying the shops and tiny roads.  We made our way back to San Marco square, this time hoping to enter the Church.  We are all glad we waited in line to enter, because this church was absolutely stunning.  The entire ceiling if covered in tiles the size of dimes.  Many of them were golden, and shimmered! The floor was also covered in tiles, and they used of 60 different types of stone to create the patterns on the floor.  It was actually kind of funny because since Venice is built on a marsh, the city is partially sinking, which makes the floor of the church very uneven and bumpy.  So one minute the floor is fine, and the next there is a huge hole!

 We walked out to a bridge where we observed the main canal.  Plenty of cool boats and funny tourists. Since we were tourists too, we took a few pictures... I was somehow able to smile even after losing my water bottle :)

The houses all around the city were very interesting too. They actually reminded me a lot of SF houses because they were all very colorful and unique.  Come places we've been, all the buildings look the same... but not here.

 That evening we ate along the waterfront, enjoying the cool sea breeze.  Some of us had seafood, others tried some pasta. We gain got gelato, and no surprise, it was delicious :)  The next morning we hopped back on the water ferry to catch our train to Firenze!

 View from our gondola