O Sole Mia!!

Last weekend Tom and I left the boys at home to be spoiled by my parents, while we went for a weekend away to be spoiled in Venice. The treats started early - a 2 hour flight spent reading without being interrupted by a child wanting something; not having to wait for checked bags since we both took only a backpack; and finally stepping foot onto the streets of Venice relaxed!

First things first, finding our hotel in the midst of the winding streets and canals. We stood on a small bridge for five minutes trying to get our bearings, only to walk the other way while our hotel was on the other side of the bridge. That is how easy it is to get lost in Venice and that is probably the best part of Venice - getting lost and finding a small pizza joint where they make the pizza three feet away. Yum. Or getting lost only to find a some great shops or one of many amazing views. Yep, that is the best part of Venice. But, there is more...

San Marco Square. We visited here on Sunday. The sun was out and it was beautiful. We climbed up Campanile to see the city from above and see just how crowded this place is! Then on to Doge Palace with so much extravagance. We walked through with our mouths wide open - gold, gold and more gold. So Venice. Then we walked through the Bridge of Sighs, which leads to the prison - the exact opposite of the palace that it is attached to. Barren and dark, I wouldn't want to spend an hour in those cells! The final 'major' sight was St. Marc's Basilica. Since it was Sunday, church was on, so we sat and listened to the choir in this mammoth church. Amazing.

A stop for lunch at a local sandwich spot and then we wandered to the local side of the island. You must remember that we are severely sun deprived living in rainy England, so with the sun beating down we sat on a bench in a square and just soaked it up! We only moved to get a cappuccino at a nearby cafe. Ahh, the sun. How we have missed you!

We needed to do one last thing before we left. A gondola ride. We got on close to our hotel and were whisked around for the next half hour. We even lucked out to have our gondolier sing to us!
We left the next morning after walking through the local side of Venice. We watched the town come alive with shop keepers sweeping off the sidewalks and the locals heading to the cafe for a quick espresso. Tom and I decided that while the sights were amazing, it was more about experiencing the culture. There are a lot of places that we have visited to 'see', but Italy is definitely one to 'feel.'

View over Venice

Bridge of Sighs

Entry to the Palace

Over the Grand Canal

Our Gondolier by the Rialto Bridge

View from our hotel