Venice Recap

I am waaaay behind in this recap, but better late than never, I guess. Amanda and I spent a week in Italy last month. Here’s a quick recap of the trip:




Day 1 (&2):
We leave Richmond and embark on our trip that involved us being awake for roughly 24 hours over the course of the flights to Italy. Our first layover was in Michigan, then Amsterdam, then finally we got to Italy. I’m sure we were a sight to behold.


We head to our room after stumbling out of the vaporetto that brought us to Venice. After wandering around Venice for a while (how hard could it be to find the room?), we miraculously find our room and pile in for a nap. Several hours later we awake reenergized and ready to join a bustling nightlife. We had a very romantic dinner outdoors, then wandered leisurely around the city.





Day 3:
Once we’re up and fed, we make our way to the famous St. Mark’s Square. We find solace from the crowds in the Correr Museum at the square. After a quick lunch, it’s back to the room for another nap to recharge. The afternoon included a tour of the Doge’s Palace. That place was ridiculous. The size of the place was simply unreal. And it was covered in amazing art. As night fell, our courage grew and we decided to just wander around Venice at night and get lost. It was really fun to have nowhere to be and simply submit to the city’s unique landscape and layout.





Day 4:
The weather wasn’t quite as cooperative today as we woke up to rain. But we still got out and ascended the Campanile (the bell tower in San Marco’s square). We also toured Saint Mark’s Basilica, which houses relics believed to be the body of Saint Mark. After our usual afternoon rest it was off to Ca' Rezzonico in the rain.





Day 5:
We decided to take a day trip and get out of Venice for the day. After making our way to the train station, it was just a short ride to Verona. We did a Rick Steve’s tour of Verona and saw everything from the supposed balcony of Juliet to castles and unfinished churches.






Day 6:
Today we took trips out to the islands of Burano and Murano that are right off of Venice. Burano is famous for its lacework while Murano has world-famous glasswork. The islands were very interesting because we got to experience all the best things of Venice (architecture, food, art) without some of the not so great stuff, like the tourists and crazy complicated streets and alleys.

Once we got back to Venice, we took a 40 minute vaporetto tour that was guided by iPod commentary by Rick Steves. It was pretty educational and really interesting.





Day 7:
Our last full day in Venice consisted of a trip through a museum of 18th Century costumes, a stroll through the main market area, shopping in the shops at the Rialto bridge, a visit to the original Jewish Ghetto, and a long walk toward Frari Church (we never actually made it). Later in the evening we went to eat at place called 9 (we think) that had the coolest little flyer as a business card. I also almost fell in the canal before supper too, but that’s a long story for another day.



Day 8:
We headed to the airport only to find out that some European airline workers were STRIKING! Only for that one day though! So all the flights that day were cancelled. This led us to hop on a bus and head to Maestra for the night. We were worried that Maestra was going to be the bunghole of Italy, but it was super charming. We strolled around the downtown area then through a park where we saw old guys playing bocce ball, folks with remote control sailboats on a little pond, kids riding bikes and practicing soccer. It was really charming.



Day 9:
We wake up extraordinarily early to hop on our flight home. And we finally did. We finally got back home and we were so happy to be there. But it was a great trip. Check out the Flickr collection for more photos.