My Pimentos: Venice - March 2010

San Marco Square

Gondolas

From the Rialto Bridge

We had quite an adventure getting to and around Venice. First our train ride was really long because we got on a regional train that stopped EVERYWHERE. It was burning up, too:) But, hard to complain when the country side was so pretty as we went through. We got there later than expected so it was almost dark. Venice is so very easy to get lost in...we hit many dead ends, but finally made it to San Marco square, so we started looking for a hotel somewhere around the area. We looked for a couple of hours and had a few scares. Matt was certain I was almost a victim of being "Taken." I don't think so, but do admit we found a shady place where they were trying to make 'deals' but not knowing Italian kept us out of the know. I'm sure it was all legit, but we were happy to get out of the dimly lit red carpeted, dark walled place.

Needless to say, as soon as Matt recognized a Hampton Inn, I saw his face say, "AMERICA!!" and we went in....to find they were booked. By now, it was about 9pm. Luckily the people at the Hampton Inn recommended a place on the water, and it turned out this place that was orgininally $350/night, cost us $100/night which wasn't too bad for being desperate! We settled in to find on the wall a map of the hotel and "Camera Room" written at the top. Now, Matt's certain we're being taped (can we say paranoia had set in with us??). Well, long story short, when we got to Florence later the next day, we see another sign for "Camera Room" so we ask the hotel lady who says, "oh, yes, camera is 'room' in Italian. Ha on us.

Back to Venice, with all the fun memorable side stories the views, buildings, and food was amazing. We loved getting lost the next day during the daylight:) The Rialto Bridge was a fun experience, but I mostly loved the ride on the water taxi around the whole place. So neat, and just to think the whole thing is surrounded by water is awesome. We were only in Venice for about 7 hours of daylight, but made the most of it. We walked the city and grabbed a quick lunch. We had a less food focus knowing we had to catch the train to Florence that afternoon. Our favorite site was the favorite tourist spot St. Mark's square. The architecture was beautiful. Venice, was Matt's favorite after Innsbruck. Mine was 1) Innsbruck, 2) Florence, 3) Rome, but Venice wins for unique for sure.