Our Day in Venice

Buona sera from Venice! Today was a very long but fun day! We woke up bright and early in Paris at 4:15am and got to the train around 5am in order to make our 7:20 flight. Ashley told me (as I was asleep from take-off to touch down) that the trip took about an hour and a half. In Venice things started to get a little hectic. We caught a bus from the airport to the edge of the city center. Though we managed to find seats it was terribly hot and crowded in the bus. Then we got on a water taxi to our hotel a few minutes walk from San Marco. The most difficult part of the day was navigating through the Disney Worldesque crowds to get to the Albergo Doni Hotel. Our hotel is perfectly located and comfortable enough…It also probably doesn’t look much different than it did a couple hundred years ago. After dropping our bags off, we started to make the most of our one day in Venice. We went to the Basilica di San Marco and then to the Palazzo Ducale. The Palazzo was definitely my favorite thing in Venice. Those Doges really knew how to live! Then we took an elevator up to the top of the Campanile for the most amazing view of Venice! It was definitely worth it to see the city from that height, especially on a day as beautiful as today! Afterwards, we took a water taxi down the length of the Grand Canal and got of at the Ca d’Oro and wondered around down there for a bit. Then we visited the Rialto bridge and that area of town before going to the Accademia, Ashley’s favorite part of Venice. We stayed there for a while as it was, by far, the least crowded museum we have visited yet. It included some really amazing works. Then we took the water taxi back to San Marco and washed up for dinner. We had what we can only assume is a pretty standard Venetian dinner of pasta, salad, and seafood. Of course we had to end our meal with some delicious Italian Gelato. We met a really nice older couple from Atlanta who had already gone to Rome and Florence. We got some great tips from them and can’t wait until tomorrow! Hopefully we have internet in Florence so we can once again blog away…!
Arrivederci,
J &A