Buon Giorno from Venice

We left Nice yesterday (Wednesday) morning before the sun was up and while it was POURING rain. We took 2 trains (Villemiglia and Milan) over 8 hours and arrived to a rainy wet Venice about dusk. The travel through the Alps was amazing and there was more snow than I’ve seen since Ukraine. But once we were closer to Venice it became rain (are you sensing a trend?). I will admit that we got lost getting to our hotel. Their directions leave a lot to be desired. But we finally found it thanks to the pity and help from some nice Italian lady.

Shortly after arriving and being pleasantly surprised at the size of our room overlooking the Grand Canal, Max and I heard an alarm. A LOUD alarm. Nicholaus was napping and never heard it and Byron was downstairs checking email and didn’t hear it. We weren’t sure what it was for, but once we ventured out for dinner we knew what it was. It was a high water alarm. The tide was coming in and the water was rising. The pier of our hotel was soon underwater and the water was coming in to the lobby of our hotel. Fortunately I had done my homework and knew that this was normal during the winter months. Otherwise it would have been a little disconcerting. The staff of our hotel didn’t even blink and began rolling up the rugs and getting out the rubber boots.

Because it was dark and we had gotten lost earlier, we weren’t comfortable going too far. So we ended up eating in a Chinese restaurant. And although they served pasta, we are pretty sure it was microwaved. It was a little too convenient that we would hear a microwave beep and then viola, there was our entre! Oh well, live and learn!

After a rousing game of Uno we all hit the sack early. After a wonderful breakfast here in the hotel we set out this morning. One look out the window and I was a little disheartened. Rain. Lots of rain. But we would not be deterred. We first took a waterbus up the Grand Canal to give the boys a good view of Venice. We then stopped at the Rialto Bridge, which is the most famous bridge over the Grand Canal. We then took the water bus to St Marks and Doges Palace. We did the tour of the Palace which was interesting. To see where the seat of the Ventian government ruled from for nearly a thousand years was so interesting! Byron loved the rooms full of armor and swords. We crossed the Bridge of Sighs which is called that because it gave a prisoner a last glimpse of Venice before he entered the prison. It is also the bridge where Casanova allegedly escaped from.

After Doges Palace, we toured through St. Marks. The mosaics are beyond description, both on the ceilings and floors. I have no photos from St. Marks because I obeyed the request to not take photos in the church. The walking platforms were in place, but weren’t needed because the water had receded—for now. We paid the extra 2 euros to see the actual burial spot of St. Mark.

From there, we took the boat ride out to the little island of Murano, which is famous for its glasswork. We were FREEZING by this point so didn’t spend too much time here. But we were there long enough to see some amazing glass work. Most of the actual demonstrations were closed, but we were able to wander through the shops and boutiques of the artists.

Because we were so cold and were in the rain most of the day, there are very few photos. Hopefully before we leave tomorrow, we can get a few. But for now, I’ll leave you with a few that I was able to snap. We leave tomorrow for Rome and will be there until Monday. It’s hard to believe we’ve already been traveling for a week! It’s been great and there is still so much more to see!