venice: day three

our last day in venice began with a walk down the main pedestrian road back to st. mark’s square to get in an early visit at st. mark’s basilica since we weren’t able to make it the previous day. the basilica is one of the most beautiful churches we saw, and anne and corinne were glad they dressed appropriately (“modestly” with covered knees & shoulders) so they didn’t have to wear the ponchos being handed out which were basically just paper hospital gowns.

afterwards, we walked across the grand canal to the dorsoduro district where peggy guggenheim lived and where her personal art collection is now housed. peggy was an heiress of the guggenheim fortune who built an impressive collection from her network of friends in the modern art community including pablo picasso, jackson pollack, max ernst and other famous surrealists, cubists, abstractionists, and futurists that were painting and sculpting in the early 20th century. we also learned that after france became too dangerous for peggy to live during world war II (because she was jewish), she asked the louvre to hold her collection but the museum refused, dismissing them as “household objects.” so she was forced to hide her collection in a barn while she left for america. this was definitely an interesting stop on our tour.

after learning about peggy’s life, we ate lunch at a local café. at this point we were all tired of the 100 mph pace, but we decided to make one last stop at the customs house at the entrance to the grand canal. during venice’s trading days, venice was a major shipping port and the customs house was where incoming vessels paid their taxes. we then headed back to the hotel for a nap before dinner.

our final mission was to find a gondolier who could help make our experience in venice complete. We couldn’t have found a better guy for the job: he was a fifth-generation gondolier who loved singing and dancing while he maneuvered through the narrow back canals with ease. not only did he give us great tidbits of venetian history and point out historical buildings, but he also sang michael jackson songs, showed us where madonna shot a music video, and told us about his time meeting sting in the venice train station. this continued the “celebrity” theme of our travels, and was a great end to our time in venice.

~anne, chip, corinne & nick

venice: day two

We began our second day in Venice with a yummy breakfast at the hotel including the best coffee yet. We hopped back on the vaporetti (still as crowded as ever) to St. Mark’s Square. This time we started in the Correr Museum which was filled with Venetian art and history including coins, armor, and weaponry. After the Museum we went to Doge’s Palace and got to walk up the Golden Staircase and across the Bridge of Sighs. The tour of the prisons was especially interesting. After a quick lunch on “Sandwich Row”, we realized St. Mark’s Basilica was closing soon. Rather than cut that tour short, we decided to save it for the next day and head over to a different site on our list, Frari Church. This began our adventures in the back streets and alleys of Venice, which we all agreed was one of our favorite times in Venice. These back alleys give you a glimpse into the real life of Venice away from all the tourist traps. You see flowers in the windows, laundry hanging outside, smell dinner cooking, and hear music playing. You cross over small bridges and can see down into the tiny canals. It is absolutely beautiful. We did make it to Frari Church which houses some beautiful artwork in such a small church. On our way back from the church, we got even more lost which just meant it was time to get gelato and wine. We spent the walk back to our hotel shopping, although the wine may have made us shop a little too much. We were excited for another beautiful day to come in Venice.

~corinne

venice: day one

the train ride from switzerland to italy became an all day adventure. we had to switch trains more than we expected due to train maintenance. when we switched from our scheduled train to the alternate train it felt like a chinese fire drill. we had seat numbers on the original train but it was a free for all on the new train and we rushed to find seats. unfortunately, we lost that race and ended up standing on the train until we made our connection. on the next train we dealt with extreme temperatures. it was so hot nick was begging the train engineers to open the emergency window. after several bottles of water and coke we made it to venice.

as we departed the train station we were greeted by the breeze wafting from the adriatic sea and main canal. from there we walked just a few short blocks to hotel santa lucia, a quaint, family run hotel in an alley off of the only main road in venice. we dropped off our bags and bought passes for the vaporetti, the water bus - the only public transportation in venice. we were excited to be on a boat in the middle of the grand canal, but they packed us so tightly , we felt a little claustrophobic. we traveled to st. mark's square to take in the sights, including all of the stupid tourists who were letting pigeons flock around them and eat out of their hands. we sat down to a light dinner at cafe aurora and enjoyed listening to a nearby orchestra. while enjoying our wine and sandwiches, corinne gasped at her next celebrity sighting: from across the square she saw the roloff family from the show "little people, big world" and immediately ran over and asked for a photograph.

afterwards, we made our first sightseeing stop at the campanile to take in the views from the highest point in venice. at the top of the campanile, we watched as boats overflowing with people began congregating in preparation for a celebration that evening (the feast & regatta of the redeemer)--picture a nightclub in miami on water and you can get a sense for the scene.

since we were up at 5am that morning, we called it an early night and headed back to the hotel relaxed and excited about the next few days.

~anne, chip, nick & corinne