Hotel Mercurio
Venice Day 10
I had mixed feelings about going to Venice, I was incredibly excited to be in Italy, but I read about how locals don’t like the ridiculous amount of tourists that come. We came in on the boat (vaporetto) and walked to Hotel Mercurio. We went on another quick orientation tour with Jody so that we knew where St. Mark’s Square was and how to get back to the hotel. Then we wandered! The city is so unique, it was so much fun to photograph.
We then stopped for dinner at a pizza place which was not great. Well the food was good, the waiters, not so much. This was clearly an "Italian's only" type place. Then we had our first Italian gelato. Let’s just say gelato has ruined ice cream for me. I come from Wisconsin, so I know my dairy, so all I can say is: what the heck, America?! Gelato is way better. Awesome gelato tip from Jody: don't get gelato from places where its brightly colored and heaping, it’s not freshly made or as natural.
Shopping
on the
Rialto Bridge
Venice Day 11
Right away we headed to St. Mark’s Basilica. We got there before it opened and stood in line. That’s when my brother and I found out there was no photography inside… Our excitement was sucked away from us. Photographing churches is one of my favorite things… sooooooooooo I didn’t really pay much attention. It was nice but it was ridiculously busy so we walked around and then got out.
My mom and I then went to the Museo Correr and my dad and brother went up the St Mark's Campanile (bell tower). The museum was OK, but when you are in Europe your bar is set pretty high. I kinda wish we had done the tower instead. Then we did the Doge’s Palace, which was cool but it wasn’t as well done as some of the other buildings we’ve toured.
Saint
Mark's
Basilica
37 Place Louis Lépine
Museo Correr
We ventured off exploring again, did some napping, and then we had signed up for Alessandro’s Pub Tour! It was fun, my favorite aspect of it was Alessandro himself. It was so interesting to learn from a real Venetian. As I said earlier, I’m not so much into the wine, so that part was not my cup of tea(wine), but we had some yummy snacks! I would definitely recommend it! Then some more wandering and gelato.