Great Gondola!

We slept in a little before heading in to have our last breakfast in the cute little café-style breakfast room at Hotel Ascot. We ate quickly, gathered our things, and headed to Roma Termini to board the train for Venice. We found our platform quickly, stashed our luggage in the back of the train, and headed towards our seats. Once we sat down, we realized that the luggage racks were much bigger and there was room for our suitcases closer to our seats - right above them, in fact. The guys went up to retrieve them, and soon after, the train took off. About halfway through the ride, we pulled out our 4.35 Euro (total!) lunch of bread + cheese + wine. Perfect for the stomach and the pocketbook!

A side note on the trains in Europe – I want them in the US! They are roomier than planes, faster than cars, and the Europeans love them because they’re so much better for the environment. There are signs everywhere showing the CO2 emission differences between trains and cars, as though we needed more convincing to take the train! If there were a train from Bloomington to Peoria, I would probably take it every day.

Upon arriving in Venice, we set out to find our hotel. We walked right by it at first, as it was about a 3 minute walk from the train station. We realized our mistake, headed back, and checked in. Such a cute little place! It was very much like Hotel Ascot in Rome; all our basic amenities covered, but absolutely nothing extra. After freshening up a little, we set out for San Marco (St. Mark’s) Basilica.

View from the water taxi 

We weren’t in the mood to walk the 1+ miles to St. Mark’s, so we paid the €7 each and boarded the water taxi. Boy am I glad we did. Not only was it a good break from walking (even though we had been on the train most of the morning, we were still pretty sore from all Rome had to offer), it was a great way to see some of the other islands and enjoy being on the water.

It took about 40 minutes to get there, because we took the long way ‘round, but upon arrival, we were about a 5 minute walk from St. Mark’s. On the way, we walked across the Bridge of Sighs – said to be called that because of the sighs coming from the prisoners as they  walked across to the Palazzo Duomo (Doge’s Palace) and saw their last views of freedom.

Bridge of Sighs

St. Mark’s was beautiful! Upon walking inside, we were greeted with the most gold of any basilica yet!

Kind of crooked... but GOLD

The entire ceiling/most of the walls were done in mosaic tile, and the place was huge. It’s hard to even imagine how much work went into it, and how long it took. We kept seeing lions everywhere, and finally learned that the lion is a symbol associated with Mark. Right next to St. Mark’s was Palazzo Duomo, so we popped in. More grandeur and incredible beauty. David described it pretty well, “So this is all ONE GUY’S house?!” We walked through different rooms – where governmental decisions were made, records were kept, and prisoners were tried. We even got to go through the prisons! Remember the Bridge of Sighs I mentioned earlier? We walked across it from the inside on the same path as the “sighing” prisoners!! What a crazy feeling to be in the same place that so many people had been so long ago before – but experiencing such different emotions.

View looking out from the Bridge of Sighs

After leaving Doge’s, we were a little over a mile from our hotel, and decided that we could walk this route, because we would stop for supper halfway. We had another Rick-recommended trattoria (bar), the Trattoria de Bepi. It was great! Chris had grilled Angler (monkey fish), Amy had Norwegian lobster pasta, David had a mixed seafood pasta, and I had Cuttlefish, Venetian-style. When it arrived, it was a pile of black fish with two risotto patties next to it – I was a little nervous. Upon trying it, I loved it! It was a buttery, tender delicious fish, and the only reason it was black was because the cuttlefish emits ink. Amy and David enjoyed their pastas, and Chris even enjoyed his fish (he’s not a big seafood fan, normally). We tried tiramisu (I still don’t like it) and crème caramel for dessert (that wasn’t very good, either). Despite the disappointing desserts, we left happy and full, and headed out to find a gondola!

Lukewarm (at best) on the prospect of eating seafood

We found one just near the Rialto Bridge. His price was fair, so we hopped on. First, let me say that I have wanted to ride on a gondola in Venice since I was about 6, so I was on overload. It was so great!!! We were on the Grand Canal for a while, but then he veered off into a side canal, and it immediately got peaceful and quiet. We rowed along, the only sound the paddle in the water and the water lapping up against the buildings as we passed through. Wonderful – everything I had imagined and more! I have been to Venice, Italy and Boise, ID within the year – lucky, lucky lady!! J

Cuttlefish!

On the way home from Rialto Bridge, we stopped at a wine bar for a (small) glass of €0.50 wine! We might’ve stayed longer, but they wouldn’t let their €0.50 customers sit, and they were trying to close. No free wi-fi at the hotel, so we hit the hay to get ready for the train to Florence the next morning. 

Venice by gondola

Venice by gondola, II