Ciao Venezia!

We arrived in Venice on Thursday via interitalia train. Unfortunately, it was dark by the time we arrived so we couldn't tell how amazing our hotel room view was until the sunrise the next morning. We stayed in Hotel Paganelli, which was located on the boardwalk facing the lagoon and only one block away from Piazza San Marco. Our room had a small balcony overlooking the lagoon and boardwalk. I spent hours on the balcony watching the masses of people, tour groups, and boats pass by.

We spent plenty of time wandering the small alleys and side streets throughout Venice. Most of the streets were lit up with Christmas lights and packed with people so we felt safe walking around the city. After discovering the $7-10 cover charge just for sitting down at a restaurant (not including the 12% service fee) and realizing that no matter how many times we asked for pizza without cheese and it always arrived with cheese, we gave up on fancy dining. We found local snack bars with $6 large pizzas that were much more our style :) Although I do have to admit that the pizza patatosa (French fries on top of cheese) at a restaurant near Piazza San Marco was delicious - minus the cheese, of course.

We took the elevator to the top of the campanile bell tower in Piazza San Marco early in the morning and enjoyed a stunning view of the whole city. Then we explored the basilica and walked to the Rialto bridge. We spent a little too much time shopping - it seems like almost every store around here sells beautiful shiny murano glass sculptures and trinkets.

We spent the evening watching the sunset from our hotel room and once it was dark the street vendors came out to sell little flying glowstick toys that lit up our windows. In the morning, we woke up to see a giant hole had formed in the concrete outside our hotel. The place was flooded and people were walking by on makeshift ramps. The police surrounded the bubbling hole until the tide went out and much of the water on the concrete evaporated. Luckily it was a beautiful day - about 50 degrees, so the water cleared out by the time we had to change hotels.

We walked to the Academie bridge and all the way to the point overlooking the main Venice strip across the lagoon. Then we enjoyed our last day in Venice by taking a gondola ride along the grand canal and visiting Piazza San Marco.

Tomorrow we head to Paris to celebrate the New Year. More details and photos to come soon.