But anyways, it's remarkable to step right off the train and be literally a few yards from the Grand Canal. It's really something. There really are no roads or cars to speak of. Everything has to be done by hand or hauled around on a boat. I really noticed it with all of the street cleaners. They had only huge bristled brooms and little hand carts. Anyways, we got out of the station and bought tickets for the Vaparettos. They're like the city bus, but on water. So therefore more expensive. But it was great to have a mini-tour of the city while just riding the boat. We motored for about 45 minutes through the city gliding by gondolas, old crumbly houses, piers, bridges, and water taxis. It was crazy when the boat stopped to let people on and off--the captain would run from the cabin and throw ropes around moors and then yank the boat over to the dock. Usually we would make it with a huge THUD and everyone would kind of topple over on each other from the impact. You could definitely tell the seasoned travelers from the newbies :)
Our main stop was St. Marco's square. It had the big cathedral and the Palace. It was so packed and full of tourists, which makes sense because it's the biggest square in all of Venice. A natural place for everyone to stand around. We waited for about an hour just walking around all of the tourist booths and small little streets and bridges waiting for the cathedral to open. When it did it was amazing. So beautiful. I was only able to snap one photo because no cameras were allowed. But the place was huge and literally covered in gold. All of the domes and everything were golden. Put a lot of other cathedrals to shame, haha.
Outside there were a TON of pigeons. Apparently they are world famous for pretty much attacking you if you had bread. So of course I borrowed some bread from Robin and smushed it in my hands. Here was the result:
Pretty sweet.
Next we ventured into the Doge Palace and toured the rooms of the ruling family of Venice. It was pretty cool, but if you've seen the Royal Palace and the Schoenbrunn in Vienna, this really isn't anything new. We eventually started jogging through the palace just trying to find the prison and the Bridge of Sighs. The Bridge of Sighs is the little bridge that connects the palace to the prison. Apparently the prisoners being led off to a life in prison would sigh as they crossed the bridge as they caught their last glimpse of Venice. Romantic :)
After the palace we milled around the square for a bit, hunting for souvenirs. I bought a cute Tshirt for Kenzie as we made our way back to the water taxi/bus thing. We decided enroute to visit the Peggy Guggenheim Modern Art Museum that was nestled right up on the Grand Canal. It was a well stocked little private collection of Pollacks, Picassos, Miro, and lots of others. I really liked it, especially the ridiculous little statues out on the porch (if you could even call it a "porch" since it opened out literally onto the canal). It was so cute even getting to the museum. We had to walk around little neighborhoods and shops and walkways that lined gorgeous little canals. It was here that I really felt like I was in Venice. Tall houses tucked against lazy little canals. Sleeping gondaliers resting in their boats with their straw hats pulled down over their faces. Faded buildings whose only occupants were bright little flower boxes. I love Venice.
Later we stopped of course by the Rialto bridge and walked over it. It was cool, but not terribly interesting to those who have no idea why its that important :) The rest of the day was spent wandering little backstreets, gawking at the stands selling inappropriate ties with naked women on the backs, and wandering in and out of churches we found. We saw the garbage collectors with their big brooms and hand carts and wondered how in the world garbage collection is done without any roads or trucks. It's done entirely by manpower I guess. I also really wanted to visit an old church that had its original Titian pieces still hanging in it, but it closed before we can find it. Oh well. I loved the little streets and the wandering anyways :)
With one last gelato and a Bellini toast to Venice on the docks of the Grand Canal, we left Venice and Italy on one of the longest, smelliest, and most cramped train ever. With 4 of us and some poor unfortunate Italian all smooshed in one tiny car trying to sleep. We ended up pulling all of the seats out and sprawling while this guy just tried to sit and sleep against the window. I'm pretty sure Anna's feet were in my face about 90% of the night. We all thought that each car was this way, but nearly every other car had only one or two occupants. And of course we found this out around dawn :)
A great ending to a great trip. Italy: 3 cities, 3 days. This was amazing.
