Venice, Italy: On the islands

Venice was built on a group of more than 100 tiny islands inside the Venetian Lagoon. The historic part of Venice has no roads or cars. Rather, the canals act as streets and boats replace cars (many homes' front doors open to canals and can be accessed only by boat!), and the land can only be traveled by foot. There's something magical about a city full of rich history that hasn't been overrun by technology and traffic. Venice is so unique and beautiful.


It's enchanting, to say the least.

The water taxi dropped us off just steps from our hotel. Matt and I checked in and spent a few minutes resting in our luxurious, air conditioned room and enjoying the view before we headed back out into the July heat.

Though Venice is an expensive city, somehow it feels so worth it. Hotel Paganelli definitely didn't disappoint. This was the view of the lagoon from our room--taken through our window (later on in the day). Gorgeous, isn't it?

Okay, enough with the hotel. We didn't want to waste too much daylight inside since we were covering an entire city in one day, so it wasn't long before we headed out the door and walked one block over to Piazza San Marco (Saint Mark's Square). The piazza's beautiful architecture and rich history make it one of Venice's major attractions.

You know you're in a big city when you're surrounded by pigeons!

After checking out the piazza, we began exploring the footpaths and bridges through the city. It definitely wouldn't hurt to get lost in a city like this!

Along the way, we grabbed the first of many--and I mean many--gelatos during our time in Italy.

While we were commenting on how the Venetians didn't let one foot of land go to waste (see how the buildings were built just right up next to each other in the picture below), a very persistent purse salesman approached us. He wanted me to buy a fake (I think) white Prada for thirty Euro. I told him no thanks and the man wouldn't let it go. This wasn't all bad, since I actually really liked the purse. Three minutes later, I walked away with it for just 5 Euro, which is roughly $7. Not too shabby for any purse, really.

Other mentionable items on our stroll were the countless ornate Venetian masks in window shops around the city. 

As mentioned in the previous post, our walk around Venice led us to the Rialto Bridge, where we went on a romantic gondola ride through the canals.

The Grand Canal, as seen from the top of the Rialto Bridge:

After our gondola ride, we ate dinner at a pretty little restaurant along the Grand Canal with the Rialto as our backdrop. It was lovely.

I'll avoid the long story detailing the picture below and just give you the moral of the story: don't feed the birds.

After dinner, we meandered along the canal a bit more before heading back through the footpaths to Piazza San Marco and the lagoon.

And we bought a beautiful oil painting from an artist by the Rialto Bridge. It will hang in our living room probably forever.

The piazza was impressive during the day but it was even more beautiful when it was all lit up at dusk.

The lagoon and canals were equally magical as the sunlight faded away.

Matt and I made it back to the hotel but weren't quite ready to say goodnight to Venice. Two minutes later, we were back outside taking a final leisurely stroll along the lagoon.

Once it was good and dark, we finally retired to our room, where we enjoyed the best night's sleep of our entire vacation.

The next morning, Matt and I were on our way to Rome!