We took an early morning train to Venice and while it was sad to leave the beautiful Cinque Terre, we have always loved Venice so we were excited to go back!
Thanks for the memories, Monterosso and the Cinque Terre!
The first train is from Monterosso to La Spezia, followed by a train to Parma, followed by a train to Bologna, followed by a train to Venice. Phew! Along the way, we saw a town and a castle up on a hill. In fact, we saw several!
In true Italian style, we got to Bologna and expected our train to Venice would leave from Bologna Centrale, as our tickets said that it did. But nope. It actually left from Bologna Arcoveggio station, which was about a 10 minute walk from the main train station. Thank goodness we asked about the train almost as soon as we got to Bologna!
Of course, once we got there, the train was further delayed and there was no place to stand in the shade. It was brutal. Grant: "Hey guys, the train is coming!"
Teenagers are always tired, aren't they?
We finally made it to Venice and had to take a water taxi to our hotel. They crammed us all in there and yelled at us about our bags, so you can see the boys look super happy.
But the hotel was super cute, and this was the view from our room!
And this was the street view- very narrow, and obviously, no vehicles here.
We ventured out and our first stop was the Rialto Bridge. It was literally about 2 blocks from our hotel so it was an easy first stop.
Next, we stopped at Bacarino. This is one of many bacaros in Venice, which is almost like an Italian style tapas bar. There are a few small food choices (all in a glass display) and you get a beer or small wine. Most of the bacaros in Venice are near the Rialto Bridge.
It definitely had the feel of a Spanish tapas bar!
After happy hour snacks and drinks, we walked around Venice some more.
If you wander far enough away from St. Mark's Square, you'll find a much quieter Venice.
This area is one of the oldest parts of Venice dating back to the 1400s.
People do tend to congregate around the bridges for these great views.
We continued to wander until it was time for Happy Hour 2.0, where we stopped in the Campiello San Zulian at Osteria N. 1 for a break. Remember when Todd did this in Rome about 11 years ago?
Ah yes, we remember. We titled this one, "Daddy. One bottle of wine in." HA!
Meanwhile, Grant just wants to know where the Caprese is.
After a snack break, we headed over to St. Mark's Square.
It's always crowded here but this might be one of the most beautiful churches (inside and out) that I've ever been to. This is actually the third church that has sat at this location. The first one was built around 829, but that was damaged in a revolt against Doge Candiano IV in 976. It was only semi-rebuilt until Doge Domenico I Contarini had this new church built starting in 1063. But that's still a REALLY old church!
The tower is only from 1912, although there was definitely a tower here dating back to the 9th century.
We didn't go in this time, but we had gone into the Basilica when the kids were younger. Inside, there is beautiful mosaic tile work, beautiful Byzantine art and even the supposed relics of St. Mark - it's a MUST see if you're in Venice.
But we have been there, done that, so we just took a stroll around St. Mark's Square and talked about how the kids chased pigeons here when they were little.
It almost looks like a painting behind us - like it's not real!
St. Mark's Square is always busy with it's famous tower, the Basilica and the Doge Palace. I've actually never been in the palace - I guess I'm saving it for next time, because we keep coming back here anyway! This Gothic palace was built around 1340 although there had been a palace here since around 810.
We walked along the Grand Canal in St. Mark's Basin and Grant took this picture of us with the San Giorgio Maggiore Church behind us. This church is relatively new, having been completed in 1610. I've never been over there - maybe I'm saving THAT for next time, too!
THIS KID.
Ok here is the real photo we were trying to take! We snapped a selfie from the Ponte della Paglia of the Bridge of Sighs. The Doge Palace is to the left and in order to transport prisoners to the prison (which is on the right), they constructed this little bridge over the canal.
The small windows on the bridge would have given the prisoners their last view of the outside world before their confinement. Sigh.
We continued to wander the streets of Venice, and I took this picture of Grant on the Ponte dei Carmini.
This is from the Ponte dei Carmini looking in one direction.
And this is looking in the other direction! This building is a really weird shape!
We found these beautiful lion and lioness bronze sculptures near the Campo Santa Maria Formosa. Grant looks so gangster here.
Todd takes these pictures and I don't even KNOW what is going on.
To the left is the Church of Santa Maria Formosa, or the Church of the Purification of Mary which was built in 1492 (yes, the year that Columbus sailed the ocean blue!) There was actually a church on this site dating back to 639, making it one of the oldest churches in Venice. The bell tower (or campanile) was completed in the late 1600s.
We were heading back to our hotel area when we passed over the Ponte de Borgoloco where there was something going on at the Ruzzini Palace Hotel to our left!
He didn't even notice what was going on here. That's a hotel. If that was my room, I'd be so mad!
I can't believe it, but I came across some Stolpersteine! Artist Gunter Demnig has placed these all over Europe in places where victims of the Holocaust were either taken from (because they lived or worked there) or were killed. Anna, Alba, Ida and Costante Vivante were all deported to Auschwitz and murdered, while Gianna Cavalieri was murdered at Ravensbrück. I still can't imagine the horror.
This is the spot that Marco Polo lived in for the last 25 years of his life! The columns here date back to the early 1100s but the actual home that was here burned down in 1596. They converted it to the Malibran theatre but this was the location that he lived in at the end of his life. As a merchant, he spent a good amount of his life trying to establish trade/commercial relations with the Kublai Khan (a grandson of Ghengis Khan and the first emperor of the Mongol led Yuan dynasty).
Phew, this has been a heavy history day! I think it's time to head back and find something to eat. But first... the view from the Rialto Bridge.
And you know we need a family selfie on the other side of the bridge (see earlier in the morning when we took a selfie on the northeast facing side).
We went to the Birraria La Corte for dinner, on the advice of the front desk staff at our hotel and it didn't disappoint. But seriously, why is he like this!?
What do you mean I get to have patatas bravas here in Italy? That's my favorite Spanish dish!
I'll take a picture of you and your burrata cheese and you take a picture of me and my patatas braves.
Evening time is the best time for taking pictures of the canals. The lighting is so spectacular!
They had a giant mirror in across from our room so we snapped a picture in it before we headed out for the evening.
And what did we do? We grabbed a couple of beers and sat down on the dock at the Campo Erberia on the Grand Canal and enjoyed the evening!
Just relaxing and waving at all of the people going by in the boats.
Well, we were having a lovely time until some teenagers in a boat rode up and literally parked in front of us. They didn't get out. They just sat there and talked. We must have been really boring because they left after only a few minutes!
Venice will always be one of our favorite cities!
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