I'm on a Boat! Venice

Juliet's Balcony in Verona

After Switzerland, our next destination was a town I have dreamed of visiting for as long as I can remember, Venice. On our way to the city of water we stopped for lunch in the town of Verona, home to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. At  first I thought it must be a set because I believed the story to be fiction, however, apparently Romeo and Juliet is based off very real conflicting families from Verona that lived during Shakespeare's time. I was able to stand underneath Juliet's stone balcony and imagine the fierce fight for unapproved love that took place in that very courtyard. Unfortunately, Juliet's balcony was polluted with annoying girls taking photo after photo of themselves, pretending to be Juliet and letting their hair cascade over the side. Entertaining at  first, the scene quickly became crowded and I decided to search our a place for lunch.

My friend Alexa had a very interesting story regarding Verona and I think it's worth sharing. Her Grandmother fell in love with a man from Verona many years ago, she left her husband (Alexa's grandfather) and moved to Verona to live with this man. A few shorts year after they met, she died unexpectedly in a car accident and left behind a collection of very detailed journals describing their passionate relationship. Alexa planned on meeting her Grandmother's lover in Verona and departed instantly to find him at a predetermined destination. Unfortunately, they were not able to find each other due to a lack of cell phones and communication, but the story itself is so reminiscent of all the romance that fills the streets of Venice. The behavior of the local men even changed in the Verona, a definite sample of the Italian way of acting. Compared to the quiet sophistication of the French (who am I kidding? they were snobs), our Italian waiters were swarming around our table, anxious to teach the American girls a phrase or two of Italian while calling us beautiful every chance they got.

Venice Beach

We arrived in Venice around dinner town and were pleased to see that our hotel was only 3 blocks away from Venice's beautiful sand beach. After a quick dinner of mozzarella caprese and red wine with Beth, Kelly and Katie, we met up with our entire group at the beach. We passed around bottles of rum and went night swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. The vibe on Venice Beach was so incredibly similar to Miami that if it wasn't for everyone speaking Italian I would have sworn I was in the states.

The next morning we took a water taxi into the actual city of Venice and stopped on our way for a glass blowing demonstration. Venice is famous for their glass and we got to watch a man create first a vase and then a medium sized prancing horse. After the demonstration we walked in the store and were mind blown at how beautiful their merchandise was. They had everything from stunning vases and fruit bowls to gaudy chandeliers and glass bead jewelry.

Venetian Glass Blowing Demonstration 

After the glass blowing demonstration we proceeded to the large coastal city of Venice via another water taxi and met up with a local tour guide. He walked us all over the city pointing out various architecture, and explaining the history behind buildings. He rambled on too much and I don't like looking the part of a tourist so I parted ways as soon as time allowed and went to explore the Doge's palace.

The Doge's Palace was the residence of the supreme authority of the Republic of Venice, The Doge. It's elaborate rooms had gold trim, massive fireplaces and detailed frescoes on every ceiling. In the basement were the cities' prisons with elaborate tunnels which seemed to go on for days. The Doge's palace is home to the famous "Bridge of Sighs" named so because prisoners would always sigh as they crossed the bridge and had their last glimpse of daylight, knowing it could be years until they saw it again.

The view of a prisoner
crossing the Bridge of Sighs

The other highlight of the Doge's Palace was the La Scala D'Oro, or The Golden Staircase. The two flights of stairs had golden frescoes and gold trim all over the ceiling and sides. It made you feel as though you were ascending through a bright and sunny tunnel of Gold.

Gondolas in Venice

After touring the Doge's Palace I joined up with Amanda, Gaby, Brenda and Beth for a gondola ride. For 25 Euro we got a tour of the city via a gondola and a bottle of champagne. The view of Venice is completely different from the canals versus the sidewalks. Both are wonderful and my favorite part about the city was definitely just exploring. I thought it was really cool how so many establishments, mainly restaurants and hotels had doorways designed specifically for people arriving via gondola's. I wish we spent more times in the narrow canals but our Gondola driver took us our in the choppy water of the bay where we did have a better view of the city as a whole, but I personally prefer the funky little canals any day.

Venice Marina

After the Gondola we ambled off to do my all time favorite vacation activity, explore aimlessly. I love just walking in a direction with absolutely no destination in mind other than, maybe, a gelato stand. We turned left or right depending on which direction looked more interesting and multiple times the alley ways were so narrow we had to walk single file. In Venice, the buildings are so close together at the top that sometimes, when you look up, you can only see a tiny slit of sky. It reminds me of San Franciso or Santa Fe, where every alley way brings something new and you feel as though a magical door might pop up at any time, inviting you into a world of hand-rolled pasta and boisterous laughter.

Feeding the Pigeons

Our dinner that night was one of my favorites from the entire trip. I had a giant bowl of juicy, steaming mussels with white wine and french fries. Ever since Brussels I literally cannot stop ordering mussels. Going home to Kansas and it's lack of sea food will be sad for my palette, very sad indeed.

The Roofs of Venice