The Allisons

Buongiorno!

Last weekend we went to Venice. I chose this color, because it's approximately the color of the water in Venice. It was of course unlike any place we have ever visited. You can't even begin to compare it to the river walk in San Antonio. I don't think Mike was too fond of the murky, green water and occasional odor. But the ambiance and history were amazing. It was truly fascinating. We could not stop talking about how we could not imagine anyone possibly living in the city.
Our journey began at the bus stop in Aviano. It is about 2 euros a piece for the round trip bus ride to Pordenone and back. It's about 30 minutes on the bus to Pordenone. There we bought tickets for the round trip train ride from Pordenone to Venice. It was 8 euros a piece. The train ride is about an hour and 20 minutes. It would be much shorter on both the bus and train, but is made longer by the stops.
Upon arrival in Venice (I wasn't feeling well--next time I'll know to take Dramamine), we tried to find somewhere to eat. Not difficult as there is food everywhere. We just followed the crowd through the train station and out onto the Grand Canal. It was Saturday, so it was very crowded. The sights and sounds are surreal. To me it was like standing in Times Square. It's everything you expect it to be.
We made our way down the sidewalk (not along the canal but in between the buildings) where there were vendors everywhere. They were mostly selling Carnivale masks. Carnivale is Mardi Gras in Venice. We ended up eating (surprise, surprise) pizza. Mike's favorite. Still not feeling quite up to par, I just munched on some french fries.
We walked aimlessly for about 2 hours. About half on the main thoroughfare and half off. We stumbled upon Santi Giovanni e Paolo chiesa. (Chiesa means church.) According to our Italy book, it is arguably the best example of Venice's Gothic churches. We went in (for a euro a piece) and it was pretty awesome. Huge.
We then decided to make our wanderings more specific to a destination. So we aimed for Saint Mark's Basilica. It's one of Venice's main attractions. On our way there we went through some kind of expensive shopping district (Cartier, Dolce&Gabanna, Murano glass, etc), where we did some lovely window shopping.
When we got to the Basilica, there was a super long line for all of the museums. So we just watched pigeons land on people's heads and soaked up the atmosphere. We'll go back on a day when perhaps it's not so busy, or we haven't already been walking around for 4 hours. There were bands playing which added to the ambiance. And the pigeons were CRAZY. There were many, many more than you see in this picture. You could hardly see any pavement.
We decided to go back and eat at the McDonald's we saw in the shopping district. Then made our way back to the train station. Although it doesn't really sound like we did all that much, we saw a lot of the city. We plan to go back many more times as it is the closest "destination". A few more visits and we will be apt tour guides. :)
Sorry about the lack of authentic pictures. Our camcorders (which can also do digital pictures) battery is shot and our charger doesn't seem to be working with the plug adapter. I'd really like a digital camera for Christmas (hint to Mike), but we'll see...
Our first trip to Venice was a blast!