We got up nice an early and strolled down the streets, window shopping and taking pictures. Venice sells two main products: glass and masks. We headed towards the Grand Canal and Sarah, Rachel and I decided to go ahead to San Marco's square, since the other girls were still shopping. We simply followed the signs that pointed to San Marco down these twisty, narrow allies, over countless bridges and canals until we found ourselves on an enormous bridge- the Rialto!
A few more streets away, we emerged into the sunlight in St. Mark's Square! It was filled with crowds of people, but there might have been just as many pigeons (if not more)! We decided to get a closer look at the birds and ended up spending over an hour feeding them and naming the ones that landed on us. Rachel was the official photographer for Sarah and I- we had probably too much fun with those birds.We took a peek into St Mark's Cathedral (the floors were amazing marble tiles) then decided it was a good idea to go up the huge bell tower. After a super quick elevator ride to the top, we found ourselves with a great 360* view of Venice!
After the bell tower, we wandered along the water and ended up finding this little tree-lined walkway/park. We took a stroll thru it and decided to watch the sun set over the water.
Then we picked up dinner (I got a tasty cheese sandwich on great bread) and headed back to the hotel, where we met up with the other group. We played cards had some fun and laughs, then bedtime.
Day 3We "slept in" til 10 and met the other group for brunch (I got this loaf of salted bread with olive oil. It tasted like a soft pretzel and lasted me practically til dinner time). The group decided to head down to St Mark's and perhaps find a gondola. Rachel and I decided to skip the expensive boat ride and explore a bit instead. We headed for the peninsula we saw from the bell tower the day before and so off we went! On the way, we discovered a mini outdoor gallery of sorts and in the middle was this giant face. Obviously, we had a photo shoot posing with the face:
We got onto the peninsula and walked along the water (which was an amazing color) and got to the tip at which there was a church. We went inside and rested for a little then headed back, meeting up with the other 6 and getting dinner near the hotel again. Everyone was tired, so we had an early night.Visual of how much I enjoyed Venice:
