Day #113 - Venice, Italy

Crossing the Grand Canal for the first time

Great dinner on the canals of Venice

Grand Canal - taken from the water bus

St. Mark's Basilica

Bell Tower in St. Mark's Square

Monday, July 5th

Today was a really great day. I started in Milan, Italy where I took a 8:05am train to Venice - arriving around 10:30am. I got some money from the ATM, bought a map, and went to search for my hotel. Perfect location - my place was just a 10 minute walk from the main train station in Venice.

My Aunt Mary and Uncle Steve were arriving by plane at 10:30am in Venice. Their hotel is just 100 yards from the place I'm staying. Our plan was to meet in the lobby of their hotel around 12noon. I checked in, dropped off my bags, walked over to their place -- wa-la -- they were just checking in. Awesome

My aunt and uncle are fantastic. They are very passionate about traveling and we have a bond where we share our travel stories and enthusiasm for upcoming trips. We have met in many locations around the world. We spent a week together in Prague, Czech Republic about 4-5 years ago, we met up for lunch on the shores of Lake Tahoe, my mom & I took a trip to their place in Lakeland, FL a couple years back, my brother and I met them in Orlando for dinner before the Disney marathon, and now - Venice, Italy.

Venice is really great. All those northern cities that call themselves "The Venice of the North" -- not so much. Canals and small bridges everywhere. No cars - just boats. No bikes - just boats. You can take a water taxi or a water bus to your destinations around the city. The taxi is 60 euro, so we opted for the bus (6.50 euro). And, last night the ticket machine was down - so our water bus was free.

After meeting up at noon, we grabbed a couple drinks at an outdoor restaurant near the hotel. It was great just catching up. We took a couple hours in the afternoon for some rest as we all were pretty exhausted over our recent travels. They had just flew from the US overnight, and I was coming off a couple 3-hr sleep nights.

We met up at 6pm and headed out to see the sites. Venice is a relatively small-sized city - so easily walkable. The streets and canals can get confusing at times - but eventually you'll get to your destination. We first walked down to St. Mark's Square. Unbelievable place. My aunt & uncle said it's the same replica that's shown at Disney's Epcot. A huge square - filled with people. The 2 main take-aways -- the Bell Tower and St. Mark's Basilica. Both these sites are old, historic, are have amazingly unique architecture. They are often referred to as "the heart of Venice".

We walked around some more, taking pictures along the way. Gondolas filled all the side canals. Really interesting. You could see anywhere from 2 to 6+ people in the boats. The gondoliers only paddle on the right side of the boat (from their perspective). We think maybe it's because the gondolas appear to be tilted to the right, meaning that they will go this direction unless the gondolier paddles to steer left. (More to come on this theory - we'll be taking a cruise tomorrow)

We strolled back to our hotel which is located near the Piazzale Roma. We found a great little outdoor cafe and had a nice dinner. We followed that up with some gelato ice cream - ending the day on a perfect note.

More Venice to explore tomorrow.