Last Day in Venice...

June 13, 2012

So, it was up early for breakfast at the hotel as we wanted to make the most of our time in Venice.  I wish I had a camera at breakfast, because they made beautiful designs in the drinks.  They even made a sunset with birds flying J

Had to dress for a full change of weather as we were to be gone all day, and it was supposed to be really hot in the morning with storms in the afternoon.  We headed for the bus stop and it was gorgeous.  The bus stop is right across the street from our hotel and right along a beautiful canal… 

 

The bus took forever to get into Venice, almost an hour because traffic was backed up across the causeway due to road works.  The bus was crowded, so we ended up standing the entire time.  I was hoping I didn’t use up all my energy as we had a big day planned.

When we arrived in the city, we decided to walk across town so that we could see all of the side streets and such.  It was really warm and very still.  This is one of my favorite pictures, so peaceful…

Of course we did a little shopping near the Rialto bridge.

Had a great time trying on masks…

Then we walked over the bridge for a different perspective…

The view from both sides of the Rialto is very different…

When we reached the far side of Venice, we took a vaporetto to Murano, the island where they are famous for their glass-blowing. 

We watched a glass blowing demonstration, and it was amazing how quickly this guy turned out a vase.

 

Then he made a horse, like in a minute or so…

The kids loved seeing how it was done.

Then we took a vaporetto back to Venice…

And ended up at St. Mark’s square…

This is the Doge’s Palace…

We walked around the square again and looked at all of the glass shops…

Then we decided we had better take a gondola ride before the storms hit as it may be our last chance.  Our Gondolier’s name was Kola.  Very nice young man who said he learned the art of gondoliering at age ten from his had, and started working for money at 13, and had been at it for 20 years since then.  The boat was his father’s boat and they cost anywhere from 9,000 to 30,000 Euro.

We started laughing when we set off because the place totally reminded us of the Venitian in Vegas J

 It was really fun going through all of the little back canals in town…

 

Then we headed out to the Grand Canal…

 

Kola pointed out various things like the courthouse and city hall. 

 

Then it was back into the small canals again, but this one was really crowded…

 

All too soon it was over.  It was a 30 minute ride, but felt like five minutes.  Totally worth doing and the kids loved it.

 

Just after we finished the gondola ride, we decided we needed a bit to eat.  Our timing was spectacular as just then the big storm hit with lots of thunder and lightning.  We headed to a great little place to eat where all the locals hang out.  

 In fact, it was crowded with gondoliers as they wanted out of the rain and it was a good excuse for them to have a beer and sandwich.

This one gondolier fancied himself and was primping quite a bit outside the window.

 

I dared the kids to knock on the window, and they did.  He was a great guy and had a good laugh with the kids…

Unfortunately it was getting late and we had to head back to the vaporetto for one last trip down the Grand Canal.  Unfortunately, it was pouring down rain…

Still, we weathered sitting outside in it with our raincoats on…

A very different view in a storm…

This is the entrance to the Jewish Ghetto.  The word "ghetto" comes from the copper foundary (geto in Italian) in this very neighborhood...

Finally heading towards our last stop.  Danika took this picture, pretty cool don't you think?

We had to wait for a half an hour standing in the pouring rain for our bus back to the hotel, so we were soaked through by the time it came.  The good thing was that we all got a seat this time and it only took 25 minutes on the way home. 

When we got back I took pictures from our hotel window because it had such a nice view…

Off to bed after our crazy weather day in Venice.  Loved it, and we definitely want to return some day J

~Mary