The Hall's: Venice, Italy

Oh, Venice...

Oh, Oh, Venice...

Venice is simply breathtaking
It is considered the jewel of the Adriatic, and to be honest, was a bit mind blowing. Building just arose from the water- literally some doors opened directly to the water! There are over 160 canals and the roads... OH, the roads.. not roads for driving on, but strictly for walking, as Venice has no vehicles. Some were so narrow, one could barely pass another person coming in the opposite direction and they were like a maze- it made for such a FUN experience!

Gondolla Ride
Yes, they are expensive, but it is the quintessential Venetian thing to do. We really enjoyed it. In fact, the waters had actually been really high because of recent rain and flooding (which apparently is normal this time of year), so one bridge, Jeremy had to sit at the front of the boat while the gondolier laid down and pushed us through it. Overall the experience was a very memorable one.

San Marco Piazza & Basilica
San Marco is the main bustling square of Venice (there are lots of squares though)- here you will find, eateries, tourist shops, the Campanile di San Marco (tall red tour) that you can take a lift to see views of Venice, Torree dell'Orologio which is the clock tower that has been keeping time for over 500 years, plus the Basilica of San Marco. Unfortunately, pictures are not allowed in the Basilica (we did get some of the entry where pictures were allowed), but it has such a simple elegance. The entire ceiling is a gold mosaic, and they have the main alter, and not an abundant amount of other alters which gave it the simplicity feel. Simply gorgeous!

Doge's Palace
Again, no pictures allowed in the inside of the palace, but it was beautiful. It was the seat of the Republic for over nine centuries serving as the council chamber, law court, prison, and the residence of most Venice doge's. I will say the Great Council Room's is one of the largest rooms in Europe, and the painting on the wall was marvelous! It is Tintoretto's Paradiso,and is the largest master oil painting in the world. We walked across the sigh bridge to the prison where Casanova escaped from at one time.

The Bridge of Sighs
This bridge was built in the early 1600's and has two parallel passageways so that prison's that had already been interrogated, could not meet with those headed to the council of ten. The bottom picture below, is the view looking out from the bridge.

Murano
The island that is famed for its glass blowing. The girls loved this stop, and really enjoyed getting to see the glass being created, then seeing all the creation in the stores that had been made. Absolutely gorgeous!

Lido
This island is basically a long barrier island to protect Venice - it has nice beaches, and even during our time here, the cold wind coming off the Adriatic could not keep my delights from searching for seashells :-)