A Few Days in Venice - Day One

We only had a few days to spend in Venice during our two weeks in Italy in September. I really wish we would have added one more time though because wandering the canals and waterways was so much fun. It's like another world and was completely different than what we are used to. This is how we spent our few days in vivacious Venice.

During our trip we really lucked out with the weather. On our honeymoon it rained nearly all the days we were in Paris but in Italy it only rained a tiny bit on our first morning in Venice. I was so excited that we might have used the risers Venetians put out when the lagoon rises but after seeing photos I am glad the rain lasted only an hour or so. We started our sightseeing with the Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale).

Palazzo Ducale is Venetian gothic style palace right on the lagoon and was the home of the Doge of Venice (sort of like a king I think). But it was more than just a ruler's residence, it also was the center of government and courts. There is the Hall of the Great Council (built between 1340-1355!) and the Scala d'Oro (Stairs of Gold), as well as other government rooms.

As if residence and government was not enough, it was also an armory. So they have a whole display of various armor.

And it was also a prison. Yes, the prison where Casanova made his escape in 1755. I didn't know this but Venetian judges were known to be unmerciful in their sentencing...so I'm glad I wasn't heading to the cells!

We learned that the two red columns were for the reading of a death sentence...very uplifting.

The Doge's Palace also contains the "Bridge of Sighs" which connects the prison cells to the courtrooms. It's name refers to the prisoners' sighs as they passed from the courtroom to their cell to serve their sentence.  Of course I had to pause on the bridge of sighs, give a brief sigh, and take in the view of Venice, the last view of freedom that people got before entering the cells.

After the Doge's Palace we climbed the Campanile to overlook St. Mark's Square. Luckily, there was an elevator.

From our perch atop the square we could see the Toree dell'Orologio, which is from the 1490s.

And how funny is the pay phone at the top of the tower?? Anyway, after the Campanile we wandered into St. Mark's Basilica, which is really a sight to behold. All throughout the basilica you can see the various cultural influences--from roman style arches, Greek columns, byzantine mosaics, french Gothic pinnacles, and Islamic domes. All together it is a feast for the eyes!

The horses at the top of the exterior are the horses of Saint Mark-Lysippos, which have a storied history of traveling to Constantinople and Paris before ultimately returning to Venice. These horses are copies because the real horses are inside the basilica in St. Mark's museum. 

On our way back to our hotel we stopped for "to go" pasta, which were made to order with fresh pasta. You could see the pasta being made through the window. I ordered the pesto chicken and Andrew had chicken alfredo. We also stopped for gelato, and I got the perfect venetian photo of a bridge, gondola, and gelato. 

And for dinner our first night we stopped at a restaurant recommended by the couple we met at Grazie & Graziella in Trastevere, Rome. We had copious amounts of bread, wine, pasta, caprese salad, and frito misto.

Our waiter even gave us a free lemon dessert! I think it's because we tried really hard to communicate only in Italian -- I was super proud I asked "Un'altra bottiglia d'acqua naturale, per favore?" when we ran out of water. Side note: why do Europeans seem to only drink water from bottles?? We are so used to never-ending tap water here in the states that it is such a hard adjustment to drinking from bottles of water.

We so enjoyed our first day in Venice and I'm not even lying when I say I wish I could go back already. Venice was truly something unexpected and something so different than what we are accustomed to. I can't wait to go back!