Venice

Well, Venice was...Venice! It is a little bit like visiting Disneyworld, where everything is very pretty and quaint, but nothing feels quite real. I even read that during the peak tourist season, the city actually has more tourists than residents! Since it's very expensive to stay on the island itself, we stayed on the mainland in a part of Venice called Mestre. Our hotel was only a 15 minute bus ride away from the island, but it was a very different world where normal people actually lived and worked. We enjoyed venturing into Venice during the day, walking the tiny streets and window shopping in all the expensive shops, but it was nice to return at the end of the day to our quieter part of town.

One of the many gondoliers we saw throughout the city (we decided not to pay the exorbitant prices to take a ride ourselves!):


St. Mark's Square and St. Mark's Basilica:




The Grand Canal:


Sunset over a canal:


Me over a canal: