Monday, October 7, 2013

The Sinking City

We spent this past weekend visiting Venice and Verona and since I've been awful about keeping up with my blog I've decided to spit these two cities up into two posts. Partly because I'll feel like less of a slacker, but mostly because the two are too incredible to be lumped together as one! So I'll start with our Saturday in Venice, home to gondolas, endless canals, and rain. Despite the last part Venice was everything I hoped it would be and more!


We started the day with a private boat to Piazza S. Marco and a guided tour of the city! The symbol of the city is a winged lion and can be seen throughout the city.  We grabbed lunch at a cafe on the water to escape the rain for a little. We all had a spritz, the famous drink of Venice that tastes a little like soap, ok a lot like soap I don't recommend it! The drink is made up of prosecco, some bitter liquer, topped off with some sparkling mineral water.


After the tour we did what anyone in Venice does and took a tour of the city via Gondola! I have to say I was a little disappointed our guide was not wearing a stripped sweater, or a hat, and refused to sing "That's Amore" even after numerous requests.


 Despite our Debbie Downer of a gondola guide the ride was incredible! We even got to check out Marco Polo's house!

Here's some pictures of us on the boat with the cranky gondola man!




After the gondola ride we had some free time to explore the city. Plenty of time to stock up on Murano glass and Venetian masks. We also ran into a interesting group of people dressed in Renaissance attire holding purple balloons. If there's one thing about Italy I've learned it you will always see something completely unexpected.



Turns out all these people were on a company retreat. They were told to dress in formal Renaissance attire and to meet at a certain time. The company took them to Venice for a conferences and this! We took the opportunity to take some sick selfies with them! We spent the evening in a hotel in Padova and rested up for a full day exploring Verona! 

1 comment:

  1. James describes a spritz as taking like cleaning product. It is pretty much the worst thing ever lol

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