Venice

After our two-day stint in Vienna, we took a long bus trip to Venice. Along the way, we got to see a glimpse of the Alps!

The bus driver, by law, had to take a 30-minute break, so we decided to walk toward a wooded area where we happened upon a river. This was a great way to break up the trip with some fresh air and nature.

Finally, we made it to Venice and started on our tour of the city with Jan. The above photo is of the Jewish quarter, which is unique in that many of those that survived Auschwitz returned to live in Venice.

Venice really is full of canals and everyone really does get around by boat.

This is the building where the Duke lived and where many government tasks were carried out. In the past, Venice claimed to be a democracy, but in reality only 200 people had the right to vote. Inside this building is a big hall where they would meet about various issues. Additionally, court trials would take place here and if a person would be found guilty, they would be walked to the jail, which was connected by a bridge.

All over the sidewalks there are stacks like this. They have these because the city floods often in the winter and when it does, people quickly set these up to create a narrow walkway above the water. Jan told us that many people abandon the walkways as they get very crowded very quickly, but that they must be careful so as not to fall into the canals.

St. Mark's Basilica in San Marco square, the most popular in Venice. As you can see, it was under construction, but if you look on the top, four horses can be seen . These are replicas of the horses that the Venetians stole from Constantinople (the real ones are housed inside). This was very controversial at the time as the soldiers sent to Constantinople were supposed to go further on the Crusades, but the Venetians had told them that the Orthodox Christians in Constantinople were just as terrible as the Pagans. Of course, this was not the purpose of the crusades and the Church was not pleased with Venice.

More canals.

We were lucky enough to stay on the island and not the inland town, Mestre. This was the view from the room I stayed in.

We were in Venice on Palm Sunday. During our morning tour, we saw these guys carrying loads of palm branches to the churches. 

On Sunday, we did a tour of the Duke's Palace. This photo was taken from the inside.

A stairway during the tour; the architecture and detailing of the ceiling is gorgeous!

These two photos are of the inside of the dungeons. The doorways are very short and many people from our group had to duck to get through.

This is the "Bridge of Sighs" through which prisoners would look to get their last look of freedom before being taken to the dungeons. Legend says that Casanova was the only person to have ever escaped from this prison.

More from the inside of the Duke's Palace. 

This is another piece in San Marco Square that has been stolen from another country. The meaning of it is unclear, but the story that made the most sense to me was that it symbolizes a cautious friendship. As you can see, the men are hugging, but still clutch their swords, as they do not fully trust one another.

This is a building in San Marco Square. At the top, there is a winged lion, the symbol of Venice.

We found a palm branch tied to one of the bridges in honor of Palm Sunday.

Some of our group had tried this restaurant named Alfredo's for dinner the night before and highly recommended it. They told us that it was inexpensive take-away pasta for which the pasta and sauce where made from scratch. We decided to go for lunch and were not disappointed in the slightest.

After lunch I found a cool postcard of San Marco Square flooded and decided to get creative with it.

Later that afternoon, we wandered around some of the quieter parts of Venice and found an unoccupied bridge to take photos on- and who can pass that up!

Instead of taxis, they have Vaporetti, meaning little boats. Basically, it is a waterbus.

Wandering through town, we happened upon this lovely fellow playing a gorgeous and moving melody, enhanced by the acoustics of the tunnel he was in.

We made our way, winding through streets, to this beautiful church.

On our way back to the hotel, Fabio stopped us and asked if we would like to take a gondola ride for 50 euros so we, of course, couldn't say no to him (most cost 80 euros). Below are some photos I snapped along the ride. 

Up next: Spring Break adventures through Tuscany and Catalunya!