Joey and Jill’s Travel Blog

Ok, so this whole trip and pretty much my whole life I have wanted to go to Venice, especially before it sinks in 240 years. So, yesterday my dream came true. Not only is Venice probably the most beautiful city I have ever seen, but it has a completely different style and culture than anywhere I have ever been before.

Joey and I got to the train early. It was about 2.5 hours to get there by train and we returned the same night. We probably missed some things but I am really glad we have a home base and are just making day trips to places. So, we got to Venice and I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew it was a city with canals instead of roads and boats instead of cars, but it was amazing! Not having to fear for your life as you cross the road or smell the dirty pollution of Florence for a day was magical!

So, we got off the train and Joey put his map reading skills to work. Although Venice is a lot more confusing than other cities he did a really good job. Plus, the city isn’t all that big so it was really managable to walk around.

We decided to head for San Marco’s Basilica first because it is supposed to be breathtaking. It took us a while to get over there but the sights along the way were amazing. The architecture of Venice is totally different from that of Florence or anywhere else we have been thus far. The Venetians are very regal and they use lots of pinks and reds and really elegant lights and decorative bridges and such. So, it is really fun just walking around because it’s almost like stepping into a fairytale. The only problem is that the buildings haven’t been kept up very well so things do look a bit deteriorated.

What I noticed most was all the Carnivale culture…there were tons of stores selling really cool hand-painted masks and blown glass. It was really fun. Then we made it to San Marcos.

This site is seriously breathtaking. I have never seen anything like it. It looks like a really big palace or something that is at the end of this huge plaza. The walls of the plaza are created by these amazing buildings that probably were actually a palace at some point. The Basilica is remarkable. Joey and I went inside to find the most amazing and intricate design. The whole thing sparkled gold with hugely tall ceilings and when you looked closer you could see that it was all tiled in a mosaic way. The detail was amazing and the floor merely reflected the intricacies of the ceiling. It was held up by these huge marble pillars of all different colors. We could have stayed in there for hours just looking at the beauty of it. Who knows how long it took to build but we really don’t see detail like that anymore.

Being in the huge plaza made me feel like I should have been surrounded by 17th century royalty with their big dresses and bright pink feathers in their hair. All of the glass in the lightposts was pink. And then if you looked toward the water you could see another huge palace like structure across the way. It was amazing and I loved every minute of it.

Although, you can’t stay in the fairytale for that long. It isn’t hard to forget that you are a tourist surrounded by hundreds of other tourists. Joey and I were taken aback to see that in the middle of this remarkable plaza there where toursits with bird seed just letting all these pigeons sit on there hands and heads and whatnot. It didn’t seem sanitary or fun to us but to each his own.

After exploring this area and walking through much more of Venice, we were tired. We have been on this trip for 28 days now and though it has been amazing and fun and exciting, it is also exhausting. We walk EVERYWHERE. Our legs ache and my feet are blistered, so we sat next to the grand canal and drank some wine and seriously just relaxed for a few hours. We watched the Gondolas go to and fro and the water buses and taxis. Venice may be the best place to people watch in the world.

Joey and I decided to forego going on a Gondola because they are really expensive, but watching them was just as surreal. Then, tired and ready for bed we got back on the train for the trip home. It was a long ride, especially for Joey who forgot to bring a book and his headphones so he was pretty bored the whole way back. He tried to sleep or watched me read.

Once back I decided that I am ready to be back in the states. We are having a blast here, but being away from home for so long makes you realize how much you love it. I miss my bed and my family and my friends (no particular order). I think it is good that we only have one week left.

Tomorrow we head for Rome, Joey has wanted to go here the whole time so it will be really cool to get to see it. Joey will be sure to take lots of pictures for Timmy.

Here are some pics from Venice…enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9547617@N02/sets/72157608443178992/

We also added more pics of Florence here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9547617@N02/sets/72157608357212433/

We miss and love you all so much and can’t wait to see you in a week! Have a Happy Halloween (what are your costumes???) and we will post again on Thursday!

Much love,

J&J

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 28th, 2008 at 1:02 pm and is filed under Italy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.