Like I mentioned in yesterday's post, Venice is freaking sweet! We added Bucky's little brother Luke on to our party yesterday and started the day with walking across the Accademia bridge (one of only four bridges that have ever crossed the Grand Canal) and catching a water bus at the entrance of the Grand Canal. The architecture and ambiance of this city is really indescribable. There are boats everywhere, canals everywhere, and every narrow alleyway is potentially a major thoroughfare! We got off the water bus at the Rialto market and explored the produce stands for awhile, but I didn't find it all that intriguing. After a bite to eat we got back on the water bus and went down to the Piazza San Marco. Bucky, Luke and I got in line to tour the Basilica San Marco and when we turned around Laura was nowhere to be found! We looked around for her, but to no avail, we entered the church one member short.
There are no photos allowed in the Basilica San Marco, but you would be surprised at how many people break that rule. At the entrance, right next to a sign that says no photography, there were about seven people clicking away! Out of respect for the sanctity of the cathedral, we managed to refrain. The Basilica is one of the oldest churches in Europe and is very beautiful. From the Basilica we managed to meet back up with Laura and went to the top of the Campanile di San Marco, a bell tower and the tallest structure in Venice. From the top of the Campanile we enjoyed unparalleled 360° views of the city.
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| Looking down on the Basilica San Marco |
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| Doge's Palace |
After our tour of Piazza San Marco we headed back to the flat to recharge our batteries. Then we wandered around the city for awhile trying to find a good place to watch the sunset. Unfortunately we left the flat a little to late and wandered around a little too long and ended up missing half the sunset, but it was still a nice place to hang out and drink some wine while dark fell. On the way back to the flat we found a gondola driver and decided that we couldn't in good conscience leave Venice without taking a gondola ride, even though it costs 100 euros for 35 minutes. To round off our trip we decided to go to Lido island and swim around in the Adriatic Sea. Lido island is apparently the ritziest part of Venice, but it has a nice public beach and there is a public strip of sand 9 meters from the edge of the water across all the private beaches as well. Sitting in the sand, swimming, and reading for a day was
a nice change of pace from everything we have done the rest of this summer, but it didn't last long. At around 2:00 we had to grab some lunch and drive back to Chamonix so Luke and Laura could make their flights home the next day.
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