Ah, Venice...what a magical place! You walk off the train and you KNOW you are not in Kansas anymore. The first thing that struck me was that this was not like anywhere I had been before. Venice is one of the few truly unique cities in the world. And here I was strolling along the Grand Canal (well, at least in front of the train station)!
For those of you who don't know (and I didn't know most of this), Venice is an island that has no cars whatsoever! It has a multitude of streets (which you and I would most likely call sidewalks), canals and as a result, bridges. Everything is shipped in via boat and hand trucked to it's final destination...hint: pack light! The Grand Canal is the main thoroughfare that travels from the bus and train stations through the island and ends at St. Marks Square. It is a bustling main street with boats of all shapes and sizes. There are the water buses (vaportto), gondole, traghetto, garbage boats, police boats, ambulance boats, UPS boats, freight boats, refrigerated boats, and the inevitable joy riding boats...I have to admit it was rather strange to see people getting off boats dressed like they were walking down a runway (aren't boats for fishing?). All traveling down the same canal with their own individual routes and yet they all seem to get along. While riding along on the vaporetto through Venice and the lagoon, both Tobin and I decided it is Neil heaven...we could totally see him zooming around the lagoon and back canals on his boat of choice showing the locals how it is really done! The Grand Canal...
For those of you who don't know (and I didn't know most of this), Venice is an island that has no cars whatsoever! It has a multitude of streets (which you and I would most likely call sidewalks), canals and as a result, bridges. Everything is shipped in via boat and hand trucked to it's final destination...hint: pack light! The Grand Canal is the main thoroughfare that travels from the bus and train stations through the island and ends at St. Marks Square. It is a bustling main street with boats of all shapes and sizes. There are the water buses (vaportto), gondole, traghetto, garbage boats, police boats, ambulance boats, UPS boats, freight boats, refrigerated boats, and the inevitable joy riding boats...I have to admit it was rather strange to see people getting off boats dressed like they were walking down a runway (aren't boats for fishing?). All traveling down the same canal with their own individual routes and yet they all seem to get along. While riding along on the vaporetto through Venice and the lagoon, both Tobin and I decided it is Neil heaven...we could totally see him zooming around the lagoon and back canals on his boat of choice showing the locals how it is really done! The Grand Canal...
While most of the length of the Grand Canal has no walkways on the canal side, there are some restaurants that front the canal...
Here is the classic gondola...while we didn't make it on one, they were certainly fun to watch...
That first evening we rode the vaporetto to our hotel (which by the way was the absolute BEST! It was located just upstream of the Rialto Bridge in the middle of Venice only 50 yard from the vaporetto stop and was relatively cheap plus it had air conditioning and breakfast...it was an awesome building built in 1287...we were LOVING it) and then cruised the Canal...
That was the beginning of this whirlwind weekend...lots of sightseeing...lots of tourists...lots of heat...lots of adventure...lots of memories!
Ciao a tutti!
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