The City of Glass and Water...

We only spent a couple of days in Venice, but we enjoyed every second!



After spending almost 5 hours on the train from Rome, we found our little hotel surprisingly easily, and got ourselves sorted out. It was a beautiful day, so we got changed into our best summery clothes and went out to explore Venice in all its glory. We wandered around trying not to stop in every glass or mask shop, and eventually found ourselves at the Academy Gallery, with many of the best religious artworks Italy has to offer (including artists such as Bellini, Carpaccio and Verenese). We also walked to Ponte Rialto where we ate the biggest slices of pizza we've ever seen sitting on the rails of a monument.





The next day we bought our 24 hour vaporetto (the boats that ferry everyone around Venice) pass, and took full advantage of it. There is not a car to be seen in the centre of Venice, and the only ways to get around are by foot or boat. We caught the vaporetto to the Doge's Palace (the ruler in Venice from the 13th century until sometime in recent history), and admired the collection of weapons and armour, as well as the grand meeting chambers. There are incredible artworks just about everywhere, except perhaps the prison, which is reached by walking over the Bridge of Sighs.

We checked out St Marks Square, but didn't stay there too long as it was just packed with tourists and pigeons. In the afternoon we decided to take a break from Renaissance art, and went to the Peggy Guggenheim gallery of contemporary art, featuring works from artists such as Picasso, Pollock and Margritte. It was really interesting, and renewed our interest in modern art.



We spent the rest of our time in Venice eating yummy pizza and gelato, riding vaporetto's around, looking (and perhaps buying) at glass shops and trying on masks a plenty. We didn't even get lost too much thanks to Cam, our trusty navigator.



We could also have spent a lot more time checking out the different boating styles in Venice, but we got a pretty good idea in the time we were there. This guy wins the prize for best wedding transport!