Family Vacation: Venice/Venise/Venezia

I think Venice might have been my favorite stop on our 10-day tour o' Europe (well, just a tiny bit of France/Italy, but cool). There really are no other cities like it and I think it is gorgeous. Even if the canals are filled with the most disgusting water on the face of the earth. They don't tell you this, but, oh lord. Revolting. I mean, it makes sense. How clean are normal highways? Same thing, just with boats.


Venetian public transit... I didn't really think through this ahead of time, but I was really struck when i got to venice by the fact that the taxis and the "buses" are all boats.


A close up of St. Mark's Basilica on... well, St. Mark's Square (San Marco)


The Bridge of Sighs. It's the bridge that connects the Doge's Palace to the prison. The story is that condemned criminals would pass from receiving their sentences in the Palace to the prison by this bridge and they'd look out the little windows and sigh because they knew it was their last view of the outside world.


They take counterfeiting purses/goods very seriously. We were eating lunch at a café here when all of a sudden there was screaming and commotion... Apparently the police had arrived to try and catch the people selling the counterfeits and the sellers ran off through the crowds, knocking people down etc. They managed to get away, but the Police did collect a lot of goods that they'd left behind.


mmm. Canals.


I just loved this scene. The majestic Rialto bridge in the background, the Gondolier station in the fore-ground with a Gondolier and an old italian man arguing/discussing to the side. Perfection.


LOTS of pigeons on St. Mark's Square. Apparently, there are so many that the authorities put population control drugs/whatnot into the pigeon feed that you can buy to feed them. Tuppence a bag, folks.


The Rialto bridge with a view of our hotel also (the red building)


Gondola-ing!


A view from the front of the gondola. Go figure. A very peaceful, if expensive (for my grandparents) experience. Our gondolier was really nice and chatty and the weather was perfect... Though, the water did kind of stink sometimes.


A view of the Grande Canal from the middle of the Grande Canal.


Took a stroll with Dad after dark... found some cool graffiti on a bridge.


Yes. This is the inside of the Venetian post office. I feel that having to come here would make waiting in that ridiculous USPS line every time MUCH more enjoyable. Seriously.


Inside the prison connected to the Doge's palace. This would be my cell, apparently.


Posing with Dad and Jess at St. Mark's Square