A Wonderful Day in Venice

Hopefully the 4th of July was festive for all of you in the states! Our one and only day in Venice was packed full of many amazing moments. We started the day out with the hotel breakfast which was surprisingly good! They had really good jelly filled croissants among other things like hot chocolate, pineapple juice, yogurt, procuitto,etc. Then, we went to the Rialto bridge for another looks since we were just passing by yesterday. It was  just like in pictures and movies. Next we explored the Saint Marks square. It was pretty crowded even in the morning. It includes Doge's palace and Saint Mark's Basilica. We also walked along the port that is near the square. There were really long lines to go inside the buildings so we decided not to. Instead we looked at shops and enjoyed the hot weather. For lunch I ate a big cup of fruit because it was almost too hot to eat anything. After lunch we took a water taxi that the hotel provided over to Murano where there are several glass factories. We went to the Marco Polo factory first and got to see a glass master make a vase and a horse statue. It was so facinating that I forgot to take a picture:) Then, we looked around in their gallery. It was amazing how artistic and intricate the pieces were. We walked to a few more galleries but none were as impressive as the first. Mom and Dad went back to the first factory and bought two pieces-an abstract vase/bowl thing and a nice platter. We took another private water taxi (which is 200x better than a public water bus) back to the hotel. There is a cute shop next to the hotel that sells popsicles of every flavor. I had a mango one that was delicious! We then decided to walk along the streets for a while and look at the canals and shops. I loved just walking up and down the maze-like streets. I bought my first souvenir of the trip-an Italian leather purse and am in love with it:) We also saw these little water filled pigs that people were selling on the street. They were so cute we had to buy one! We next sat down to eat an earlier dinner at a pizzaria. For an appetizer we tried camari. I didn't think I would lime it but it turned out to be pretty good! Brynn and I shared a Hawaiian pizza that was extremely tasty. We ate the whole thing because it was such thin crust. After dinner we had gelato(surprise!) Mine was dark chocolate and cherry. And, since my theory is that you can't come all the way to Venice and not ride in a Gondola, we decided to indeed take a gondola ride. The man driving it was in a black and white striped shirt and it looked just like Hollywood. Even though it was only a half an hour it was truly worth it. It was so peaceful and a great view from the water. The only thing I was dissapointed about is that he didn't sing:( We are now going to get some rest because tomorrow we leave for the Italian countryside-a small town called Metato. I have really enjoyed Venice and would gladly come back!

Brynn bought a mask!

OMG! A whole lifetime's worth of nutella!

Gondola man

Rialto bridge

My new purse:)