Traveling to Venice

Day 7 - Venice, Italy

 This morning we packed our bags and headed to the train station for a quick 2 hour train ride to Venice.  I always dreamed of going to Venice and was super excited to explore this floating city that is connected by charming bridges at every corner. Right when we got off the train we walked out of the station and were greeted by the grand canal and water taxis.  Leslie wanted to continue making our trip fabulous so we got a private taxi and headed to our hotel, Hotel Splendid.

{The view from the train station when you exit}

{Me getting into the water taxi with ALL of our luggage}

{View from the back of our water taxi}

{ A very cloudy & rainy first day but still beautiful}

{Our charming hotel}

{The beautiful bridge outside our hotel-it is also known as the "Wedding Bridge." We even saw a newly wed couple getting pictures on our first day there}

{Our first lunch in Venice}

After lunch we explored the Grand Canal- sadly, the Rialto Bridge was under construction, but the view was still incredible.  We then went to Piazza San Marco where we got caught in a torrential downpour for an hour or two. 

{The Grand Canal from the steps of the Rialto Bridge}

{ A picture I took from Google that shows you what the Rialto Bridge looks like}

{The calm side of the grand canal}

{Piazza San Marco}

{Started to get a little heavier- at least we had one umbrella}

{Us taking cover under some buildings along with everyone else in Venice}

After standing outside in the rain for a few hours and being a little cold, we decided to head back to our hotel where we enjoyed a few drinks with a wonderful view of gondolas from our hotel bar as we waited for the rain to end that afternoon and head to dinner.

{funny little shirt I saw in a store window}

{Headed to dinner}

{Leslie and Richard exploring the city and taking in the views}

{Across the water you can see a burgundy awning, which was where we ate dinner right on the 

Grand Canal}

That night we wanted to be a little touristy and eat right on the waterway of the Grand Canal. We literally ate in the water as the tide came in very quickly. Thankfully we kept our feet up on the legs of the table, but the waiters actually wear rain boots to get from table to table. It was a very neat experience. 

{You can see the water come in- eye level with the boats}