Venezia!

 

 Ahh Venice....it's hard to describe how truly beautiful and breathtaking this city is - it's a place I have always wanted to visit, but never actually thought I'd be standing on one of it's many (MANY) bridges, watching gondolas glide along underneath me. The downside of Venice's infamous beauty is that everyone else in the world also visits in the summer! The number of tourists clogging the narrow streets was incredible, with tour boats unloading their international cargo all day. The best people-watching was always at 5:00PM, when all the tourists head back to their boats, sunburned, covered in gelato, and many sporting their newly purchased Venetian carnival masks!

 Venice, or Venezia, seems like a city that shouldn't really exist: a man-made island with waterways instead of roads, churches with docks instead of parking lots, and the threat of floods everytime it rains. Boats serve as the main mode of trasportation, so everything from groceries to dishwashers to firefighters to newlyweds are transported along the canals, with only one road connecting Venice to the mainland (cars and even bicycles are forbidden in the city). 

Another example of how boats rule the city: a floating grocery store!

 This couldn't be a true Venezia blog without at least one photo of Gondolas!

They really are as beautiful and romantic in real life as they are portrayed in movies and books, though sadly for our budget, they were obscenely expensive! The proces varied, but on average they were around $80 for the half hour traditional tour, and $120 if you wanted to tour the more quiet canals. Needless to say, we skipped on the gondolas, and opted instead for a ride on the 'vaporetto', Venice's answer to public transportation - these long barges are like our normal city buses, so it was a great way to see the city from the water (and at 7 euros, it was much more affordable!)

Though the gondola business is now a ludicrous tourist-trap, the history of these boats spans many centuries. Pictured here is where these renowned are made; tucked away in a quiet corner of the city, this little workshop seems frozen in time, with gonodoliers working on their boats for upwards of two months. Apparently to become a gondolier is quite difficult - the trade is usually passed down from father to son.

Cannolis!

We had to try a Bellini, a typical Venetian drink: prosecco mixed with white peach juice. These little bottles were in many ofthe corner stores dotted around the city, and were a perfect respite from the relentless heat - it turns out there isn't much in the way of shade or benches in Venice! (On our second foray to the city we found the Public Gardens, where we blissfully spent the day under the trees!)

The Bridge of Sighs. 

This bridge transported convicted criminals to their final resting place (jail), so the barred windows were their last look at the outside world. As legend has it, Casanova passed along this bridge, though he ended up escaping. 

Around every corner there was yet another beautiful canal lined with beautiful, centuries-old buildings...choosing amongst hundreds of photos is no easy task!

Our last view of Venice before we boarded the night-train to head to Austria...!