The Taylors Visit Italy: Venice

The finale!  I remember the first time I stepped out of the Venice train station.  You are greeted by the hustle and bustle and instantly overwhelmed with the people, boats, bridges, and buildings, decaying and dripping with elegance.  I'll never forget it and always love to see the reactions of first-timers. 

We immediately hopped onto a vaporetto (a water bus) and sailed away.  The route takes you down the entire length of the s-shaped Grand Canal to Piazza San Marco.  Along the way, you are treated to the most picturesque view of the canal's palaces. 

We arrived to Piazza San Marco with it's raspberry swirl Doge's Palace, ornate basilica, and towering campanille.  After a quick panini lunch, we wandered through the inside of the basilica, gawking at the glorious gold mosaics.

We took another vaporetto to the island of Murano.  Immediately upon arriving, a man directed us to what we thought was a glass factory/demonstration.  Of course it was only the expensive showroom....We window-shopped and gawked at all the glass along Murano's canals.   It was our first visit to Murano as well, and I especially enjoyed the lack of crowds.  There were several interesting modern art sculptures done in glass scattered over the island.

We headed back to the main island of Venice and strolled casually to the Rialto.  The moon was out and glowing over the canal.  From here, we started our dinner pub crawl.  We hopped from one wine bar to the next, ordering a glass and whatever munchies looked tasty.  Afterwards, we crawled over to San Marco to take in the lights and orchestras.  We listened, danced, and laughed in the night air.  To end the evening, we hopped on the vaporetto once more for a flood-lit ride past the decadent palaces, back down the Grand Canal.  

We returned to Venice the next day to peruse just a little more.  We visited the Frari Church in the San Polo district.  Titian's The Assumption of Mary at the alter is one of my favorites.  I especially enjoy how the choir frames it when you stand by his tomb.

We visited the Rialto again and stood at the top, taking in all the activity below.  It was entertaining to watch how all the boats navigated around each other.  There was a full range of sizes- tiny gondolas, mid-size water taxis, and large vaporetti.  Somehow they made it all work while seeming effortless.

We ended the evening with dinner at Zairo in Padua.  It was a lovely ristorante with delcious food and the perfect Italian sendoff.