An American Family in Italy: Spaghetti at Sunset

Arrival in Venice was unlike any other trip so far. After leaving our rental car in a parking garage, we boarded a train that went over the water (it stopped over the water roughly halfway), then, stepping out of the train station, we saw this(below) was the sight that greeted us. Seriously. So. Awesome.

Finding our flat in Venice (rented on air b&b), was moderately difficult. Dad tried to find it with his phone, but we found it very hard to find, what with the tiny, medieval-esque streets and the constant flow of tourists. After a local pointed us in the wrong direction (even the Venetians don't know their way around their maze-like city), we found the entrance to our flat in a narrow alley of other similar doors. Once we parked our luggage in the main room, we set out to find the city center: St. Mark's Square.

The first thing that we saw when we came in was a huge white marble structure, intricately decorated with mosaics of varying time periods. What astonished me was that this was only the side of the building- St. Mark's Basilica. Walking forwards, we saw a huge bell tower, it's red bricks contrasting with the day's fading light. Right by it, three red poles capped with golden lions- the symbol of St. Mark, guarded the Basilica, shining bright above the evening crowds of tourists headed out of Venice.

Up close, the Basilica of St. Mark was even more spectacular. Copies of the famous stollen bronze horses stood proudly above the main entrance decorated with a mosaic.

Walking even farther into St. Mark's Square, we spied the famous pink and white building decorated beautiful arches, columns, and amazing stonework- the Doge's Palace. Seeing the light fading over the palace and the water was just spectacular.

The Doge's Palace

The bell tower-the campanile-had a relatively small line because most of the tourists were gone for the day, so we decided to the top. I was prepared for a climb.... but there's a lift now, so going to the top didn't take vey long and wasn't very hard. There were four bells in the bell tower. They were all huge and lushly decorated with carvings and ancient lettering.

One of the bells in the campanile

The views of Venice from this vantage point were amazing. I included my pictures of the main sights of Venice bellow.

St. Mark's Basilica- from above

The Doge's Palace and the ocean

I then asked Sean to take a picture of me.

After that, we walked towards one of Venice's other attractions- the Rialto Bridge. The smell of sea air and fresh paint (the wooden parts of the bridge were being re-painted) wafted on the gentle breeze as we walked around the tourist shopping streets. (If you ever go to Venice, you should know that all the stalls selling T-shirts and magnets and junk all sell the same T-shirts and magnets and junk)

The Rialto Bridge

Walking back towards home we saw the sun set on the canals and lovers in their gondolas.

gorgeous.

Coming to our nearest square, we had dinner outside at a restaurant in a less touristy part of town. Four of us- Mom, Dad, Sean, and I had three-course Venetian meals by the sun setting on the nearest canal.