Venice - Day 1

Buon giorno from Venice! We took the EuroStar train this morning (1st class) from Milan to Venice. We arrived in Venice about 9:30 am. We checked into our hotel which was right across the canal from the train station and then went out to check things out. We took the water bus to the Rialto bridge and checked out the Rialto market - lots of tourist items and fresh fruit and vegetables and a huge fish market.


After that, we walked to St. Mark's Square and looked around. What an amazing place! There were vendors in the middle of the square who were selling bread to feed to the pigeons for 1 Euro. We watched some people do it - they would just get mauled by pigeons. Pigeons would land on them and everything - so gross! Freaked me out just watching it!


We headed over to the famous Harry's Bar for lunch. We had a beautiful table overlooking the water. I had Lobster Thermidor for a whopping $61 euro and J had a basic pasta for $43 euro - ouch! It was a great experience though and now I can say that I've had a Bellini from Harry's bar. :)

After lunch we went into the Basilica San Marco. It was pretty dark inside (probably because there was a light rain outside) but we could still see most of the amazing mosaics that decorate the inside and the ceilings. We went into the treasury to see the treasures that St. Marks' has obtained over the years - chalices, goblets, candelabra, and some skulls and bones of some people. :) We then climbed a steep staircase t the Marciano Museum and the Loggia dei Cavalli where we saw the famous Triumphal Quadriga (the four houses looted from Constantinople by Venetian crusaders in 1204). We also walked out onto the loggia for a great view of Piazza San Marco (see photo).

After all that, sightseeing we came back to the hotel and took a nap and then headed out to dinner. We first went to an Irish pub which was a lot of fun and then went to Ristorante San Marco where we sat between and English couple (that kept cracking me up - the guy was kind of a jerk and kept telling his date to "Shut up! Just Shut up!" in the funniest English accent and an Italian couple. The Italians were very nice and we chatted with them quite a bit. Well, that's it for day one...can't wait to explore the rest of Venice tomorrow!