Venice

DSCN0331,
originally uploaded by Sooner Trent.

So we had to wake up kind of early to catch the 7:30 train to Venice. We would be heading back to Milan and switching trains to get there. No major issues and we got to Venice around 11:30. Our hotel was right by the train station which was nice, and they said our room would be ready in 30 minutes if we wanted to leave our bags, grab a bite and come back. They promised they were giving us one of the best rooms with the nicest bathroom in the whole hotel so it was worth the wait. The staff was incredibly nice too. I think the further north we get in Italy, the nicer the people get. Not sure why.

So we just went and found a sandwich then came back. The guy got us our key and then asked which one of us worked for Travelocity. I said I did and he said if I had time later his boss wanted to talk to me about selling rooms on our website! I was wondering how they knew, but apparently I had emailed them from my work email at some point. So I am thinking THAT is why they were saving a great room for us, and they weren't lying! I think this was the biggest room and bathroom we had yet. My job has finally handed me some travel perks!! Yea! We saw a map of the rooms and ours was easily twice as big as the rest. Nice. =)

We hopped on a vaporetto (the taxi boats) and took the long route to St. Mark's Square. I had cut out this whole 'history of the canal' thing that pointed out things along the way so we got a little history of the canal as we went down. It is pretty crazy to get out and see St. Mark's Sqaure and the Doge's palace. I mean how many movies, commercials, etc are filmed here? You see it so much, to actually be there was pretty cool. Until you get close to the pigeons. I do not like pigeons, or blackbirds, or crowes. Most other birds are ok, but something about watching The Birds a thousand times as a child has turned me off to these. They are dirty and gross and they harass you for food. Ick. So I am skirting as far around them as possible, but kids love them and they are throwing bird feed around for them. I guess some got scattered near me and they sort of all dart my direction. I freeze and kind of freak out, feeling like Tippi Hedren and thinking I am about to get my eyes pecked out. I think Jason was laughing at me, but I just got out of the pigeon fest as fast as possible.

We walked around the square, went in to St. Mark's Basilica, and then just sort of shopped for a while until our appointment to see the Accademia of art. Shopping is good everywhere in Italy I find. There is no shortage of awesome purses, shoes, etc. Love it!

We saw the Accademia and it was pretty cool. Way better than the Uffizi I thought. They had a cool Titian that I liked as well as some Pietro Longhi's that were really cool. After that we went back to the hotel to drop off our packages, rest a bit, then we headed back down to the St. Mark's area for dinner. We just grabbed a couple sandwiches and a salad and then set out for what Rick Steve's dubbed, the best gelato in Venice. I HAD to have some of that right? I had a wonderful chocolate and Jason had a tiramisu that was good, but mine was better. =)

After that we just walked around a bit and then made our way back to St. Mark's after dark. They have several cafe's that have bands and so we listened to music, danced a little and finally headed back to our hotel.

The next day we had to be back at the Doge's palace by 10:45 for this Secret Itineraries tour that our friends Gaby and Jarrett had told us about. They went on their honeymoon and said it was cool. It definitely was neat. The guide takes you behind these secret doors that the public usually doesn't get to see. You get to go inside the cell that held Cassanova and they show you how he claims to have escaped from that jail. It was pretty cool. We had to leave right after that to catch our train to Munich, which is where we are now. We have two more full days and then we head back home. I can't believe it has gone by so fast!

Today we are going to the Paulaner brewery, then to the English gardens for beers and brats, then to the BMW factory for a tour, then to the Haufbrau house. Any guesses to who planned this day? =)