Venice, Italy

May 26

I have to say, so far the two major cities I've visited in Italy I really enjoy getting lost. Most people when they come they plan out their whole trip, we have to go here, here and here. But getting lost is all part of the fun and you can stumble upon some really cool places your never even knew existed! Yes, if you have that one thing you must see, like Preston did with his Indiana Jones Church, then google map it see where it is to get an idea. But don't just right away go to it, get lost and every once in a while check your map and see if your getting closer to it until you finally get there.

We wanted to get on one of the earlier trains so we had all day to wander around the city. But as most people know there are always set backs when going in a group. At least there are multiple trains that are close by. So if you miss one you can drive to the next station and hop on it there. That is exactly what we ended up doing. We wanted to make the 8:42 train from Pordenone but that didn't happen. So we drove a little further to Sacile's train station. Oh boy, we cut it close to missing this one too! If we did not run from our car to the train station we would not have made it and had to wait about an hour for the next one to come. Also, if the train wasn't a minute late in leaving we would of missed it too. The train just knew we were going to be late so thought it would be too ;)

So glad we made this train cause two of our other friends had made the Pordenone train stop and were already on the train. That would of sucked waiting for us at the other end in Venice. The train ride is not bad at all. It only took an hour to get down to Venice. Can't beat traveling like that!

We arrived in Venice and I had to go the bathroom really bad. So we found the one in the train station. Never in my life have I had to pay to use a bathroom! I thought that was the weirdest thing ever! I don't think I will ever get used to that.

Now time to go explore!!

We decide to take the water taxi to the St. Mark's Square to start our adventure. I must say just on the ride there, there were some amazing views! I loved all the old houses and buildings all along the canal. Some of them even had really pretty paintings or detailed sculptures on the side of them.

(San Rocco (Scuola of St. Rocco Church)

(Gondola)

(Museo di Storia Naturale)

(Market)

(Rialto Bridge (Ponte di Rialto))

(Random Owl picture I took for my sister)

Right when we got off at our stop there were vendor carts all along the street. They had some really pretty and intricate masks and all sorts of different things. It was hard not to run into somebody while trying to take everything all in. Not really sure why, on a Monday, it was so crowded! One of our friends even said he came on a Saturday and it wasn't like this.

I'm going to be honest, we saw so many churches that I'm not sure of all of names. So some will not have a name with the picture.

The first historical site we saw was Palazzo Ducale. We didn't have time to go in it because the line already wrapped around the building to get in. But definitely want to come back one time and go inside. I hear its pretty amazing!

(Palazzo Ducale)

One of the only places we wanted to see/find was the building that Indiana Jones used in his third movie, Inidiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Preston thought we had found it, but it was too good to be true. It wasn't the right one, just looked like it. This was the Vivaldi Church. Still really pretty to go look at and it's on the canal.

(Vivaldi Church)

While walking over there we also got to cross over Ponte della Paglia bridge to see the Bridge of Sighs. 

(Bridge of Sighs)

And also while walking over to the church we thought was in Indiana Jones we saw the San Giorgio dei Greci. This church looks like its about to fall over. (We actually saw another one later in the day that looked like it was going to fall over too)

(San Giorgio dei Greci Church)

Since the view in front of the Vivaldi Church was so pretty, I just had to get at least one picture with Preston!

Back to the St. Mark's Square to start our real adventure!

In St. Mark's Square another famous church is St. Mark's Basilica. Also there is Torre dell'Orologio, which the clock (blue spot in middle) is still working to this day and chimes on the hour.

(Saint Mark's Basilica (Basilica di San Marco))

(Artwork on Saint Mark's Basilica (Basilica di San Marco))

(Artwork on Saint Mark's Basilica (Basilica di San Marco))

(Artwork on Saint Mark's Basilica (Basilica di San Marco))

(Torre dell'Orologio)

We picked the first walkway to go down, which was straight in front of us under the clock, to see what we could found next. We came across Chiesa di San Zulian, another church. This one to me seemed a little more random and shoved in between a lot of other buildings. As you can see one in the picture right off to the right, can't even get a whole shot of the church. It is also a smaller church compared to some of the other ones.

(Chiesa di San Zulian)

A lot of the churches you can't take pictures in because it will disturb the people using the church for worship.

One of the first statues we saw down the path we took was Campo San Bartolomeo.

(Campo San Bartolomeo)

All of us started to get hungry so we had to find somewhere to eat. We wanted to try and get away from St. Mark's Square because there food is really expensive!! We tried to find this pizza place on Trip Advisor but when we got there it was take-away pizza only. We all wanted somewhere to sit down for a little. I think the place we choose was a good choice. It was called Ristorante Terrazza Sommariva, and you can't beat the view we had! We were right on the canal and the Rialto Bridge was right in front of us. I stuck with pizza, since we all had been talking about it on the way here. It was good but I must say the wine I got was amazing! I got Nivole's Moscato D'Asti. Very tasty!

Back to exploring!! And to find gelato! :)

We got to walk over Rialto Bridge (Ponte di Rialto), which is known as the "true heart of Venice" and is still standing on the same wooden pilings that supported it over 400 years ago. The view is beautiful!!

(View from Rialto Bridge)

After wandering around a little, we found this really cute gelato shop and decided to go in it. Apparently it was one that Mary had found on Trip Advisor that was said to be really good. It was probably some of the best gelato I've had! It was so "fluffy" tasting. I could of eaten tons of it! This time Preston and I shared two scoops of Nutella flavored and cream flavored. The cream was the best!

(La Boutique del Gelato)

Now we really started to wander around. Let me tell you, you can get turned around and lost so easily here. Lots of places look the same. We went in so many circles but that is all of the fun!

We came across another church, this one had so many intricate architectural details on the front.

(Chiesa di San Moise Venezia)

Now the second church we came across that looks like its going to fall over.

Another statue.

Time to go across to the other side of the canal and see what other cool and amazing things we can find. I don't think you can ever find a bad view in Venice. The bridge to walk across had some pretty views.

Oh and you can't forget all the locks that people had put all along the bridge.

The bridge that we took across was right near another really intricate architectural church. Plus the inside of the church had a lot of works of art and statues in it too. The name of this church was Santa Maria della Salute and was right on the canal.

(Santa Maria della Salute Church)

When you come out of the church you get to take in how pretty the city is. Plus its also nice to take a break and chill on the steps of the church.

Back to exploring. And a few more amazing views of Venice.

This side of Venice we actually found out that the Indiana Jones church was over here. This was the only time we actually google mapped a place to find exactly where it was. It actually wasn't that far from us either. Preston was so excited when we found the church! The name of the church is Chiesa di San Barnaba.

(Chiesa di San Barnaba)

After seeing this church, it was time for drink break. There is a cute cafe to the right of the church. You can either sit inside or outside. If you do sit outside you have to pay an extra fee. We just sat inside at the side bar. I got a glass of Prosecco while Preston got his usual coke.

(Prosecco)

It was starting to get late in the afternoon and we had to find our way back to the train. Wow, did we have a long way to walk! But then again it doesn't always seem as bad as it really is because you have all the amazing buildings and history around you. Or the beautiful random flowers you come across.

Or you might even come across a stray cat.

It took us a little to find our way back to the train station but we finally did it! That was a long day with a lot of walking, but well worth it! I could go back and probably not find some of the things again that we found this time. But where's the fun in keep going back to the same places! :)