Venice.

Claire ed io siamo andate a Venezia insieme e ci siamo divertite molto! Of course, that was over a month ago. I'm a little bit behind on the blogging, if you haven't noticed. There's been a severe lack of time! I'm hoping to catch up this weekend, so stay tuned.

So, Venice is a pretty cool place. I'm sure you've all heard of it but let me reiterate: it is a city surrounded by water, people - in fact, it stretches over one teeny hundred islands. Pretty awesome, huh?


Me and Claire upon our arrival.

We boarded a ferry to travel down the Canal Grande in order to reach the central part of Venice. We took in some sights along the way!

This, for instance, is a water taxi. Sweet.





The Basilica Santa Maria Della Salute from the Canal Grande.

Just part of the Venetian Lagoon.

That's the Basilica San Giorgio Maggiore in the background.

And then we were back on land. Here is a shot of the famed Piazza San Marco. It is the only piazza in Venice - anything else resembling a public square is called a campo.

Claire and me taking it all in!

I just can't shake the headshot photographer out of me. ;] Claire's a beautiful model!

A pitiful representation of the Basilica Cattedrale Patriachale di San Marco. It is absolutely beautiful, but also absolutely under construction. :P


Me standing on one of venice's four hundred and nine bridges!

We watched a very brief glass-blowing demonstration, which was pretty cool.

This here is Stacy! Stacy is a friend from school who is studying in Perugia here in Tuscany. We just happened to be in Venice at the same time.

She and her friends were sweet enough to let us join them for lunch. :]



There are copious amounts of gondolas all over the city!

Unfortunately, a legit gondola ride comes at a pretty steep price.

We forewent it and took the thirty-second ride across the canal. ;]

Back on land!

Pretty in pink. ;]



The view from the Ponte di Rialto.

And again.

And again.

Again.

One more time.

This is a snapshot of the Mercato di Rialto, which actually goes up, over and down the bridge.

And this is the Ponte di Rialto itself. So pretty!
Venice was magical. After an incredibly long bus ride home - one of our fellow tourists somehow managed to wind up in Padua, which is about an hour from Venice, and we had to go pick him up - we were back in Florence and ready to sleep. ;]