Italy - Part III Venice

Venice is a magical city. If you have been there you know that pictures and words can only describe a portion of what Venice is really like. For those of you that haven't I hope that I do the wonderful city justice enough to entice you to want to experience it for yourself.

I (Brian) had never been to Venice until this trip. As we approached by train all of my preconceived notions were thrown out the window. However, soon after we hopped off the train I knew that something was different about the city of Venice. But, I couldn't put my finger on it until the first night as we were walking home from dinner and Sarah brought it to my attention. It was the fact that there was no regular city noise. All the noise that one could here was people walking, talking and of course the water in the canal. The city echoes with the excitement of people.

Along with the city being unique, the people in Venice were very friendly, especially our host Riccardo from the little bed and breakfast Corte Campana. He talked us through the area, shared some of his family with us, and seemed to be excited to see us wandering through the streets. Wandering the streets was the best, and in Venice, we seemed to be eating constantly. We would see a good looking panini shop, get one to go, and have to share. This allowed us to stop again, relatively soon, and try another one. The ingredients are fresh and the grill makes everything melt together into heaven. We didn't worry about what was inside, we looked through the glass and just pointed at what we wanted. We fooled ourselves into thinking we'd be able to find the same place twice...maybe it's a good thing we didn't. And don't forget the gelato!

I was in amazement every minute and I was trying to soak up as much of the feeling of Venice as well as the feeling of being on vacation that I could. In our bliss we went to the top of clock tower in St. Mark's Square, took the water bus to see the grand canal, and even fed the crazy pigeons! It was a fun experience having those little birds climbing on us and looking for another piece of corn.