Venice and Murano!!

This weekend I decided to take a last minute trip to Venice.  I met my friend Beth and some of her school friends, they are all studying in Orvieto.  Venice is Gorgeous.  We got so lucky with weather.  It was fairly warm and sunny the whole time.  The pictures make it look like it should be in the 60s or 70s but it was in the 50s during the day and 40s at night.  Venice is a car-free city.  Walking and boats only!  So instead of taking the metro or a bus like we normally would in a tourist city we had to manage the water bus system.  We got the hang of it pretty quick.  Its quite a bit slower than Metros though.

Gondolas on the Grand Canal

Basilica of San Marco

Beth and I in front of San Marco

We went to the top of the tower on the right the next day.  The pictures from that are at the end.

Most of the streets turn into canals when they reach the "coast"  they have a small set of steps into the water.

The Grand Canal

San Marco at night.

Beth and I at the top of some big famous bridge that I can't remember the name of.

We also went on a Gondola ride at night.  None of the pictures turn out at night especially when you're on a tippy little boat.  On this Gondola ride we saw Marco Polo's house, Casanova's House, and the house from 007 Casino Royale.

The next morning the fog had settled and we were able to see the Alps over the city.  It was amazing.  The entire train ride home I was able to see them too.

We decided to go to Murano the morning of the second day.  Murano is very famous for glass work.  There were hundreds of shops with glass everything.  Jewelry to vases to mirrors to figurines.  The island itself is very sweet.  Quaint and colorful.  Hopefully I'll have a chance to go back and see Burano as well.

Vegetable vendor on a boat.

Murano tower with a giant glass spike ball.

This is at the top of the tower in the San Marco Piazza.  We picked a perfect day for this!  The next pictures are of Venice from above.

San Marco Basilica from above.

Beth and I also decided what our plans were for a couple more weekends coming up.  She is coming to Milan in April, we are going to Vienna, Strasbourg, and possibly Budapest over Easter, I am going to Orvieto in April, and we are meeting up in Switzerland in May.  I can't wait!!!!!