I was surprised to see the sun shining so brightly when I opened the green shutters outside the apartment windows. I was happy to see bright blue skies even though the wind felt a bit nippy. Right after breakfast, I went with my sister, her husband, and niece over the Accademia bridge through Campo San Stefano and into Piazza San Marco.
I took a picture, shown here, to show the busy piazza, the blue skies, and of course the pigeons. We were still bundled up, but were enjoying the sun while walking around the piazza.
We waited in line with many groups of students from all over Europe to get into the Basilica San Marco. We visited the Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace). Each room we visited was more interesting than the next one. Before exiting, we walked through the labyrinth between the old and new prison and crossed the Ponte dei sospiri (Bridge of Sighs) twice from the inside.
Afterwards, we met up with Dave and walked along the Canal Grande and went to Harry's Bar where Hemingway, among many others, have come. We each had a Bellini, which is a drink invented at Harry's Bar made with peach juice and Prosecco (Italian sparkling wine).
We hopped on a gondola right outside Harry's Bar after our late lunch that took us through the quiet canals and under the Ponte dei sospiri.
Dave and I decided to go home for a quick rest. We then took a vaporetto up to the Rialto bridge to get a drink along the Canal Grande. We walked around in circles and couldn't find any place that had room or that looked nice. As we stood outside of a bar waiting for a few seats to be liberated, my sister and her family were walking toward us.
We ended up walking back to Campo San Stefano and enjoyed drinks on the terrace. We couldn't stay too long outside because we were all sitting in the shade and the air was quite cool.
Venice feels almost unreal. It's so beautiful and yet while I walk around the streets it seems like it doesn't really exist. If I didn't speak Italian to the people in restaurants and shops, I wouldn't even think I was in Italy. Maybe because I didn't see many Italians around town.
Share your comments for this blog post on the Living in Florence's Facebook page. Grazie!