If I could share all of our photos from our trip, I would. However, I don't think anyone wants to see thousands (yes, thousands) of pictures of a trip they didn't go on. So I've narrowed it down to 20 from each city. That is still quite a bit, but I tried to make it smaller, and doing so just leaves out so much.
Venice was the first stop during our three weeks in Italy. It was exciting, and a little terrifying, to get off a plane and find our way to a city not even connected to the country.
Venice isn't huge. You can't see the whole city in a day, but you can walk to the other side of it if you wanted to. It is crowded with Italians and tourists, restaurants, shops, museums, and churches. My very favorite part about this city was that every where we walked, we found something new we hadn't seen before, even if we took the same route as we had another day. There are so many little secrets in Venice.
Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip:
This was taken on our 10 hour flight to Germany. For months I had been counting down the days until the trip, it didn't feel real until we got on the plane and there was no turning back.
This was taken at Doge's Palace before the tour Branden booked for us. I stood in the courtyard of this palace thinking of how many people had stood where I was standing so long ago, and how much history I was surrounded by. It was a gorgeous day, our first full day in Italy, and I couldn't believe I was really there.
One morning we got up early and went to the Rialto Market in the middle of the city. We stood and watched them unload all of the food from boats and set up their booths. Then we bought fresh fruit and vegetables from the vendors, which was a little intimidating, but very fun. This is the view of the other side of the canal from the market.
We read that Saint Mark's Square was amazing at night, and it was true. It had rained most of the evening, and we were coming back from the opera. We had to pass through the square to get to our apartment and this is what we saw. The rain had cleared out what was usually a very crowded square, and made it glow. We stood in the middle of the square while an orchestra played "Hey Jude." I remember standing as close to Branden as I could, just soaking in the beauty and magic around me. This is my favorite memory from the entire trip.
Walking home from an opera in heels, with an umbrella, in the middle of rainy Venice will always be a favorite memory.
Seeing the sunset over Venice from our apartment was incredible. Our apartment was my favorite place we stayed while in Italy. We were so close to the square (you can see the apartment from the clock tower), but we were three stories up, and we could never hear the crowds and bustling of the city. We could, however, hear the orchestras playing from the square. If I could live there, I would.
Every where you turn in Venice, there is something beautiful to look at.
This bookstore, Acqua Alta, was one that we planned on finding months before we even booked our apartment in Venice. Inside, books are stacked and piled on high shelves, boats, gondolas, tubs, etc. Every year the shop floods since, like most shops, it is right up against the canal. The owner keeps everything off the floor so that books aren't ruined. We spent a long time in this eclectic store just browsing. While we went into almost every bookstore we walked by in all three cities, this was one of our favorites.
This is the book store cat. I loved that he just hung out by the entrance and wandered through the store with the rest of the customers. Roaming cats were very common in Venice, they even roam in the hospitals.
This day was one of my favorites in Venice. It rained enough the night before and through out the day that the canals were starting to rise. We spent most of our morning lost, looking for a museum that ended up being closed. It was cold and rainy, and I couldn't stop shaking and sneezing, but it was still great. We wandered through small streets, went to lunch, then spent the rest of the day relaxing in the apartment while rain covered the city. This was a Monday, and it rained the rest of our stay. But Venice in the rain is still wonderful.
More memories and favorite pictures coming soon in Part 2!
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