San Marco Square

We left the hotel and headed across the bridge at Accademia to get to the other side of the Grand Canal. We could've easily hopped on the Vaporetto, but that wouldn't be as fun! We decided to take the longer "scenic" route to San Marco by navigating the narrow and few roadways that we could take to get there. We walked through Campo S. Stephano and Campo S. Angelo which were immersed in Carneval masks and costume shops. Walking through these plaza's makes me wish we were staying longer... Carnevale is in February and is one of the main celebration and attractions in Venezia. Too bad we'll be back states-side by then :(

Our trip over also included walking down some amazing shopping streets. There is such a wide variety of designer merchandise, Murano glass, fine jewelry, Burano lace, you name it - they got it! I must say though, most of the shopping there is really ridiculous is price because Venice is now known as a tourism city. There are only a few true Venetians still living there. I wonder what it would have been like to walk around the city before the Venetians left.

Back to my adventure
We arrived in Piazza San Marco and the first thing I was attracted to was the beautiful bell tower. It's as if it's staring at you when you first walk into the square. It easily triumphs everything around it in height. The famous bell tower is called the St. Marks Campanile and when I found it in my guide book I read that they offer group admission for a reduced rate. One of the girls got into the line and of course they told her they didn't do group discounts - fail. Being as persistent as I am, I took it upon myself to climb to the front of the line and ask again - this time they agreed that instead of 8 euro, it would only be 4 euro. BIG DIFFERENCE especially when that equates to the value of my next meal. The bell tower (thankfully) features an elevator to take you to the top where you feel like you're standing on top of Venice. You can see the rows of Gondolas stacked next to the canal, the islands neighboring Venezia, the hundreds of small canals through the city and the gorgeous bridges arching over them.

Next we went into the San Marco Basilica and immediately noticed the Eastern European influence. The Basilica featured some Latin but also some other language that we determined to be either Greek or Arabian. Venice has such a history of influence from those two cultures that it was really hard for us to determine. As a matter of fact, I think I'll need to 'google' that now! We didn't spend too much time in the Basilica because we were all getting so hungry... we walked over to get the best view of Doge's palace and to walk along the water. It felt comparable to walking along a boardwalk back home - only without the boards and with still, crystal water. For lunch we decided to check out this restaurant in a back alley hoping to get an authentic dish for a reasonable price but we quickly learned that it's impossible to find either in Venice. I ended up paying 15 euro for a Cappuccino and a split order of fries by the time I paid "the sitting fee" and the "tip." This place has definitely been taken over by the tourism industry. :(

After lunch and some continued shopping and exploring, we finally end up back at the hotel to get ready for a nice dinner.