It is so HOT here!!

That was one of the main thoughts of the day. It is so hot here, but worse, it is very, very humid. It just makes everything more difficult and a little more unpleasant. We started the day with a big list of things to do. We woke up, ate breakfast in out hotel and hit the town. We headed toward the main square in town, the Piazza San Marco. We walked there because the town is pretty small and the bus costs 6 euros a trip. We stopped on the Rialto bridge, the biggest and most beautiful bridge in all of Venice. Also a major tourist attraction. It crosses over the Grand Canal and marks the half way point of the canal. By this time I was dripping with sweat. It was so uncomfortable. At least everyone around you is really sweaty too so it doesn't make you self conscious. After the bridge, we made it to the plaza and the main attraction there, the basilica of San Marco. We waited in a long line and Rachel had to pay 1 euro for a paper "shawl" to cover her shoulders. When we got to the front, we realized that it was closed, and people were only aloud up into the museum which costs 4 euros each. We didn't want to pay for that so we got out of line and went to a nearby museum called the Palazzo Ducale, or the Doge's Palace. We didn't really know anything about it so we got the audio guide. They had a deal where you could get one and two people could share, one just with the guide and one with connected headphones! We have found those audioguides extremely helpful. You don't get the personal attention or personality of a real guide, but they have so much information and you can go at your own pace. Anyway, we toured the palace and learned about the old Venetian government. It was very interesting.

After that, we got some lunch at a place on one of the main streets. I had a caprese salad and Rachel had a pizza. I just couldn't order something hot it was just too hot outside.

After lunch the basilica was open so we waited in the same line as before to get in. We had some gelato while we waited. Inside was beautiful! Every basilica we have gone in so far has been in a gothic style and they were all starting to look the same. This one however is in a baroque style! It was surprising and beautiful. The floor, ceiling, and walls were all mosaic. Big, beautiful, detailed pictures were created with the tiny pieces. It was so colorful and refreshing. The ceiling mosaic was mostly gold. At the end of our walk we each lit a candle.

San Marco Basilica

We took a long walk to another church and went in. We found the first bench we could find and sat down. The heat was getting to us. We just sat there for a while and enjoyed the air conditioning. We walked out to the edge of the island where we were surrounded by water on three sides. We sat down there and had a lot of difficulty getting up because we were in the shade and there was a cool breeze. We decided to just go back to our hotel and relax a little until dinner. We had seen all of the major attractions in Venezia and it was just miserable outside, and inside. We began the long walk back to our hotel; our feet became heavier with each step. We made it and took the three flights of stairs up to our room. Before we left this morning we closed the shutters to keep out the light and left the fan on. Our room was cool! It was a oasis. I hopped in the shower and rinsed in cold water for a few minutes. We took a nap for till the bells chimed 7 times (literally not figuratively). We headed back for the streets for dinner. We walked around quite a bit till we found a restaurant to our liking. We sat down and the waiter poured sparkling wine into our glasses, for free! "Good choice," we thought. I ordered lasagna and Rachel got spaghetti with crab and prawns in it. For dessert we got tiramisu and chocolate mousse.

We wanted to get on a gondola right after dinner so we could watch the sun set from the boat. But by the time we were done with dinner, the sun had started setting. We rushed to a few sights where we had seen gondolas during the day, but there wasn't any at our first few stops. We eventually found one and hopped in. It was beautiful! Our gondolier told us about important buildings we were passing and hummed to himself. We saw Marco Polo's house from the 13th century and Mozarts house which is now a music school. He also told us that some of the appartment's right on the canals can cost up to 40,000 euros for a square meter! Can you imagine?! We went under bridges so low, we actually had to lean the boat really far over to fit through. We almost got into a crash with another gondola once around a blind turn in a very narrow canal, but both gondoliers were skilled enough to avoid the inevitable. I was very impressed. The ride was very expensive, but was unforgettable and romantic. When are we going to be in Venice again?

After the ride we walked around a little more and supported the local economy. We bought two paintings from a local artist. They are watercolors and are very nice. I think we are going to put them in our bathroom. We also were tempted into a Venetian glass store. We have been looking for clocks in every city to go in our kitchen. We saw one there that we knew was the one! It is black and red, our color scheme and was really cool. After a lot of discussion about the expense we decided it was worth it and bought it. The shop keeper packed it up in 4 layers of bubble wrap to keep it safe.

We took the long way home and enjoyed a last look at Venice.