Venice

Venice - the last stop on our Italy itinerary. We were very excited to see the floating city in person and spend some more time near the water. We took the train onto the island, but the train station was the last of the wheels we would see for a while; there are no cars and no bikes allowed on the island, so you really do have to get by on foot or by boat. We stayed in a small hotel in the Cannaregio neighborhood of the city in the north. We really enjoyed this neighborhood since it was walkable to everything, but felt a little less busy than other areas. Our hotel was very close to a street along a smaller canal with tons of restaurants and bars that was always lively, and we enjoyed many an apertivo sitting next to this canal. Speaking of the apertivo scene in Venice, we found out pretty quickly that Venetians are not huge supporters of Aperol spritz; they prefer their spritz to be made with either Select or Cynar amaro. Judging by the bartender who jokingly wouldn't let Carson order an Aperol spritz, they feel pretty strongly about it. Select is more bitter than Aperol, but has the same bright orange color and is still quite refreshing. Melissa tried the Cynar spritz and it was much more unique. Extremely bitter and with a brown color, we found one of the the descriptions we found online that says: "The Cynar Spritz tastes something like an adult Coca-Cola, like if a Coke could kick you in the teeth" to be pretty accurate. It grew on Melissa, but Carson thought one sip was enough.

We spent our time in Venice mostly walking around, getting lost (as a local man told us on our first day when we were looking for our hotel - "maps are never right in Venice"), stumbling upon smaller, quieter canals, and eating lots of cicchetti and seafood. Cicchetti are sort of like little Venetian tapas- often small breads with seafood on top, tiny sandwiches, or meatballs. They were small and cheap enough that we were able to sample a wide variety (the cod was hard to beat!). Unsurprisingly, we also had some amazing seafood in Venice. For one dinner, Carson got cuttlefish ink pasta, and Mel got spaghetti loaded with fresh seafood. Both were delicious, and a nice change from all of the bread, meat, and cheese we consumed in the mountains.

We also spent some time getting to know the history of Venice (thanks again to the help of our favorite audio guide, Rick Steves) and visiting Piazza San Marco, St. Mark's Basilica, and Doge's Palace. Given how small the island is now, it was interesting to learn about how Venice was such a powerhouse of trade, finance, politics, and culture for so much of its history, and how it was a hub between east and west. St. Mark's was especially interesting because you can clearly see the Byzantine influence on the cathedral with its many domes. It was also less tall than many of the other cathedrals we visited, but no less impressive. The basilica was built to house the body of St. Mark the apostle, which the Venetians took from it's burial place in Alexandria (they even have a mosaic on the front of the cathedral depicting this, which felt pretty brazen). St. Mark is the patron saint of the city, and his golden lion is the city's symbol- you can see the lion all over the city when you start looking for it! Inside, the cathedral is just as beautiful as outside, and the art form is primarily mosaics rather than paintings, thanks to the Byzantine influence.

The Doge's Palace, just next door to St. Mark's, was also a really interesting place to visit. With countless rooms full of art, we learned about the history of the Doge and how the Venetians ruled. They were much more democratic than we would have guessed; the Doge, who was the highest leader in the Republic, was even elected, and there were checks on his power from other factions of the government. We also visited the famous Bridge of Sighs at the Doge's Palace that leads to the prisons. The bridge is so named because it was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment. It was a very unique view of the city!

All in all, we liked Venice but there were some things about it that we didn't love as much as other places. For one thing, it really is crowded. Obviously, we went in July, and we are part of the tourism as much as anyone else, but it sort of made the island feel like an amusement park for tourists rather than a place that people live. Due to it's size, it was more difficult to find any places that didn't feel specifically catered to tourists. Also, while the city is beautiful and so unique, you get the sense that it is kind of grimy and decaying (increased flooding will probably do that). And before you ask, no, we didn't do a gondola ride. For one thing, we're on a budget, and the rides are expensive! For another, almost every gondola we saw was crammed next to others on busy canals and it didn't even look relaxing. We're still glad we got to see Venice, and if we were to come back, we would definitely come outside of peak season, but it didn't feel like somewhere we are itching to return to.