Venice: Day 5

We arrived in Venice after 3 1/2 hours on the bus. The bus rotation system had us in the front of the bus this time. We went straight to our private motor launch. This took us a few bridges from Piazza San Marco. We toured a glass blowing facility and storeroom. 

I was pretty tired, it was a little warm, and it was crowded. I don't really know what I was expecting. Maybe some kind of chic James Bond type stuff. There was no option of going to the hotel to rest since it was on the mainland. We skipped the optional tour which seemed pricey for a ride down the Grand Canal to the Rialto Bridge and then some walking around. We wandered by ourselves to the Rialto Bridge which was a lot like the Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

Then we wandered around to find food. I was really grumpy because I was really hungry. Make sure you know where to eat- away from the tourist traps. We found a little restaurant called Zorzi (I think). Our waitress didn't speak much English but I was able to communicate with her and I even understood when she was explaining to Michael that they make their own gnocchi. Thanks again, Rosetta Stone! I had tagliatelle with  asparagus and my world was complete at that moment. Michael's gnocchi was the bomb. I think this was the first time either of us have had it. Our main courses weren't much to speak of, but our bellies were full. We also ordered 1/2 liter of chianti. So that made the rest of the walking and waiting much more bearable.

We went inside St. Mark's Basilica. There were a lot of repairs being done and ignorant tourists snapping pictures with their flashes on. That drives me crazy. Anyway, the church was very impressive and worth seeing, plus it's free. Be warned that you cannot bring in bags the size of a backpack.

We found some neat etchings from an artist on the sidewalk. Then we waited around and watched people until our optional tour gondola ride. The price for this one ended up being cut in half since we didn't have time to do the whole tour. I wanted to ride in the gondola as cheesy as it might be, but the optional tour was originally a bit much and doing it on your own would have been about the same. Something like 60 euros each! So we got a sweet deal and I really enjoyed floating along and sipping Prosecco after a hot day of walking and waiting.

I fell asleep as soon as we got to the hotel. We went down for our dinner at the hotel. It was certainly not as good as the previous night's meal, but what can you expect of mass prepared hotel food? I will also say for anyone who may be reading this and planning a trip that there were ants on the floor in the dining area and the carpet in the room was quite worn and dingy. The bed was clean and I slept like a baby.

The next day we had to go all the way back to Rome.