The next day we flew Air France from Paris to Venice. We gave ourselves plenty of time and arrived early at the airport (CDG is always tricky) and relaxed for a bit beforehand. Our flight arrived in Venice late afternoon. We all hopped on a water taxi to the city which took about an hour. I hadn’t been to venice for 8 years. There really is no city on earth like it. When we all got off our stop with all of our luggage it started to POUR. We rolled as fast as we could through the alley ways until we finally spotted our hotel, which was tucked away in a hidden little courtyard.
After we checked in we all met up and walked to dinner.
Unfortunately the place I had found to eat at was closed – a lot of places close early in Venice, apparently. So we picked a place nearby and hunkered down for some carbo-loading. The rain started up as we were walking home, but that didn’t stop some from experiencing their first Italian gelato.
The next morning we all gathered up to see the sites. We found a “hole” 10 yards from the courtyard entrance to our hotel where Zach and Blake had WAY too much fun scaring unexpecting tourists riding by on gondolas.
Then we walked over Rialto Bridge to the Rialto Market. We did some shopping and then took in one of the best views in the whole city.
For lunch we walked over to Dal Moro’s [Fresh Pasta to Go]. There was a line out the door and down the alley, but we managed to walk away with giant containers of authentic homemade pasta.
And because it’s socially acceptable to get gelato multiple times a day – we started early.
We crossed a few bridges and made our way over to St. Mark’s Square.
Luckily, Gary went in to Tour Guide Mode and directed us to the entrance of the church.
Then we split into couples (sans my uncle, we had literally walked him to death) and boarded our gondolas. We shared a gondola with my brother and sister-in-law. It is always a highlight of Venice. No matter how many times you’ve done it, it is by far the best way to see the city.
Then we split up briefly. My parents, Blake and Britt, and my aunt all went shopping. Zach and I found some sodas and a shady spot by the water to watch the boats.
Later that evening we all met up again for dinner. My family surprised Zach and I with the most hilarious purchase possible. Zach had brought his Yeezy’s on the trip and my mom couldn’t stop asking him about them. Why were they named Yeezy’s? Who was Yeezy? When we split up that afternoon they happened to walk into a little store who sold knock-offs and all four of them purchased a pair. They all put them on and wore them for dinner. I couldn’t stop laughing about it…
That night we had dinner at an Osteria just a short walk away from our hotel. The crab and zucchini pasta blew. my. mind.
Afterwards we grabbed gelato [again] and found a spot by the water. There was a gondola docked right by our feet along with an abandoned hat. Zach hopped on for a quick photo op and seconds later the gondolier showed up, madder than a hornet. Zach kept telling him how nice his boat was, but that didn’t make him any less upset. We got out of there as quick as we could.
We ended our last night in Venice in a random courtyard until the sun went completely down.
Venice is such a small city. You could walk from one end to the other in 30 minutes – maybe less. That’s why we only spent a day and a half there – which was enough time to see all the sights and eat way too much gelato.