After visiting Verona we caught a very crowded train (because of multiple delays) to Venice. Luckily it was only an hour long. As I’m sure most people have heard, Venice is on the water. That means that all transportation is by boat, including taxis, the metro, and obviously gondolas. So to get to the hotel we had to take a water taxi due to the amount of luggage my family members brought with them, but it was definitely the best decision.

After getting settled in we took the water bus back to the island of San Marco for a guided tour. There is no way that I would have been able to find my way around otherwise. All of the streets in Venice (see picture below) are very narrow, surrounded by 3 story buildings, and are lined with restaurants and shops.

The tour guide took us down two different streets that were so narrow that only a single person could fit down them at one time and led us to this stair case:

It is called the “snail” stair case because it resembles the shape of its shell. At the end of the tour we had the chance to go on a gondola ride, which was easily the best part. It was one of the best views of Venice because you get to view the buildings from the water. Its unbelievable how the gondoliers steer the boats around sharp corners and down narrow streets.

Venice thrives on tourism. The majority of people in the city at all times are tourists. They are famous for Carnevale, the celebration prior to lent. Everyone dresses up wearing masks as a way to hide their identity to prevent segregation because of their social class. So naturally there are mask shops down every street. 

Venice is also famous for the smaller islands of Murano (glass making) and Burano (lace making). Our second day in Venice we had the chance to tour three small islands, these two and the island of Torcello. On the island of Murano, we had the chance to watch a glass maker create a vase using a blown glass technique and a glass horse (see picture). It was amazing. He took his tongs and pulled out the little nubs for the legs and face, swung it around a bit to get the length of the body, pulled out the back legs, cut the mane and tale, and somehow created a horse that stands up on its back legs. Crazy.

The second island, Burano, is famous for lace. We were able to go into a lace shop where an older woman was using a pattern to make hand made lace. The real draw of this town for me were the streets lined with a variety of colored buildings (see picture below). Each street you walk down looks different from the last because of the variety of colors. Very pretty.

Venice is one of the most interesting places I have ever been. It has so much character. I’m really happy that I will have the chance to go back in November with school. I definitely need more time to explore, but I think it is a city you have to live in to really understand. Grad school? Maybe…