Lucky girl, having a birthday in Italy! We caught an 8:40 morning train to Venice and arrived around 11 to bright blue skies, bustling canals and no idea how to get to our hotel. After waiting at the wrong vapporetto stand for about 10 minutes we figured out where to go to get on the boat to Rialto. A quick ride down the Grand Canal and we arrived at the Rialto stop - and began to follow the broken English directions to San Bartolomeo statue which appeared on none of our maps but was supposed to point in the direction of the alley in which our hotel was located. We found it with relative ease and quickly checked into a very, very small room that was barely worth the 100 euro we paid for it in terms of luxury but completely worth it in terms of location.
We quickly changed into short sleeves and began to make our way through the small streets of Venice. Shocked by the number of tourists everywhere we looked we ducked into a promising looking bar for a quick birthday lunch. The caprese salad and pizza were mediocre but the mini bottle of Prosecco that cost the same as a bottle of water was delicious! Recharged we headed into the tourist hoardes trying to sink St. Mark's Square. We saw the basilica, went to the top of the bell tower - this time by elevator- then headed over the Accademia bridge to explore La Salute church and the Dorsoduro neighborhood. Our quick walk along the waterfront soon turned into a long walk through the neighborhoods of San Polo. As darkness came, we finally found the Rialto bridge and knew that we survived the mouse maze of Venice.
Alison's birthday dinner started with drinks along the Grand Canal then became a bust as we couldn't find the restaurant recommended by our guidebooks and settled on what looked like a homey neighborhood spot but was really just a lame excuse for Italian lasagna and shrimp scampi. We skipped dessert at the restaurant and found a cafe for some intensely rich hot chocolate and slightly stale cookies.
Venice still gets two thumbs up as we look forward to seeing more.
We quickly changed into short sleeves and began to make our way through the small streets of Venice. Shocked by the number of tourists everywhere we looked we ducked into a promising looking bar for a quick birthday lunch. The caprese salad and pizza were mediocre but the mini bottle of Prosecco that cost the same as a bottle of water was delicious! Recharged we headed into the tourist hoardes trying to sink St. Mark's Square. We saw the basilica, went to the top of the bell tower - this time by elevator- then headed over the Accademia bridge to explore La Salute church and the Dorsoduro neighborhood. Our quick walk along the waterfront soon turned into a long walk through the neighborhoods of San Polo. As darkness came, we finally found the Rialto bridge and knew that we survived the mouse maze of Venice.
Alison's birthday dinner started with drinks along the Grand Canal then became a bust as we couldn't find the restaurant recommended by our guidebooks and settled on what looked like a homey neighborhood spot but was really just a lame excuse for Italian lasagna and shrimp scampi. We skipped dessert at the restaurant and found a cafe for some intensely rich hot chocolate and slightly stale cookies.
Venice still gets two thumbs up as we look forward to seeing more.
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