Europe 2010: Italy and France - Part 2, Venice!

Our next stop on our European vacation was Venice! The pictures really don't do justice to how beautiful of a city this was. Unfortunately for me and Jeannie, we both ended up catching colds during this leg of our journey so didn't spend as much time exploring as we would have liked...plus it was raining as well. Although some people actually told us that this was a blessing in disguise as we couldn't smell any of the fabulous odors that would creep up from the canals! I was also told that roughly 1000 residents a year move away from the city due to a variety of reasons so its slowly becoming more of a amusement attraction over any actual place where people live. So if you ever get the chance soon, Venice is definitely a "must visit"!

Check out Jeannie trekking through Europe with her backpack! This girl knew how to pack light too... I think it was no more than 15 lbs when all was said and done. Here we are navigating through the alleys trying to find the B&B we stayed at.



Pigeons were EVERYWHERE in Venice, especially in St. Mark's Square. These brave souls brought bread to feed the birds and I think every pigeon in the square eventually hoarded around them for a bite.


Venetian gondolas... as iconic as the "It's a Small World" ride at Disneyland! Each day, a line up of gondolas would take willing tourists around on a 40 min loop of the canals.


I'm pretty sure Pinocchio is Italy's national mascot as trinkets with his image were all over the place.



Venice is known for their masquerade masks as well as glass work from the nearby island of Murano. Just a few shots of some of the wonderful detail of both of them.




Each morning, the fish stands would take over one of the squares to sell their daily catches. Here you can see a wonderful octopus salad prepared at a local fish market, Pesce Pronto.


I still haven't figured this one out yet. But on quite of few of the bridges and gates in both Venice and Florence, we'd see tons of locks with little messages left of them shackled to the railings. Anyone know?





Ah Venice in the evenings... despite the rainy weather, the reflections on the wet ground helped create a wonderful glow each night that would light up the city and create a warm sense of feel.