Venezia, Italia!

Ah Venezia, sei bellissima !!! (March 23-25)

I went to Venice for a weekend. Took a 4.5 hr train ride from Innsbruck…

It was amazing to see the change from country to country- the snow covered mountains, to some greenery, and finally- to a city surrounded by water. I was so in awe with the train ride that I forgot to take out my camera. Next time I will take some photos...

Stayed at Hotel Minerva Nettuno, about 5 minutes from the train station.

<There's the view. The woman checking us in asked what we were going to eat for dinner- She said, “Oh no! You go to Napoli for the pizza…you’re in Venice, you eat seafood and risotto”… we took her advice and the risotto was delicious... and of course I still had to eat pizza at some point..

Venice was everything I imagined it to be. It was refreshing to smell the salty sea air and to see water again...Canals and more canals...

I ate a lot of Gelato. 5 different flavors over the weekend- nutella, tiramisu, cookies, lemon, and baci. Mmmmm...

We woke up very early on Saturday to walk all of Venice...St. Mark's Basilica in Piazza San Marco...

Visited the Rialto Bridge... night and day...

Unfortunately we did not take a gondola ride...next time I would like to at least take a water taxi. I had to save the gondola euros for my gelato fund.

Bring an empty water bottle...and then he fills it with wine for 1.05 Euros...

On Sunday we walked the Jewish Ghetto...This is where the word "ghetto" originated. Jewish people have been living there since 1516...very peaceful neighborhood bordering the northern water. I bought a Mezuzah made of Venetian Murano glass. Next time I would love to see the Jewish Art Museum.