amy lashelle

The next stop was a city filled with romance, beauty, intricate details, delicate bridges and floating wonders: Venice, Italy. The hustle and bustle of Rome was left behind for a quite, laid back atmosphere where you could almost hear the Gondola drivers sing “bella note” To top of this wonderland of canals and architecture, was a dusting of snow. (and by dusting I’m thinking around 3-4 inches) Apparently this is astonishing for even the venetians who were sweeping away the snow with brooms and squeegees. What a fun “phenomenon” to experience, snow on the sinking city!

We stayed in this super cute Bed and Breakfast, Ca’ Bonvicini. Not only did we have a fabulous breakfast (AKA amazing espresso & pastry), we had sweet views from our balcony, the staff was super helpful, and it ended up being a great starting point for our explorations.

We started just walking through the more residential area and loved just getting to see a glimpse into the life of Venetians. They had beautiful doors, and particularly door knobs. Seriously, I want a lion door knocker, or I’d settle for a lacy door.

And I loved getting to see the little girl walking with her mom to school, the trash boat, and even the construction zones. Garrett particularly liked this part. Since it was the off season, they were doing a bunch of construction. We saw a concrete boat, and one that was mixing cement. Garett watched them mix cement for like 20 minutes (I got some fun pictures in the meantime) Then, the had several guys that were basically just runners with wheelbarrows taking the cement from the boat to the home being renovated by the wheel barrow load. I think Garett was thankful for his truck load of tools he can just park right next to his sites.

Several people had told us prior to going that Venice was “just a dirty city.” I agree, it was a bit dirty, but I also think that was part of the intrigue of it. Beautifully delicate architecture, spotted with tagging, and gorgeous door knobs next to flaking brick. All the texture… I was seriously in love.

We then happened upon the Rialto Bridge. Gorgeous. I think the view from the bridge was my very favorite.

Or maybe my favorite was the Gondolas. They were so much more detailed then I had imagined. And thegondoliers were quite refined. Defiantly masters of their trade.

We then wondered through a surprisingly un-crowded Piazza San Marco.

That was about the limit of Garett’s super sweet willingness to let me take A MILLION pictures. So I put the camera away, and we held hands while gawking at the beauty of San Marcos and then just wondered over the canals of Venice…and maybe stole a few kisses…until it was time for us to pick up our rental car, and drive across the country to our next destination… (check out G-man’s photo skills – the sunset while I was driving)