We left a little after 7:00 to make our 8:25 train for Venice. We had a few snafus on our way there – but thankfully we made it in time. And this time around – we actually got to sit next to one another. It turns out the train conductor was just a jerk on the first train – not on this trip.

We arrived in Venice – and Las Vegas cannot truly prepare you for how beautiful this city is. The city is slowly sinking – and also shrinking in population. Not to get on my global warming soap box – but when you have a city that is intertwined with the Adriatic Sea – and sea level is rising… There is bound to be a problem.

Our first stop was the Vaporetto – aka their version of a city bus. We took this down to St. Mark’s square.

The Grand Canal is chaotic with the gondolas, water taxis, vaporettos, and regular boats. It is also absolutely beautiful – and we couldn’t have asked for better weather while we were there.

We did a tour of the Doge’s Palace – which had plenty of fantastic art work. The piece that it was most known for was the largest oil painting – “Il Paradiso.” There are around 500 figures in this painting. Wow!

I also found the best view of the Bridge of Sighs – second floor bathroom if you’re looking for a close up shot without a crowd!

We had lunch after this – and then did some shopping. Most of Italy is known for its leather, Murano glass, etc. Yvonne and I wanted to pick up some souvenirs for our friends/family… and ourselves.

We visited St. Mark’s Basilica – which was a very beautiful church. The only difference with this one is there was no pictures allowed. Whoops. One of the workers scolded me – but let’s be real. Besides the Sistine Chapel – every other church we visited in Italy allowed pictures. Not sure why they were any different? Please see the evidence that I collected – I loved the blue and gold in this one. And all of the windows in the dome.

This church had a unique look from the outside too – and there were lions everywhere, which we quickly learned was St. Mark’s sigil.

We had to stop for gelato (naturally) – I got a cookies and cream flavored one. It was mainly cream flavored – not sure where the chocolate was? But you can’t win them all.

We rode the Vaporetto back to where we started – and wandered around looking for somewhere to sit down and have a drink. We found a quaint place next to a bridge – with barely anyone there! We soon found out that it’s because boats have to honk before they go under the bridge – which got loud rather quickly.

We grabbed a slice of pizza to go before we went back to the train station. We were able to ride in the same car again on the way back home – it was so much nicer being together than sitting in different train cars.

We had a long ride back to our agriturismo – after a few set backs. (Trying to get out the way came in – the gate was closed because were so late! Getting our car out of the parking structure. Taking two wrong turns. The agriturismo locking us out of our room… to name a few!)

We knew we would be able to sleep in the following day – but Venice had made for a long day, but it was totally worth it!