Venice

I was lucky enough to meet some really great people my first weekend in Sicily and was able to talk my way into their trip for President's Day weekend. The destination… Venice, Italy. It was a great weekend with good food, nice people, and a beautiful backdrop. 

The view across the water from Fondamente Nuove. 

Every turn was a picturesque view like this. 

Inside a small church we passed. 

Looking up the Grand Canal. 

Cheesing for a picture to prove I was there. 

Looking down the Grand Canal.

Top of the Rialto Bridge.

Side of the Rialto Bridge.

Perfect shot. 

National museum.

Classy statue.

We also took a day trip up to Verona, which was beautiful. Thanks to one of the guide books we got a great walking tour full of history. Did you know that Verona was a Roman city dating back to 86 A.D.? Then it was taken over by Venice and eventually brought in as part of United Italy. 

Porta Borsari, part of the original city and a toll booth to enter. 

Fountain in the old herb trading square, now full of knick-knacks and fun hats.

Juliet's balcony. So there's no reason to believe that this is actually her house, but that's what everyone says and it's cute so we just pretend it is. 

Victor Emmanuel, the first king of Italy. 

The Roman Arena, truly amazing that it's still standing. 

Back in Venice we did some shopping and sightseeing. 

This was just sitting on the street right down the way from our apartment. 

Creepy full moon. 

We all bought masks but never did find a Carnavale parade. 

Rialto Bridge at night. 

Then we took a boat trip over to Burano which was said to be "adorable" and it didn't disappoint. 

Everywhere you turned on that island was another brightly colored house or beautiful statue. 

We spent our last day in Venice trying to knock the last few "must visits" off our list.

Here's a panorama of the apartment we rented, it was eccentric but really fun and a nice place to lay our heads. 

Saint Marc's Basilica and Square were amazing and something I really wanted to see, so I'm glad we were able to visit and take some pictures. 

A couple more random pictures from walking around. I was so impressed with the architecture of this city and I would love to return and visit a few of the museums.