Italy: Venice (a.k.a. Part 7)

This is the second to last posting about Italy, so those of you who may be tired of this whole Italian vacation can check back in a couple of days for things non-Italian. Well, unless I hit an Italian restaurant, which I may very well do...

After saying goodbye to Isabella and Malte, Sandra and I headed up to Venice via the train. Even though I've seen numerous pictures of this city on water, I truly was amazed when I arrived. Literally a city on water...literally. And so beautiful and quiet and lovely. I'm not sure I can do the place justice with my words, so I'll stick with long captions and hope that they somehow capture the essence of this spectacular city.

Everyone takes water buses around Venice. Of course they are not really buses but that's what people call them. We bought a two-day pass and were able to take these to wherever we wanted to go within Venice. We stayed on La Giudecca island and visited many other "islands" around Venice during our stay.

Breakfast almost always consisted of a croissant and an espresso for us. These were flaky, golden and buttery-liscious. Mine is the one filled with jam (the one with the bite).

Just one of many restaurants that have patios over the water. Talk about romantic, right? Sandra and I joked that the city had a somewhat depressing effect on us since we're both single. But it's hard to get too bummed in a place like this.

The gondolas are all lined up and ready to take your money. When we realized that the charge for a quick gondola ride is about $120, we decided to stick with the water buses. Looking at them was enough. And cheaper.

Here's the little, narrow alley that lead to our hotel. Venice is full of these 4-foot-wide alleyways.

Another view of one of the numerous smaller canals that crisscross the Grand Canal.

Here's one view from our hotel room in Venice. This guy was a resident, just going out for groceries in his little boat. Venetians are lucky people.

Here's the courtyard in front of our hotel. Rustic, quaint and perfect for a little rest outdoors.

Sandra and I decided to have lunch at this cafe because the proprietor, a man named Elio, insisted we do (he kind of grabbed us as we were walking by). He took this picture with his shaky hands (God bless him, he was so adorable!). His restaurant was called Ristorante Ca Dolfin.

Elio's pizza was the best I had in Italy. Crispy crust, ripe tomatoes, just the right amount of cheese.

Sandra had the seafood pasta, which Elio says is the best entree he offers. It was incredibly good.

And here's Elio himself, standing in wait for passersby so he can grab then and drag them into his restaurant (I kid!). He was quite a character, actually. If you are ever in Venice, check out his place.