March 20, 2012

Day 1: Hello Venice!

Our journey started yesterday at 5:30 when our plane took off from DFW. My goal was to sleep as much as possible on the flight so at dinner (chicken, rice, salad) I had a few glasses of wine, watched a movie and then my mom and I both had a glass of baileys when they came around a second time. Of course sleep didn't really happen for more than an hour or so but oh well.
Our next stop was Frankfurt, Germany where we had to take a bus from the plane to the airport and go through immigration and security before finding our gate. The security there is serious, no body scanners so they pat you down. It was slightly uncomfortable. We got to our gate in time to grab coffee and muffins from a near by stand and boarded the plane. To my surprise I ended up with a window seat AND and entire row to myself! It was pretty nice to spread out and put my feet up on the other seats. This flight was pretty short but offered some spectacular views of the Alps and Venice from above.
After landing in Venice we headed to baggage claim and then onto the Alilaguana for a ride to the
Arsenale stop (this is one of the public transport systems in Italy on the water). From there we followed the directions to our hotel and checked in. After a shower and a change of clothes we headed out to explore the city. We headed toward the Piazza San Marco wandering down streets and checking out a few random churches along the way. We also stopped at a stall where my mom, dad, and Kristin bought some art two years ago. I bought a piece here too. After St. Marks we continued through Venice stopping at a few shops, walking through the designer area, and ending at the train station where we bought tickets for our train on Thursday. We took the Vaporetta (public transport) back to the San Marco stop and wandered around until we found a place for dinner. I had pizza which was delicious! After dinner we ate gelato and wandered back to the hotel to turn in for the night. Tomorrow I plan to feed a pigeon in the square!
 Our plane that brought us over from Dallas
 In the German airport they had these for people to smoke in. They smelled terrible.
 Franfurk Airport
 Venice from the plane
 
 On the Alilaguana
 One of the surrounding islands
 A church we saw from the boat
 Some of Venice
 The boat ride was about an hour stopping around Venice and the surrounding islands.
 The Elena stop!

Made it to our stop
Our Hotel! 
 Room 225
San GIorgio dei Greci Church
 One of the canals we passed over (The Rio dei Greci)
 On a bridge
 Zaccaria
 Inside the Zaccaria
 Bridge of Sighs connecting the palace and the prison
 The Doges palace
 Piazza San Marco
 The famous clock. One of the moving statues on top knocked someone off in the 17th C. The first death by robot!
 Up close on some of the artwork on the church. It's very colorful and sparkles in the sun.
 St. Marks
 Pigeons everywhere! Tomorrow we are bringing food for them.
 Out by the San Marco canal
 Me with the artists work I bought! He engraves copper plates and then transfers the pictures to a page unsing the copper to bring out different colors.
 The Missoni shop!
 View from our gondola
 On the gondola across the canal
 I Frari church
 My sneaky photo skills inside the church. Painting by Titan
 Venice at sunset
 sunsetting over the train station
 Me on a bridge by the train station
 Umm occupy train station? We weren't really sure what this protest was for.
 Venice at night
Dinner

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