Haydee + Nate: Italy- Venice

Our last stop of the trip was to Venice. Of the three main cities, this was the only one that Nate was seeing for the first time also. I was excited to experience something new together, and as expected, he was so fun to see it with.

While waiting for the train from Florence to Venice I had the greatest surprise. With my back faced to new-coming train riders, Nate was able to spot one that seemed particularly enthused to see me. He told me I might know someone, and as I looked around... sure enough. My high school friend, Gema, from NICARAGUA was standing right behind me. It would have been a shock to run into anyone at the train station in Florence, but to run into a dear friend I have not seen in over 11 years?! That was such a treat. We made plans to meet up for dinner in Venice, and on our last night there we did just that. I LOVED every second of it.

Ok.. so Venice... what a place. Every one will say how unique it is and how there are no cars in the city, and I would spare you having to listen to it by me as well, however I can not. Both the water streets and lack of cars creates such an incredible experience that can not be matched. We did the water taxis, the water boats. We did St. Marks Square and gondola rides. And, per Italian way, we walked and walked and walked. Venice was the hardest place to navigate by foot. Though the city is small in size a single strip of walkway is somehow named a different street at any given moment, and the walkways are very narrow and twisty. Nate and I were lost basically the entire time we were in Venice. lol.

PS- Venice lent it self REALLY well as a model. Please be prepared for an impressive amount of photos.

View from our Room

CIP's VIP

For our fancy dinner we went to Cippriani's Hotel and had dinner on a small dock on a separate island that overlooked the entire city of Venice. We made the reservation in time to watch the sunset on the city, it was so dreamy. Another delicious meal, great service and incredible view. A memory never to forget. After dinner we went to the famous Harry's Bar. No pictures but more fun memories made.

Gondola Ride

Discovering Venice

Rush hour in Venice. What a Venetian traffic jam looks like.

While walking around we found there was a good deal of construction going on (probably because Venice is having a real problem with the city sinking). We often wondered how they were able to do construction around the water, and then we saw this. More a picture for John (we thought you would like it), but amazing how they clear out the water to make a little work station and then used a boat to pulley up supplies.