Venice

Venice, Italy

Hillary and I joked that the perfect weather we had been having would be ruined when Caitlyn arrived. Our first day in Venice was so foggy you couldn’t see the buildings on San Marco nor could you see across the canal. Thanks Caitlyn.

In attempt to take advantage of our days in Venice despite the crappy weather, we walked through a few of the museums and buildings. Fog could not stop us.

Well, it kind of did. All of the gondolas were stopped. Even the trains were stalled. We had to take a bus to the island. We finished going through the museums. We ate our gelato and our falafel and went to bed early, hoping the following day would bring us better weather. Maybe we would even be able to see Venice the next day!

Luckily, it paid off. We woke up refreshed to the sun and blue skies! What a difference the weather can make! We took a gondola taxi across the major canal (for only 50 cents! Pro tip: real gondolas cost 80 euro, take the gondola taxis!) and wondered at the buildings of San Marco Square and the Rialto Bridge. The city could really be beautiful when the weather permitted. We spent a good part of the day looking for Venetian carnival masks so we could wear them for a Mardi Gras party and just enjoying meals by the water. By the way, Carnival must be big in Venice. Some of the masks cost upwards of 300 euros and there were really ornate costumes for rent and for sale that sent you back to another (very classy) era.

We also agreed that we would reenact The Merchant of Venice, but promptly forgot. But you might have thought to yourself, jeez, Shakespeare wrote a lot about Italy. He must have loved travelling there. Well, it turns out it is most likely he never set foot in Italy. Good job, Shakespeare, fooling the masses and romanticizing places you never have even visited. Well played, well played.