We were in Venice for 2 very full days. After battling the hordes of tourists and selfie-sticks at the Alhambra, Venice was not as busy and crazy as we had expected. We had a beautiful, very Venetian room.

The first day, we went straight to Rialto Bridge and San Marco Square. It is so hot everywhere pretty much all afternoon and humid. Going to the churches, it is important to be respectful which means wearing pants and covering one’s shoulders because of this, Nick and I almost passed out in line for the treasury of San Marco but we stood fast. It was totally worth it! Saint Mark’s bones are at the Basilica in Venice and he has a gorgeous treasury as a “headstone”, rubies as big as my thumb (which is big!), emeralds, pearls and other gemstones. It was like a 10′ wide 6′ high bulletin board of jewels. They gloss over the fast that most were stolen as were Saint Mark’s bones but I guess that’s ancient history now… No one seems to mind. (Note: we do not have pictures of the treasury as it was forbidden inside the basilica.)

Next to the basilica is the Doge’s Palace. This was a palace, a government building and a jail all in one. From the 10th – 13th centuries (I think!), this was the most powerful and rich (!) place in the world. From the Venetians view, everything ran pretty smoothly in town at that time. We did not get inside the doge’s apartments, closed for restoration. However in the government building, the ceilings and beautiful frescos were incredible and very extravagant. I imagine the apartments are even more so. Nick and I had the most fun playing around the jail cells, looking at the carvings in the stone and picturing what these jailbirds might have done in the courtyard there. The Bridge of Sighs is what connects the palace to the jail, because they sigh as they go over, longing for beautiful Venice. We also really enjoyed seeing the weapons in the armory though we got a bit quiet when Nick mentioned how many people had probably lost their lives to these same weapons. Sad.

In our search for lunch, we found the Acqua Alta (High Water) bookstore. Self-proclaimed, “The Most Beautiful Bookstore in the World!”. It was pretty cool! The pictures will do it more justice than my words but look for books in bathtubs and gondolas.

We had another siesta, a favorite way to beat the heat then had an amazing dinner just across the street from our cute hotel. That was day 1 😊