Venezia

3:50 PM Elizabeth 3 Comments

Our trip to Venice was short and sweet. I loved it so, and I loved seeing lesser-frequented parts of the city as we stayed in a rented apartment for the night. The touristy areas were beautiful (hence why they are touristy), but I especially loved the area near our apartment and seeing small Italian children with squirt guns and others playing dodgeball ("Non è giusto!" No fair!).

with Michelle in Murano

the most beautiful glass gondolas in a store in Murano. I love how sleek and structural they are, with minimum but sufficient details and such graceful curvature!

I still can't get over the sight of water lapping up against the sides of buildings. The engineering of this city is fascinating—the foundations of the buildings rest on wooden underwater supports; as long as the wood is underwater and not exposed to air, it won't decay.

the canal just off the piazza where our apartment was located. As we were taking these photos, a man came up and told Michelle and I that steps down to the water were slippery and "pericoloso" (dangerous). Duly noted; we were careful.

We split up into smaller groups to better accommodate everyone's individual wishes for Venice, so on Friday evening, Michelle and I were explored the area around the apartment. When we saw the orange glow of the sunset shining on these buildings, we were both struck with the same crazy idea: we needed to see that sunset, as it was our only night in Venice.

Then commenced 20 minutes (not an exaggeration!) of running through the streets of Venice trying to get to a spot where we could see it; we ran down lots of dead ends [well, they ended at the edge of the water], but finally found a viewpoint.

I thought it was worth the run.

San Giacomo

Basilica di San Marco and Piazza San Marco (above and below, respectively)

Michelle, Heather, and I at the Guggenheim! The sculpture garden was the only area that allowed photography, but we loved the museum. The most interesting aspect for me was the fact that the building used to be Peggy Guggenheim's home; throughout the museum, there were photographs showing the rooms as they were when she lived there, and some of the pieces were hanging in their original locations (for example, the stunning Calder mobile in the entry!).